Tasting colors, seeing musical tones — in general, perceiving anything through the “wrong” sensory channel — has fascinated scientists since they first identified it in the 19th century. Several MuseBloggers appear to have experienced it firsthand. Here’s a thread for discussing it, by special request of Faye Beauchamp.
Patience, Please
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I’ll start by repeating something I told Faye on the random thread:
MBers have discussed synesthesia on a few threads in the past, including https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=326 and
https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=565#comment-15 . Both Supreme Muser 2000 and Kiki the Great say they are synesthetes, to different degrees.
I might Have a bit…
Why thank you Robert!
first post?
Let me start by proudly acknowledging that I am a synesthete. I see color patters, most often in circular shapes, when I hear sounds.
anyone else?
oh wait, that was stupid, Robert got first post… jk, never mind.
Hmm. I already said this but when I was very young I was able to taste temperature.
Sounds sometimes have texture or temperature to me. Any kind of scratching feels like having chalk on me. I hate that feeling because it seems so dry and weird. Some things feel like hugging a big fuzzy thing. I can’t recall what they are right now.
Silence and dark inside a closed room make a big colorless thing that looks like a crumpled ball of paper, but it gets bigger and smaller very quickly. It pushes on me and reminds me of drowning. I’m not scared of the dark, but when I was little this image scared me half to death because I thought I really could drown in it if I moved. It always starts in a corner of the ceiling and grows out.
Yes. I exist. I am one. I associate colors / textures with words. I don’t taste colors, on the other hand.
I’m not really a synesthete. Or maybe I am. I’m not sure. It’s true that names and letters make me subconsciously think of colors (the letter A is pink, for example), but I’m not sure if this is actually because I’m a synesthete or for some other reason.
Robert Coontz – Dark blue.
The Man For Aeiou – Purple and red.
Faye Beauchamp – Very velvety black with a touch of color, but I’m not sure what color.
Unintended Pun – Heather grey.
Eh. I ascsociate ideas with colors or textures, but I’m not synethetic.
I’m definitely not a synesthete, but it’s fun to think of colors for sounds and words, and other synesthetic things.
Alice – lavender
Vixen – dark brownish red
TMFA – bright red
Faye – sunny yellow
Unintended Pun – light green
Robert Coontz – dark blue
I’m not a synesthete…at least I don’t think so. Some people’s names make me think of colors, but it’s not because of synesthesia. I think it’s that the names relate to something else I know of and that color comes to mind.
Synesthesia is very, very cool though.
Anybody ever read the book A Mango-Shaped Space? It’s about a girl with synesthesia. I can see why scientists were fascinated by it.
Has anyone read The Man Who Tasted Shapes, by Richard Cytowic? I have the 1993 edition, but there’s a more recent one out there.
A dinner conversation launched his research effort. His friend Michael, while whisking some sauce, said “oh, dear, there aren’t enough points on the chicken…I wanted the taste of this chicken to be a pointed shape, but it came out all round. Well, I mean it’s nearly spherical.”
Point of trivia: an entire chapter of the book is devoted to a conversation with my religion professor from college, the Rev. Clark Thompson, of fond memory, even though no matter how hard I worked for his class, he never gave any of my papers higher than a B+.
(13) wow, cool.
There is something called “temporary deftness” but I forgot the scientific name for it. I hit my head really hard and they (doctors) said it damaged my temporal lobe. So my hearing got worse and worse. I love music, and The Beatles. I couldn’t stand not hearing them or their music. About twice a year we go to a Beatles Tribute band ( I think that year we went to The Cavern Beat, and “relive Beatlemania, Ultimate Experience”, or something like that.) I had been practicing a way I could “feel” the music with balloons. So I took a balloon to the concert so I could feel the Vibrations of the drums. But now I’m better, but I’m not the best. I can’t hear a lot of quiet things though!
10 – Yeah, same here. I was at a lunch with some other girls from school and a few teachers (after my presentation on Thursday) and I was doing that, but everybody thought I was just being random. I really think Shelby sounds like grass, though, for some reason.
I don’t think I can, but sometimes when I hear a word or sound it makes me think of a color/texture.
But I think it’s from memory, not that big S word.
Some objects or sounds give me general mental feelings that make me think of other things.
I’ve been fascinated with synesthesia for a while.
Those books sound interesting! I’d actually heard of A Mango Shaped Space but only as a good title for the competitive charades games we play at my summer writing class against the acting class. We normally beat them too.
Those of you who associate different things with names what does my name (oxlin) sound, look, feel, smell or taste like?
You beat the acting class at charades?
I’m not a synesthete, but the censoring beep is always red for me.
I have a lot of word-association moments, but not synesthesia.
18- I think it sounds like some sort of medicine. Is that what you mean?
Alice-It makes me think of looking through lace like those hats that have it hanging over the brim.
Beavo-Your name reminds me of stars cut out of construction paper.
Rebecca Lasley-Your name makes me think of a field of yellow flowers like daffodils, but only when your last name is here too. Rebecca is like someone wearing a calico dress.
Kari-This reminds me of pink polka dots on a white background.
I think these are just associations for me, but it’s fun to try and see what things remind me of.
My real name is green. I think I’m going to go make pictures of what people’s names should look like.
I see these differently…
Alice – Salmon
Vixen – Gold
TMFA – Perriwinkle
Faye – Red/orange
Unintended Pun – Purple/blue
Robert Coontz – Pale green
Jadestone – Sandy brown
KaiYves – Light purple and Silver
oxlin widdershins – Light blue and dark blue
I dont really know if I am a Synesthingy, like I said before I associate colors with letters, but maybe thats because Im wierd but Oxlin your name, to me is….bluey-greeny-orange…dont ask…I can see it in my head, I cant say what it is though?!?!?
boy am I strange ToT
I dont really know if I am a Synesthingy, like I said before I associate colors with letters, but maybe thats because Im wierd but Oxlin your name, to me is….bluey-greeny-orange…dont ask…I can see it in my head, I cant say what it is though?!?!?
boy am I strange ToT
18- A large, smooth, dark blue oval egg with flecks of turquoise color.
I read A Mango Shaped Space (Wendy Moss). It is a wonderful book. *wants to buy book* I’m reading Musicophilia (Oliver Sacks) which is a fascinating book about music and the human brain. It also touches on synesthsia.
Sometimes I see things in response to something that have impossible properties. Like a largish square sphere that is covered in needle sharp spine and is furry and loving (there’s not really a word for what it is…) Also, some music videos I can remember with the music. Like someone will play the music and I will ‘see’ the video over reality. But only pieces.
I taste smell, but cant everyone do that? I dunno….
22-woah, what am I…? I’m pretty sure I can smell heat, cold is a bit harder to sense but it’s there. Heat can smell pretty bad.
22- do you see TMFA and The Man For Aeiou differently?
Apparently, Nikola Tesla had it.
Sometimes I associate numbers/letters/words/colours/shapes with numbers/letters/words/colours/shapes, but I don’t think I have it.
though occasionally things of this sort will randomly happen if I feel really strongly about something. One of my friend’s stories looks like a pair of earrings I made, feels like sunlight and tastes like grapefruit juice. and I associate it with a sort of salmon-ish/inside of grapefruit/copper-y color. But I don’t think I have synesthesia.
hmm… I sometimes mix letters/numbers up, but i don’t think i have synesthesia. sometimes i’ll be writing something, and randomly i’ll just mix up, say, T and 3. that happens a lot.
I can try it, I think…
Robert- Dark blue and orange polka dots
The Man for Aeiou- Salmon pink, dark blue stripes
Faye- Pale yellow
Unintended Pun-Sorry, I still think of a black “PUN” on white paper.
Red Hed Em-Blue jeans blue and red stripes
Alice-Red with a yellow stripe at the top
Vixen-Red curly hair
Purple Panda-Purple with green and white dots
Kari-Shiny hot pink
Nora-Brown and purple X’s
Rebecca-Pink and purple 2D cotton balls
Beatlesrocksr- Dirty blonde thin stripes
Cat’s Meow-Pink, blue and yellow mesh
KaiYeevs-Yellow and dark brown ovals
Oxlin-Light blue and white oval egg
Jadestone-Red ring
Capricious-Blue and green splotches
Sam-Yellow straw
Penguini-Purple and yellow waves
Dancegirl-Purple swirls
Giminator-Orange and green scales
SM-Watermelon colors
C++darkmage- Blue and black waves
Robert- Dark blue
The Man for Aeiou- Red and purple ribbons
Faye- Black with bursts of bright green and pink and yellow
Unintended Pun- Heather grey cotton, white piping
Red Hed Em- A red hen and curly red hair
Beavo- Crayon blue and yellow
Vixen- Opalescence
Purple Panda- Magenta
Kari- Blue-black
Nora- Dark green and orange
Rebecca- Pink
Beatlesrocksr- Yellow
Cat’s Meow- Orange orange orange
KaiYves- Black
Jadestone- A dark, translucent green
Capricious- Blue denim
Sam- Yellow
Penguini- Purple
Dancergirl – Pink
Gimanator- Silver
Sweet Melpomene- Orange, yellow, the taste of honey
C++darkmage- Dark purple velvet
My dad said a lot of musicians/artists have a mild form of synesthesia. So he does, and I do too.
Some body: Do you see TMFA and The Man For Aeiou differently?
36- Given that my mind automatically abbreviates The Man For Aeiou into TMFA whether I write it that way or not, no.
When I hear music I think of experiences, imagine smells and colors. Sometimes it’s almost like watching a music video.
Words and colors don’t really make me think of anything, as far as I can tell. Maybe a certain color will remind me of someone I know, but only now and then.
what color am I? A.k.a. How do you see the word red? is it red?
There was one time I was listening to this music and I could suddenly SEE it. It was a red string with a bulge in it traveling along the string.
That was as close to synesthesia as I’ve ever been.
39- Red is orange-ish red. To me.
(34,33) I was happy to see my name on both of those lists, I am finally recognized!
(27) When I go into my bathroom (it smells so bad sometimes) I plug my nose, then I wash my hands with the lavender soap and it feels like I can taste the smell……. but those are the only times.
13 – Yes! It was an excellent book. Have you read “Blue Cats and Chartreuse Kittens”? It’s another good one, along with a brand new one, “The Hidden Sense”.
Red Hed Em- Red and orange
Beavo- olive green
Kari- bright yellow and lime green
Rebecca- pink
Beatlesrocksr- dark blue and reddish black
Cat’s Meow- lemon yellow and bright green
KaiYves- dark purple
Jadestone- green (the color of jade) and sparkly red
Capricious- spiky yellow and stripes of pink
Sam- yellow
Penguini- black and white
Dancergirl – light blue and pink
Gimanator- cold, silvery black
Sweet Melpomene- a dark bluish, soft black color
C++darkmage- silver
Robert – wide streaks of gold shoot out from a center point on a very dark grey background
Rebecca – neon green hexagon shapes shoot out from a center point on a dark yellow background
Rosanne – a spiral of soft purple on a background of varying shades of grey, with little yellow specks
purplepanda-purple
hehehe…
catsmeow-soft pale brown, a kitty color!
Alice-lacey blue
Beavomastrofhowmanyspndxpoints?-brown, beaver brown
MF-black like midnight. and also i think of a cello when i see your name…… i think it’s because my big sis plays the cello, I know you play the violin.
I think of myself as green. Bright highlight green, or navy blue, or dark evergreen green………..
I want to be a synaesthete, but I don’t think I am. I associate colors or feelings with letters/numbers/words sometimes, but not with the regularity that the condition requires (I read once that people with synaesthesia could immediately see colors for letters, and always the same ones, for example a single M in a field of Ns might be obvious because it was red instead of green. I don’t have that.). I always associate music with very specific feelings, but doesn’t everyone do that? It sometimes also has colors, but usually only emotions and memories.
The books sound interesting.
I ascociate colors with sounds. For fun:
Purple Panda- light green, like bamboo.
Alice- pink
(44) that’s odd, that’s kinda how my eyes look like……. Hehe weird eyes, right?
Robert-Dark blue with dark green splotches
The Man for Aeiou-Darkish purple with orange swirls
Faye-Light purple silk
Unintended Pun-Yellow and orange
Red Hed Em-I picture a rooster sitting on top of a barn for some reason. Possibly because I keep accidently reading your name as Red Hen.
Alice-Yellow with some orange streaks
Vixen-Orange with a pale shape on it
Purple Panda-Green and orange
Rebecca-Pink
Beatlesrocksr-Green and yellow with a little bit of blue on the edges
Oxlin-Brown with some black speckles
Jadestone-Green, a little shiny, really round
Capricious-Orange and really smooth
Penguini-Purple and black
Dancegirl-Light pink and black
Giminator-Black with tiny silver spots
IBCF-Purple and orange
POSOC-Gold and green
Wow, most people have said I look purple, my favorite color!
Kai- yeah maybe a soft purple and mahogany.
32-Isnt that dislexia? I have no idea. Just sounds farmiliar.
wow, ok reading the last posts, I didnt realize I can smell heat and cold too. How wierd…
39-My “red” is more like a brownish red, not the typical crayon red or orangish red.
…This is sorta like when this deaf high schooler came to my GT class and we all tried to lip read, and we told our friends what we thought they said. It was like a disturbing game of Telephone.
Synesthesia seems very froody….but I regret to say that I don’t have it. Or at least I don’t think I do. I associate people with colors, but I doubt that’s real synesthesia…
I have a friend who has sound-color synesthesia. She tells me that my voice is yellow with green and orange spikes, or something like that. I don’t like that, since it sounds like it would be rather ugly. But whatever.
My computer’s spellcheck is idiotic and doesn’t like ‘synesthesia.’ I am angry with my computer. It doesn’t like a lot of the weird words I use
53~ Dyslexia is when you mix up and reverse things, like writing “hte” instead of “the” is an example that comes to mind. Many people claim to be dislexic,and it’s probably valid, but some cases are worse than others.
54~ I can lip-read a little bit. I’m not very good at it, but I’ve had conversations with my mom across the room without anyone knowing it, or understanding what we had “said.”
It’s a nice skill to have, I should practice more.
I hope everyone realizes that while it’s fun to put colors with names and people, synesthesia is very different from that.
When I hear someone say something, a kaleidoscope of colors appear in my mind’s eye and I’m not even doing anything to think of the colors. Red, when I say it, looks like tie-dye orange with varying shades. Other synesthetes see colors actually filling in the letters that they read. Some hear sounds when they look at pictures. Still others feel something on their ankles when they hear a guitar.
So yeah. I fear this sentence may be verging on rude, but just because you can put colors with people doesn’t mean you have synesthesia. It’s hard to explain the difference… I hope everyone understands this.
Some people ask, “How is this different from smelling a pie and seeing a picture of a pie in my head?” The answer is: very different. When you see that picture of a pie in your head, your brain is just bringing forth pre-formed images based on memories. A synesthete, though, would involuntarily perhaps see a pattern of colors or maybe hear bagpipes.
57- I completely understand.
57- Completely understood. We were (or at least I was) putting down ascociations, which is like the pie smell=pie picture.
It may sound rude, but isn’t being a synesthete rather… annoying? I can imagine that while you are watching a movie, and then it suddenly feels like an ice cube on your shoulder, or maybe one sound is very hot and almost feels like it’s burning…
59. Well, being a synthe-whatsit is really kind of nice, in a sense. I only percieve what the word IS. It might be a color, it might be a texture, and or a sound. If someone says something to me, I will see in my mind’s eye, but not like in front of my face. It might be annoying if you were a synth-whatsit who percived FEELINGS with sounds… it might be annoying. It’s generally involuntary, which is a great sign of being synthes…(something)
I think being able to see colors with certain words and things would be REALLY COOL. It might make life kind of complicated, though.
57- I understand. I hope my previous comment wasn’t insensitive.
57-Sorry if we were annoying you. It was just really fun to see what people associated things with.
57 — understood.
quick question for anybody who actually is a synesthete, and you can answer it or not: do you have any feelings, good or bad, about being a synesthete? i understand that would kind of be like asking a non-synesthete, ‘how do you feel about having the sense of touch?’ but you might have a different answer.
oh yeah and my dad said he sometimes hallucinates colors and stuff when he listens to music.
and i started reading musicophelia but got kinda bored and went to my phantoms in the brain book instead. but is there interesting stuff in the musicophelia book?
59, 64-My synesthete friend says she hates loud music, because it makes her see splotches of color. Or something like that.
That’s…slightly depressing.
59 – Many synesthetes, myself included, cannot imagine living without their synesthesia. It’s become a part of them/us.
Non-synesthetic people often ask, “What’s it like to be a synesthete?”
Well, syesthetes often ask, “What’s it like to not see colors [or feel or taste or hear or smell something unrelated to what you just sensed]?”
63 – Oh no! Not at all was anyone annoying me! I just didn’t want people to believe that they had synesthesia when they really didn’t, that’s all.
64 – Musicophilia, I thought, was a fascinating book. There’s a good section in it about synesthesia, but besides that, it was amazing to see how we, humans, react scientifically to music.
65 – Depends on how loud we’re talking about. The splotches of color could be mild musicophobia (where a person intensely dislikes music, of course) or it could just be that the volume is starting to give them a headache. Perhaps your friend just has overly sensitive ears.
My grandmother on my father’s side had synesthesia, I believe. A type of synesthesia has to do with auras, where a synesthete will see a ring of colored light around a person. My grandmother told my father she had this ability, though I was never able to ask her myself.
Fun fact: synesthetes have prominently reported precognition and deja vu. Whoooooo, spooky!
67- do you see/hear/feel/taste/smell anything when you see the name oxlin? I’m really curious!
i think that disorder thingy is kinda cool! but also kinda horrible to hav, it could ruin ur life! but then again, tasting donuts while ur music teach plays could b an advantage
70-The advantage? Good food for free!
12–I loved that book!
18–“oxlin widdershins” looks like polished wooden pantaloons to me, although I am not synesthetic.
Sometimes when I’m listening to music, I make a video for it in my head. For example, “Remember the Name” by Fort Minor has a dark blue background with a thick black dot gliding and throbbing along the bottom to the beat. The up-and-down synth-string is in the middle of the screen and looks like a dark-green jagged line. The voices are different-sized brown flashing circles and also kind of in the middle. The other synth-sounds are silver waves.
I like making videos in my head. It can change how I feel about a song.
Can you compare seeing colors in your head to the patterns made on Windows Media Player, those visual “effects”?
70- *cringes* Please don’t use text speak!
My friend has synesthesia, but he doesn’t tell many people because people just assume that he is crazy or on drugs, even after he explains it to them. People around here are too used to blaming everything on drugs.
69 – When I see the name “oxlin”, nothing happens. However, when I say the word “oxlin” I see a pattern:
– Start with a black rectangle (which represents my mind’s eye). Put a dot in the exact middle. This is your center point.
– On the syllable “ox”: From the center point spreads out a forest green with softened, blurry edges.
– On the syllable “lin”: The spreading green lightens considerably, having been mixed with a sunny yellow. The entire rectangle is now yellow-green – not a nauseous color, like the crayons, but a cheery color. It’s like… orange juice mixed with a few drops of blue food coloring.
74 – Yeah, synesthesia can be temporarily reproduced with hallucinatory drugs like LSD (not to mention ‘shrooms). I think the band Pink Floyd experimented with the temp synesthesia and produced an electronic color display to go with their music.
Its kind of nice to be one, as you get the most amusing combinations for sentences. Like:
Rats live on no evil star (same backwards as forwards is)
Brown shiny racecar red chrome blinding chain-feeling microphone amplification.
Really. It’s strange but really, really funny.
75- Prettyy……
12- i love that book.
i am not a synthesite, but i wish i was.
if no one minds, and they are a synthesite, what color is Zoe. i have always wanted to know, but i have always been afraid to ask
79 – Lemme see…
“Zoe” When I say it…
Pale pale pale yellow background.
“Zo”: neon purple spots shoot out from the center point
“e”: the purple spots start to circle around the center point, but fade out.
It’s lovely.
This is awesome, to all of those who are you are very fortunate. Anyway I’ve always thought of numbers and words as certian colors and when I was little I thought everybody knew that certian #s and names meant colors. But I don’t have synethesia.
80 – thank you faye that is really cool. i am happy being pale pale yellow with purple. * goes off whistling*
I started reading A Mango-Shaped Space yesterday. It’s really, really good.
Hey I didn’t see THIS thread!!!!!!!!!!
Boy is it dead.
I think I’m a synesthete.
I didn’t see this thread too! It IS dead.
I don’t think I’m a synesthe. Sometimes I get color translations, but that’s it.
Play on Lemony Snicket; you’ll see why I’m posting it here- The Name of This Book is Secret.
84- What senses are connected for you?
I looked at a picture of a dog. What did I hear? Not barking. The tap of a pencil. I look at the portrait of a girl, what did I hear? A train.
That was random.
A sharp tap on the shoulder. Random. Hm.
Lady. Fluffy, not soft. But rough, and fluffy.
Nail. Wet. Like a dog’s nose.
Grape. Stinging. Red, numb.
Wire. Smooth, dented.
Rail. Tingling, like a foot that has fallen asleep.
Have you guys heard of the Kiki-Bobo Effect? Most people, when shown a pointy shape and a blob and asked which one is Kiki and which is Bobo will say the pointy one is Kiki and the blob is Bobo. I looked at the shapes, and I agree. Also, the Kiki shape makes me think of orange and the Bobo shape makes me think of blue.
That makes sense to me, because the word “Kiki” is pointy and the word “Bobo” is round. The shapes of the letters, I mean.
86- I don’t really get connections strictly, but I have a sort of… sense… about music. When something is in Dorian mode, I feel- not see, feel- the color silver. Dorian is my favorite mode, so silver is my favorite color. Moods have colors too, or should I say colors have moods? Silver is mysterious. Gold feels pretty. Red is angry. Black is caught in depression. Gray is depressed and kind of woozy. Pink is cheerful. Yellow feels sick if it’s my science classroom, but if it’s a sunflower it’s over-cheerful. Dark green is Christmas-y, but red isn’t at ALL. Light blue is calm. Sage green is happy but not overly. brown feels rich and encompassing, but in a good way, like choklit. There’s other stuff too, but I’l post about that later…
I can’t stand to be around meat. That I will say. I am a vegetarian because from birth I’ve always felt extremely sick when I smell meat. Three days ago, there was chicken for lunch in the cafeteria and I had a horrible stomachache for the rest of the day, I guess the meat sends “I-was-once-alive” vibes to me, or something.
Sometimes I get premonitions…
I loved The Name Of This Book Is Secret!
I kind of wish I were a synesthete… I’m not at all. I associate numbers with personalities, though. Like, if I think about it, I can come up with a number that “fits” one of my friends. Each number sort of has basic characteristic, but they change depending on whether they’re the first or second digit and what the other digit is. For example, girls’ numbers rarely start with 5, 6, or 7, while guys’ numbers usually start with them. The numbers themselves have kind of textures that usually sort of translate into personalities… does that make sense? Like, for example, 2 is like very clear, icy water or a shard of glass. Somehow (and this doesn’t really make sense) those are also sort of bubbly and shiny. So, my sister, who’s really hyper, is a 29. The “9” sort of deflates the 2 a little bit, rounding and dulling it at the corners, kind of. I have another friend who also is a twenty-something, but she’s a 24. In her case, the 4 flattens the 2 and makes it really precise.
Wow, I get the idea that I’m making no sense at all. >.< But anyway… I have to think about it, so it’s not synesthesia.
Yeah, that sounds like something I’d do. I absolutely HATE putting negative numbers with positives, negatives are so depressing to me.
Hey, what happened to the revival of this thread?
I associate light blue with peace, cerulean blue with contemplation and mystery, purple with individuality and the unknown, and orange with energy.
Hmm…I don’t believe I have this synesthete, but I very definetly associate sounds with colors and designs. Smells, as well. Letters of the alphabet have colors too. Like…’a’ is red, while ‘u’ is a fuzzy brownish-orange. No idea why.
94- that sounds like synesthesia to me.
88- That’s probably because the letters of each name are pointy and round, respectively.
I see the number two as being blue, six as being green, eight as being purple and nine as being red. Also, for some reason I associate eight with individuality and nine with royalty.
I see the number six as being orange-pink, eight as being blue, and nine as being purple-blue. I associate five with red, plus courage and strength. I thought everyone did…
I don’t think I’m a synesthete, though.
I have word/number/color associations, but not synesthesia.
I always want to ask what my name looks/fels/smells/ect like whenever someone mentions being one, but I always feel like they must get that quetin a lot, and it woul dbe rude to ask.
But if any MB synesthetes would like to tell me what ‘Jadestone’ apears as to them, I would enjoy it very much.
It makes me think of polished dark green marble with white streaks in it, like in a fancy hotel lobby.
98- Well, I’m I don’t think I’m a synesthete, and it may be because jade is a type of stone, but when I see your name I think of a medium-sized, round, smooth stone with swirls of a turqoisish blue and a very dark gray. It is set in a pewter holder of some sort and worn around the neck as a necklace. Okay, I think I may just be beginning to fall asleep, but that’s what I see. And it’s weird, because real jade is green.
98- Hm, Jadestone. Pulsating bursts of pain almost, not quite. A queer pain. A dull pain…
I don’t think I’m a synesthete, but I’ve been noticing some synesthete-like stuff lately. For example, I realized that all of my memories are either still photographs or smudges of color. And often both, layered on top of each other.
Like, if I think about soccer I kind of get a really rough picture of a soccer field, but it’s mostly just a big green smudge with a white line down the middle. And a panda is a black and white blob.
I think my brain is too lazy to form the picture any further. =P
I can remember stuff from when I was like 6 months old.
I don’t think I have synesthesia, but I have noticed something. When I see a name, I don’t get a colour, per se, but I do get the image of a memory of some sort, a completely unrelated memory. I do have an excellent memory, and I wonder if the two things are related.
REVIVE THIS THREAD P*EASE?
I know I had synesthesia when I was little. I have a really good memory, and one of my very early memories is of reading a storybook and seeing all the letters different colors. Then I have a later memory of picking up the same storybook and complaining, “Why are the letters all black? They’re supposed to be colored!” My mom, who was researching synesthesia for a book about Amy Beach a while ago, told me that some scientists think that everyone is born with synesthesia. What do you guys think?
If synesthesia results from a defect in mental wiring, then it would make sense for it to be more common in very young people whose brains haven’t finished being “wired.”
I see colored spots a lot, but they are eye spots, not from synesthesia. Tell me, is synesthesia more fun to have, or does it get really annoying?
Smells and sounds have certain words that correlate with them, and vice versa. For example:
Smell of Goodwill clothing: Photocopy.
Sound of voice of a friend from camp: Tinsel.
Don’t know what that means. Prolly not synthesia, though.
I am proud to announce that I have not one, but two types of synesthesia, though one is definitely more prominent than the other.
As discussed just over a year ago on this thread, I see colors when I hear things.
Well, for some things, I smell them too!
I’m a cellist and in the world of cellists, Jacqueling DuPre = goddess. But not according to me. I’ve always found her playing style to be too… flowery. Even though her style is rather agressive and really anything but “flowery”. Well, one day, I was listening to her on the radio and thinking about how flowery she was and then it hit me – she smells like flowers. Jacqueling DuPre’s cello and playing style induce the scent of very strong floral perfume. I normally enjoy the smell of flowers, but this is the cheap kind of perfume that they sell for kids to use and then the kids use waaaaaay too much and it just smells awful… or the kind old folks use to much of. Either way. But still, that’s why I always described her with flowers. idk, fun story…
I wonder if creative people kind of naturally have these color and sound associations? Like not syne-whatsit but just because our brains are used to combining lots of different mediums to create a single thing? I don’t know if that makes sense. But like for me, all of the characters I write have very specific color combinations associated with their name, and particular styles of music, dress, art…even smells. But I think that’s just because creative people are good at imagining things really well, to the point where they can pick up the “feeling” of something and think of other things with that same “feel”.
Ok. End hypothesizing rant.
Faye or Red Hed, if you’re still around–what is your favorite word? Or maybe the prettiest word?
108-Yeah, I had that too, I don’t know what it was. Like, these purple socks I had always reminded me of grape jelly. My mother’s voice is green and white striped, my father’s is dark blue with an itchy fabric feel, Clarissa’s is a black background with lots of swirly purple, pink and little bits of blue and it feels like feathers, and mine is a clear, plastic orange box. My dog’s bark is a sandpapery brown. But I don’t immidiatly see the color, I can just identify them when I try.
(110) That sounds plausible to me. Does that mean that the things at which you’re most creative are those that feel the most real to you when you’re not actually doing and sensing them?
111- Yeah, that’s what it’s like for me with name colors and word-pictures, and the stuff I get for music. Does anyone else get colors, pictures, or “feelings” about music that have absolutely nothing to do with the song?
113-Yeah, I guess. Like, most of the time they have to do with the music, like the song Circus gives me immages of Pippin (very similar setting), but I’m sure if it was written in Finnish I’d get the same feeling. And song The Birds and the Bees by Breathe Carolina makes me really really really happy for some reason, even though it’s a completely shallow song about sex.
114- Kelly Clarkson’s music is good as music, but it has this weird feeling like, I don’t know, despair or something. It’s so weird.
110 – I’m not sure about my favorite word… it really varies depending on who’s saying it… However, my friend does have the prettiest name when she says it – It’s a color scheme of rose petals, with pale pinks to romantic burgundies. It’s very pretty, even though I’m not normally a fan of pink. *no offense meant to the MBlog’s scheme*
114- The whole reason I love electronica is because of the extremely happy feeling it gives me, I have no idea why.
I don’t know, maybe I am a synesthete. I was just reading the chapter on synesthesia and music in Musicophilia, and it said something about “not actually seeing the colors” or something like that. Now that I can relate to. For me, the color is just there; I’m usually too busy doing or thinking about something else to pay attention to it, but when I concentrate, I know exactly what color it is. With music, too… it’s not keys or anything, it’s more… the mode, maybe. Or just the whole feeling of the song? I’ll have to test it out.
REVIVE!!!
For anyone who isn’t sure if they have synesthesia, there’s a test: ht tp:// w ww.synes thete.or g/
When my friend (who is a synesthete) and I were supposed to be studying for exams, we had an epic color war which was tons of fun for us but kind of annoyed my friends.
Okay, random revival of thread, here.
I’m not sure if I’m a Syne-whatsit, but I associate feelings and memories with smells. Like, I often get a feeling of Deja vu that I can tell is from a very young age, and it happens when I smell something very clinical, like a polished school floor. Actually, now that I think about it, I get deja vu a lot, and it ties in to all my senses. It’s like,if one sense relates back to a memory, my entire body and all my senses go there. I’m really not explaining this well, am I?
Besides that, I have, like, premonitions. When I was ~5, I knew what our new house was going to look like, exactly. This isn’t happening as much anymore, though.
I get a really freaky sense of Deja vu a lot. Also, I’ve sort of vaguely predicted the future.
Oh goodness, I get deja vu all the time. I mean, I have snippets of memories starting when I was probably around 4 or so, and they just seem to repeat themself over and over again. It’s sort of weird, but I’m curious as to whether or not anybody else is like this?
I don’t think I have synesthesia though – I don’t really associate numbers or letters with certain colors or images, as it seems to be the case, although I am a very visual person and I do picture things in my head a lot.
But yeah, a lot of deja vu.
Most numbers have personalities for me, although I don’t know if this counts as syn-whatever;
1-Very quiet and shy
2-Popular, snobby
3-Happy
4-Shy
5-Boisterous
6-Afraid and abused. Nobody likes 6.
7-Mean
8-Kind, gentle
9-Um…how shall I put this….strange. The odd one out
0-Hardly ever talks
It is a form of synesthesia, yes. I’ve heard some people that have a more extreme version of it have trouble with math, because sometimes they have to make numbers work together that don’t like each other.
Yeah. I hate doing 6 times 8, because 8 hates that 6 ruins its perfect 40. And, 6 is jealous of 8 because 6 has four steps to get to 24, and 8 only has three.
6 and 8 multiplied is always very smooth to me… But the second part, SO TRUE.
Yes… I “associate” numbers with colors. Most numbers take me a second to think about to find their colors. Also, people always have colors to me (but I have to think about it, and usually other people join in once I start). The only number/thing that ever came completely naturally to me is 46 being purple. I remember thinking that when I was six. 36 is the second easiest, being green.
Yeah, putting colors and things together is just a passerby/hobby to me. I wish I was a synesthiac.
That’s funny… I associate numbers with personalities as well…
1- Snobbish, antisocial
2- Kind of shy, quiet
3- Quirky, impulsive
4- Kind, friendly. Gets along well with 6
5- Rude, haughty
6- Quiet, not very social. Gets along well with 4
7- Very outgoing, forthright, can be rude
8- Fatherly figure, loving
9- Odd, a little bit feared
0- Gets along with everyone, but isn’t very close to anyone
Wow. That’s creepy. To me, they’re exactly the same way, except 2 doesn’t have a personality, 3 is sort of snobby at times, but has lots of mood swings, and 9 is creepy and morbid.
0–white, and just blank. Don’t trust 0, though. He can be tricky.
1–black, she likes to be in front and not in the back and certainly not the middle. She’s kind of bossy sometimes.
2–light blue, very sweet and nice. She’s like Ingrid on Demigod RPG.
3–pink, and she’s like a giggly two-year old on a sugar high. Thank heavens three isn’t yellow, then that toddler would be bouncing off the walls and would drive all the other numbers insane.
4–reddish/orange, stoic. 4 doesn’t say much but he is very dependable. 4 is a great number.
5–purple, and akin to three, but she’s calmer. 5 likes to have fun.
6–bright green, and vain as can be. She doesn’t like to interact with others but would prefer to stand alone.
7–golden yellow. 7 is gold and knows it. He’s noble but proud too.
8–a soft red. 8 is sweet but very shy, and she and 4 get along well. They’re just those kinds of friends that understand each other and don’t really need to talk all the time.
9–yellow. 9 knows that she is almost grown up and desperately wants to hang out with the 10s.
10–black and white. 10 knows that he’s in charge and is almost full of himself because one can do so many cool things with ten.
Ah, see I don’t associate specific personalities with numbers, but when do math I inevitably end up coming up with stories and emotions for the numbers based on their roles in the equation I’m working on.
I think the key word here is “associate.” As I understand it, true synesthetes don’t “associate” they experience numbers as colors, tastes as shapes, or whatever their particular sensory wiring reveals to them. It’s not something they turn on and off or think about. It just is.
On the other hand, our senses work in concert in more ways than we generally realize (hearing is aided by vision and touch, for example), so it’s not surprising that any of us might now and then experience a little commingling of signals through either imagination or perception.
That’s a great way to put it. Substitute “experience” with “understand” and it will be spot-on.
121- Yes, I realize that I am not, in fact, synesthetic, becasue I have to think about it first, and I don’t have colors for all numbers. However, this just seemed like the most appropriate place to post the associations.
1- bright blue, but when I do math just plain annoying
2- a paler, nicer blue, cooperative, pretty
3- red, quite stubborn, not really likeable
4- yellow, nice
5- a cool colour, like 2, it gets along well with other numbers, but I’m not sure I like it with 2
6- a sort of rose pink, friendly and smart
7- sometimes purple. I like it, especially on its own
8- this one’s hard to explain. It’s popular and definitely female, possibly orange or something else bright but tasteful, and I like it better on its own. Somehow I think of the 8 in “YEAR 8” as being in a bad mood.
9-huge, dominating
0- invisible, but a lot of them together make me a bit uncomfortable
I don’t think of individual sounds as having colours, but songs definitely do. I’m not sure if I am actually synesthetic, but certain numbers do look better together than others- I don’t like 53, and it’s got more of 3’s personality than 5’s. 62, however, is pink and blue. I hate putting 1 with numbers like 6 or itself.
As a followup to my post on the random thread, I compiled a list of my key signature/color associations:
A-flat major – Reddish maroon
A-flat minor – Red velvet
A major – Red
A minor – Dark red
B-flat major – Lively brown
B-flat minor – Chocolate
B major – Glowing purple
B minor – Dark purple
C major – Clear (like glass)
C minor – Indigo
C-sharp major – Bright blue, icy
C-sharp minor – Silver
D-flat major – Deep, fluid blue
D-flat minor – Dark navy blue
D major – Blue
D minor – Blue velvet
E major – Yellow
E minor – Dark, tannish yellow
F major – Green
F minor – Dark green
F-sharp major – Kelly green
F-sharp minor – Emerald green
G major – Golden
G minor – Orangish tan
G-sharp major – Wheat
G-sharp minor – Light gold
And, despite the limitations of trying to convert the idea of a color into digital graphics, I made a chart as well, which the GAPAs might be able to insert if they’re feeling generous:
E flat major/ minor?
And you seem to have listed both A flat and G sharp…
SFTTP (ugh… I hate myself now)
But you also have C sharp and D flat…
Or are you one of those people for which it’s actually different?
Are you implying that Piggy is not well tempered?
Yes, they are different for me. And as for E-flat, it’s just blank. No colors there.
(Incidentally, I would have used “whom”, not “which”.)
… We have a thread for this? How nice.
In response to Lady B’s post (over a year ago, but I haven’t much else to do)- I don’t know if you have to be a “true” synesthete to experience whatever you happen to associate. I do experience synesthesia- that is, when I hear noises I see shapes and colors around me. Well, not so much shapes as forms- spirals or lines or zigzags, as well as circles. This happens for pretty much every noise. On the other hand, I associate letters with colors, although I don’t see them when I read. I think that’s a form of synesthesia, too.
If I think about it (and occasionally if I don’t), I sort of feel-and-see or hear-and-see some words. For instance, “susurration” sounds like secret rustlings in bushes at night, and looks like a purpley cartoon night-time clearing surrounded by bushes and short trees. And “confounded” feels rounded in the middle and sharp on the edges, and looks like the written word stretched into a wedge shape like you can make with Word Art in a Powerpoint.
I am certain that I do not actually have synesthesia.
I have timbre-texture musical correspondance. I don’t know if this is synesthisia or strong involuntary association, but let me explain my experiences.
Every different timbre of an instrument (i. e. what differentiates a trumpet from a clarinet from a bassoon from a guitar) has a different “texture” for me- it’s somewhere between perception and imagination- involutary and almost actually there. It’s like if touch wasn’t localized to one specific point on my body- I would say it’s suffocating but it’s more liberating than that.
I think the best way is to provide specific examples- be warned, long list ahead.
High notes on the clarinet are bright light shining through smooth glass. As they get lower, the light has the same itensity but the glass gets grimy. The opening of Rhapsody in Blue is a window wiper for me.
Other woodwind instruments are also transulcent things with light- just a quick overview for now, if you want more information, I will be happy to explain more.
Bass Clarinet- like the clarinet but smoother on the low notes
Flute- clear water
Oboe- glass with large bubbles in it that makes the light flicker
Bassoon- like the oboe but wider and bubblier
Saxophones- the glass is melting and will sometimes jump around
Brass instruments, on the other hand are more solid and have less light.
Well played trumpet- very fine sand
Poorly played trumpet- coarse gravel
Trombone- In its middle range, it sounds like a well built cobblestone wall. In the low range, the wall gets stronger and more like bricks. When high up, the cobblestone gets cracks and air seeps through.
Tuba- A boulder- size varies depending on pitch
Any mutes will add moss to the stone.
My instrument, the French Horn- I’ve always considered it as having some illegitimate woodwind parent sometime back in its history. So it gets its own section.
Well played normal articulations- slightly tinted water balloons with low tension
Well played legato- swimming through very thick water
Well played baroque staccatto- Soft glass balls
Well played modern staccatto- transparent sand
If it is poorly played then instead of spheres the sound will be points that stab me.
Mutes/stopped add bubbles to the sensation
Strings:
violin- light touch of a feather
viola- I never hear them-
cello/bass- soft down pillow.
Can anyone tell me if this is just association or real synesthesia?
What you describe – perception/imagination – happens to me, only it’s vision/textile.
Do you ever get completely enveloped in what you’re seeing like I do on a really great music (see the beginning of Grieg’s Symphonic Dances… It’s like staring through a stained glass window for me,)
I associate words with colors. It usually has to do with the vowels in them, but there are occasional exceptions.
Poor spambots.
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1- Rude, doesn’t like other numbers
2- Nice, quiet and a little sarcastic
3- Everybody’s best friend.
4- Sassy know-it-all obsessed with death
5- Rather snobby
6-The odd one
7- Thug/ Anger management/ Daredevil
8- Shy, but somehow popular
9- Bossy and manipulative
0- Somehow I think of scissors. I don’t know why or how this happens.