Replicating a synesthetic experience. Light & Control.
The task of this experiment was to try to create what those that have synesthesia would experience with music. Specifically looking at those with visual and auditory synesthesia. For this I chose 30 seconds of Holst: The Planets, Jupiter (Op. 32) performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This is the last 30 seconds of the piece where each section has its own sort of character building up to a huge climatic hit.
As I see it, instruments have a certain timbre or frequency and I think of those characteristics equate to a certain color.
| Section | Instruments | Feeling | Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | woodwind, harp, strings, Bass Tuba & Trombone | calm, flowing, wind | blue = bass |
| green movement = runs in strings & woodwinds | |||
| 2 | “, bass gives way to herald trumpets | marching, incendiary | trumpets = orange, yellow, red |
| 3 | “, huge chromatic scale of all instruments | tension, turmoil | ALL COLORS, flickering |
| 4 | only high range woodwinds and string | open, space, starlight | pure white |
| 5 | “, timpani and huge brass hits | electric | blend of red and yellow |
| 6 | “, unified brass | uplifting | red, yellow |
| 7 | orchestra hit | bang, accomplished | white halo |
Using the score as reference you can see how music looks in my mind. I do not see colors when music plays, but i my minds eyes envisions the notes on a page:
Taking these colors I had to orchestrate an experience with what i had at home.
It took several “takes” , and a battery run to Target, to get it right. And this was the one I was most satisfied with. It was taking each moment and assigning it a visual. With the tools at hand it was difficult to perform all of these tasks and using an actual light board with queues would be the best to be able to recreate this the same every time. Given that it is recorded music you could even time it out exactly and have a computer programatically handle the moments in time.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IjIkO4JUr1QLELiTB--NCzxnHnDwLBLa/view?usp=sharing