4 ms·

I think I may have some sort of this when it comes to music. I can't really concentrate when listening to music. I get so much into it, I can imagine a whole un

by Le_SDT 14y ago

I think I may have some sort of this when it comes to music. I can't really concentrate when listening to music. I get so much into it, I can imagine a whole universe, like everything in the mix must have its visual space. When I compose/mix, I try to give everything its visual spot in the scene... it's weird. I can't tell how most people enjoy music so I don't know if this is """synesthesia""" or something else or whatever ... I just wanted to share how I enjoy/compose music ! EDIT: Also I always associate a track with a color. The vibe of the track has a color. The melody adds something to it. Music can get visual artwork to me.

hipsters_unite 14y ago
Sounds like it. I used to have quite vague ideas of colours and shapes when hearing sounds but years of listening to music gave it more structure. Though I do also get it with days, a little bit with hours in the day and months in the year... though that's another story :)
- Le_SDT 14y ago
  I remember people asking me if I took drugs when creating music since I make psychedelic trance overall hahaha. I never took drugs but it's funny how I enjoy music in a similar way to people who take psychedelic drugs. Mine is more analytical but in the end we all see shapes and color. :P
bane 14y ago
I have something similar. Not so much the colors...but I get a definite sense of being in different kind of "spaces" depending on the music. Hard to describe as there's no real visual aspect to it, but I might feel like I'm in a small tight room with lots of fabrics in it for one song, and under a huge concrete dome for another. I have certain "rooms" that I look for when I search for music I like. I also frisson to music, sometimes very hard, it feels like raw lightening is being pumped through me.
- Le_SDT 14y ago
  Same about the frisson part :) When the melody is well done and unpredictable on first listen... this can become a drug, the need to find new music to get this feeling
- Daiz 14y ago
  >I also frisson to music I think this is pretty common. I mean, there's even a term for it, "give the chills"[1] - eg. "Listening to this track gave me the chills". [1] http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/give%20the%20chills http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/give%20the%...
  - bane 14y ago
    It's fairly common in certain groups. I can't find the paper on it, but I think in the general populace it runs around 30% of the population. My wife and none of her family for example, absolutely do not frisson. While my father and I do in my family, but none of my adopted siblings do. My mother may or may not, but she tends to fall into "religious experiences" through a variety of stimuli and it's hard to get her to succinctly describe the feeling.
    - GotAnyMegadeth 14y ago
      I had never heard the word 'frisson' before, and I had no idea that some people didn't do it to music. Happens to me all the time. Interesting.
      - Le_SDT 14y ago
        I don't know if it is an English word but it's part of the French language as "to have a chill" or I don't know the correct expression/word in English :)
        bane 14y ago
        In English it has a similar, but slightly different meaning. Here's some more info on it http://www.cogsci.msu.edu/DSS/2008-2009/Huron/HuronFrisson.pdf http://www.cogsci.msu.edu/DSS/2008-2009/Huron/HuronFrisson.p...
T-hawk 14y ago
Me too, listening to music invokes this for me. I see music. Not like musical notation on a staff. I see each component of a song progressing through space, melody as a line moving up and down, bass as the ground, percussion as punctuated puffs of air or smoke. The climax of a song is like a bird bursting up through layers of cloud into a clear sky. It's like my brain is permanently on a Winamp visualization. (Edit: dear ghod, someone else in this thread used that exact same metaphor. Freaky.) That's about the only area of synesthesia for me, though. I don't have any crossover between taste and smell and other senses like the folks described in this article.
- Le_SDT 14y ago
  On my side it is just colors bursting out just like the winamp hehe. But sometimes, when I do very heavy/intense parts in my music, I try to imagine how well it would fit a firework final hahaha, sounds and special effects must be well placed, I don't know how to describe it better :) and I can imagine the positionning of everything related to the fireworks or colors, depending how I feel at the time I guess haha
fghh45sdfhr3 14y ago
I don't always associate a track with color. But when I relax and close my eyes with headphones on, my mind does involuntarily paint a whole universe of colors and shapes inspired by the music. Well, Vivaldi's four seasons paints distinctly worldly scenes. But Beethoven paints very abstract things. And I love music, but hate to have it playing if I'm trying to concentrate on anything else. But I never thought myself synesthetic. Just plain introverted. So now I wonder if this type of "over-stimulation", or increased sensitivity, is somewhat shared between all introverts and people with synesthesia?
bitwize 14y ago
I'm like this too. Different styles of music take me to different places. I never liked 90s rock because it always took me to the same place: it looked like the yard of some neighbors I had who didn't know the meaning of "cleaning", whose lawn was piled with junk and whose pool had developed its own ecosystem. The first time I booted up Rez I thought to myself: "whoa, this looks just like trance music."

by Le_SDT 14y ago

hipsters_unite 14y ago

Sounds like it. I used to have quite vague ideas of colours and shapes when hearing sounds but years of listening to music gave it more structure. Though I do also get it with days, a little bit with hours in the day and months in the year... though that's another story :)

Le_SDT 14y ago
I remember people asking me if I took drugs when creating music since I make psychedelic trance overall hahaha. I never took drugs but it's funny how I enjoy music in a similar way to people who take psychedelic drugs. Mine is more analytical but in the end we all see shapes and color. :P

bane 14y ago

I have something similar. Not so much the colors...but I get a definite sense of being in different kind of "spaces" depending on the music. Hard to describe as there's no real visual aspect to it, but I might feel like I'm in a small tight room with lots of fabrics in it for one song, and under a huge concrete dome for another. I have certain "rooms" that I look for when I search for music I like. I also frisson to music, sometimes very hard, it feels like raw lightening is being pumped through me.

Le_SDT 14y ago
Same about the frisson part :) When the melody is well done and unpredictable on first listen... this can become a drug, the need to find new music to get this feeling
Daiz 14y ago
>I also frisson to music I think this is pretty common. I mean, there's even a term for it, "give the chills"[1] - eg. "Listening to this track gave me the chills". [1] http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/give%20the%20chills http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/give%20the%...
- bane 14y ago
  It's fairly common in certain groups. I can't find the paper on it, but I think in the general populace it runs around 30% of the population. My wife and none of her family for example, absolutely do not frisson. While my father and I do in my family, but none of my adopted siblings do. My mother may or may not, but she tends to fall into "religious experiences" through a variety of stimuli and it's hard to get her to succinctly describe the feeling.
  - GotAnyMegadeth 14y ago
    I had never heard the word 'frisson' before, and I had no idea that some people didn't do it to music. Happens to me all the time. Interesting.
    - Le_SDT 14y ago
      I don't know if it is an English word but it's part of the French language as "to have a chill" or I don't know the correct expression/word in English :)
      - bane 14y ago
        In English it has a similar, but slightly different meaning. Here's some more info on it http://www.cogsci.msu.edu/DSS/2008-2009/Huron/HuronFrisson.pdf http://www.cogsci.msu.edu/DSS/2008-2009/Huron/HuronFrisson.p...

T-hawk 14y ago

Me too, listening to music invokes this for me. I see music. Not like musical notation on a staff. I see each component of a song progressing through space, melody as a line moving up and down, bass as the ground, percussion as punctuated puffs of air or smoke. The climax of a song is like a bird bursting up through layers of cloud into a clear sky. It's like my brain is permanently on a Winamp visualization. (Edit: dear ghod, someone else in this thread used that exact same metaphor. Freaky.) That's about the only area of synesthesia for me, though. I don't have any crossover between taste and smell and other senses like the folks described in this article.

Le_SDT 14y ago
On my side it is just colors bursting out just like the winamp hehe. But sometimes, when I do very heavy/intense parts in my music, I try to imagine how well it would fit a firework final hahaha, sounds and special effects must be well placed, I don't know how to describe it better :) and I can imagine the positionning of everything related to the fireworks or colors, depending how I feel at the time I guess haha

fghh45sdfhr3 14y ago

I don't always associate a track with color. But when I relax and close my eyes with headphones on, my mind does involuntarily paint a whole universe of colors and shapes inspired by the music. Well, Vivaldi's four seasons paints distinctly worldly scenes. But Beethoven paints very abstract things. And I love music, but hate to have it playing if I'm trying to concentrate on anything else. But I never thought myself synesthetic. Just plain introverted. So now I wonder if this type of "over-stimulation", or increased sensitivity, is somewhat shared between all introverts and people with synesthesia?

bitwize 14y ago

I'm like this too. Different styles of music take me to different places. I never liked 90s rock because it always took me to the same place: it looked like the yard of some neighbors I had who didn't know the meaning of "cleaning", whose lawn was piled with junk and whose pool had developed its own ecosystem. The first time I booted up Rez I thought to myself: "whoa, this looks just like trance music."