Do you "see" music?

[Gulliver]

Recently I mentioned A.Skrjabin's name in some other topic in Keyboard Corner ("What is the most technically difficult piano music ever?"). Now it seems that his name fits here as well. Just check the link below if you are curious about his "Prometheus, Poem of Fire" which was meant to be performed with the special "colours show". And that was at the beginning of 20's century! http://www.omroep.nl/nps/tv/98/prometheus/english.html

[swifty]

I always wished i could see colours when listening to music since the first time i heard of the phenonomen but i have to admit to myself that i simply don't. It seemed to me that if i could i would have a deeper insight, an extra dimension and association with music. I just have to get used to not having it. The same goes for perfect pitch. I was always skeptical of people who said they could see auras (probably only narrow-mindedly because i could not see them) but on reflection i don't see colours with music nor have perfect pitch which seem to me to be as fanciful. So i had to reconsider. I'm beginning to believe that anything is possible. Anything! Enjoy your colours and music. Some people run faster than others. adieu Swifty

[alphajerk]

so who dreams in color?

[clock]

I dont dream in color. More like brownish black. But man, they can be vivid and detailed. On the topice of hearing music when looking at a picture, I think its another human sense.Call it vivid imagination. I had a pretty bleak painting of the middle ages in my livin room, and I could feel the sort of sad music that played in that setting, I could almost see the wounded warrior trudging home after losing a battle and his country's soveriegnty , and I could see into his mind, that he just wanted to die, and he was asking "Is it like this all over the world? will it always be like this? I think the phenomenon of hearing pictures and seeing sounds boils down to association. Association that we have been developing since birth. For example, certain words or phrases invoke pictures. Put that word or phrase in a song and voila. Sweet madness, glorious sadness: instant image. The voice that the performer uses also invokes those images. is it sultry? is it charged? is it wounded? Is it defiant? THe melody has an effect. Is it melodic? Is the melody rising or falling. Everything has a place, and when the right elements are used. A real picture

[F7sound -]

I don't see music in terms of colors. I do see it in terms of images or pictures. Where instruments and sounds represent lightness, depth, space and to some degree colors. But I don't see particular colors when a chord or note is played (not like in the ad for perfect pitch). I DO dream in color. I've seen reds, blues, yellows... vividly in my dreams. I've heard that we aren't supposed to dream in color, but I do. I've never done what I'm supposed to. Michael Oster F7 Sound and Vision http://www.f7sound.com

[Doctor Frankensteinway]

[quote]Young Doctor Frankensteinway (whispers): I see dead people's music. Bruce Willis (cautiously): When? Young D.F.: All the time. Bruce Willis (curious): Really? Young D.F.: I see Beethovan, Hendrix, Lennon, Buddy Holly, McCartney ~ Bruce Willis: McCartney isn't dead. Young D.F.: Oh. . . . are you sure? . . .I see Cobain, Stevie Ray, Keith Moon, Ian Stewart, James Jamerson, Danko, Redding, and a long line of lawyers on behalf of the estate collecting fat royalty cheques . . . Big Bopper, Glenn Miller, Louis Armsrong, Miles Davis, Mark Knopfler . .[/quote] I dream in colour and always have. Full, rich colour. Never thought that it was unusual. Thought everyone dreamed in colour. My dreams are so lush and vivid that I think if I could, I would rather live in my dreams. Many people tell me I should. "In your dreams!" they say. Nice of them. I also see music . . but not exactly in colours .. I see kind of morphing shapes in my head. Certain songs are complete in their imagery, like a beautiful green meadow with brilliant magenta wild flowers, or azure lakes. Other songs are more abstract sort of like Pollack paintings. Great swatches of blotches. Never wanted to mention this before because I thought I was a geek, weird, ready to be carted off. Is that my imagination, or is there really a connection between the visual cortex and the ears ? This message has been edited by Doctor Frankensteinway on 08-28-2001 at 01:38 PM

[Mooseboy]

Boy, here's a topic that I can dig into. I have perfect pitch, and was talking about the phenomenon with others on another forum. One fellow talked about being synesthetic, and we exchanged a couple of private emails. He told me several things that piqued my interest, and I ended up reading a book called "The Man Who Tasted Shapes"… great reading for those interested in this subject. This really sent my brain into overdrive, and being in a songwriting mode at the time, I penned a tune called "Synesthesia". Interestingly enough, it's Synesthesia as seen through the eyes of a String Theorist, one who studies elemental vibrations- dovetailing neatly into the earlier post here. Here's lyrics for those who care: [i]Synesthesia Way down at the bottom, tiny bits of string- The way they twist and move and shake determines everything. How do we perceive them, it's never black or white. But the source of all your frustration, you smell a different light. One in a thousand, one in millions may Feel the different angle and see the world your way. Listen to the sunrise, taste its color too. Let the others live their world, it's not the same for you! Synesthesia- change your world around. As long as you can see and feel And taste and smell the sound. Synesthesia- the very root and core. The echoes of these tiny strings, This, and nothing more. Soon you will discover inner voices of the strings. While the rest of us are looking for the key. How they join to form their chords and make the world this way. You're the only one that feels that symphony… Instrumental interlude- "The Rite of Strings" Mind, soul and matter, blood and flesh and bone. It seems they're just a product of these undertones. Music is in color, light you hear as sound. Very few can really feel this different world you found. Numbers seem so tiny, the odds become so great. Chance of almost anything, still they dominate. While they poke and prod you, force will tie their minds. Recant your Synesthesia, they scream as if you're blind! Synesthesia- so different and so rare. You hide it from your mate and friends Because they can not share. Synesthesia- the very root and core. The movements of these tiny strings, This, and nothing more. The rumblings of these tiny strings, This, and nothing more. The echoes of these tiny strings, Echoes of these, Echoes of these, Echoes of these tiny strings… © 2000 Doug Dickeson All rights reserved. [/i] If you want info on my CD "String Theory", [url=http://www.mp3.com/dougdickeson]Click this link.[/url]

[Mooseboy]

BTW- apologies for the shameless plug, and thanks to Dr. Frankensteinway, AKA FlameTop Fred, AKA Moth Mouth Michelle, AKA Vincent, etc. for pointing me this way.

[Bonafide]

[quote]Originally posted by Chip McDonald: [b] I beat you by 1 minute.[/b][/quote] HA!! [img]http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img] I noticed that. Actually when I hit the post button, my computer sort of froze and tweaked and I had to hit refresh. I guessed that we probably hit the post button at the same time and your computer muscled it's way to the front. [img]http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

[alphajerk]

i dream in full technicolor surreality. the only way i can tell a dream from reality is the defiance of this reality's physics. i just quit smoking via the patch [and then bagged that in week2] but they had a caution for vivid dreams due to the patch if worn at night, my dreams were no different... although normally strange as usual.

[Chip McDonald]

If your brain is working right you don't mix the inputs of your senses up. Dreaming in color: my theory used to be that people who claimed to only dream in monochrome were raised on B&W television... but apparently that's not the case? I dream in full color, surround sound, high bit rate an all. Dreaming is an extreamly fascinating subject: it's quite amazing what the mind can create in the short span of rem sleep. I've tried remembering music I've dreamed before and recording it, but it's such a mercurial thing.... It's almost like it's better to remember the vibe of the music and take a stab at what you think the arrangement is you're hearing and go from there, although sometimes a melody sneaks through (or dominates)... It wants to escape, but like some dreams some things "stick" in detail. A strange thing, and again something that points to (I think) the human mind having more capability than it physically should have. ------------------ [b]New and Improved Music Soon:[/b] http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald