Synesthesia & Music

What is Synesthesia?

Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which perceptions along one sensory pathway result in involuntary experiences down another pathway. In simple terms, it involves the blending of two or more senses. The most common form of synesthesia for example is associating letters and numbers with specific colors. While interesting this isn’t particularly relevant to music.

What Causes Synesthesia

We still don’t really know. Genetics likely play a role – as many as 40% of synesthetes have a close family member with the condition. It may be a response learned in childhood – associating letters with colors is extremely common and it is hypothesized that children may form these connections to help them better learn when learning to read characters. Traumatic brain injury has been known to result in synesthesia as well.

Chromesthesia

When you hear synesthesia relating to music, the vast majority of the time people are talking about Chromesthesia. Chromesthesia involves associating sounds with colors. Musicians talk about seeing colors when they hear music or instruments. This is chromesthesia. It can vary pretty heavily – some only associate colors with speech, others with sounds. Most commonly colors are seen with sound, but some individuals report hearing sounds when they see colors. It can also vary massively in intensity with some people seeing extremely strong vivid colors and others merely associating sounds with colors.

A pretty fantastic visualization of chromesthesia in VR

Artists with Chromesthesia

Many, many artists claim to have Chromesthesia. The condition has historically been thought to be rare with as few as 1 in 100,000 people, but recent research has suggested a rate as high as 4%.

Some of the artists who have claimed to have synesthesia are…

• Frank Ocean – Channel Orange was sonically created around and titled after the type of orange he felt the summer he first fell in love
• Kanye West – on Ellen he claimed "Everything I sonically make is a painting. I see it.”
• Lorde – “Making music is very visual for me. I can see it. Sometimes it can be really overwhelming color-wise, and we’ll have to sort of dial it back through the music”
• Billie Joel – “When I think of different types of melodies which are slower or softer, I think in terms of blues or greens ... When I see a particularly vivid color, it's usually a strong melodic, strong rhythmic pattern that emerges at the same time. When I think of songs, I think of vivid reds, oranges, or golds."
• Pharrell Williams – “For every color, there is a sound, a vibration, a part of the human body, a number, a musical note…”. He also created the 2008 N.E.R.D album ‘Seeing Sounds’ around the phenomena
• Dev Hynes – “I tend to use the same chords over and over again, which a lot of people do call me out on. But the reason is pretty intentional, because they’re my favorite chords, my favorite color palettes”
• Billie Eilish – “I think visually first with everything I do, and also I have synesthesia, so everything that I make I’m already thinking of what color it is, and what texture it is, and what day of the week it is, and what number it is, and what shape,"
• Alessia Cara
• Charli XCX
• Brendon Urie
• Stevie Wonder
• Mary J Blige
• John Mayer
• Grimes
• Duke Ellington
• Marina Diamandis (of Marina and the Diamonds)
• Hans Zimmer
• Sam Gellaitry
  …and several more

Lorde talking about her Synesthesia and how it relates to her music in 2017

Are they faking it?

Synesthesia is not a common condition. Even if the new research is accurate 4% is still a very low number and synesthesia is clearly overrepresented in famous musicians. So, are they faking it? They could be but I personally think it’s unlikely for the majority of artists. There is significant evidence that synesthesia is overrepresented in creative types – it makes sense that if you have Chromesthesia and have strong visual stimuli to sound you would be more likely to pursue this than the average person. In fact, creatives are 7 times more likely to have synesthesia than the average person (if the 4% figure is true, this means at least 30% of musicians would be expected to have some form of the condition). It also makes sense that synesthetes are more likely to succeed in music. Color association is consistent (the same colors associate with the same sounds throughout life) so many artists discuss using the synesthesia to form sounds that give appealing colors. It’s very reasonable that artists may tap into great music in this way regardless of if the listener has the visual response. There’s also evidence that synesthesia is more common in people on the autism spectrum and/or with prodigious talents. That being said some artists are likely faking synesthesia. There is no strong way to tell if someone is lying and claiming to have synesthesia may give artists and their music a sense of ‘credibility’.

MRI Scans showing some of the brain response differences between synesthetes and neurotypicals

Do I have Synesthesia?

You may well have synesthesia. Most users here obviously like music more than the average person which suggests something about music is particularly engaging for them. It could be chromesthesia.

Synesthesia Test

Here is a simple Synesthesia Test you can take if you’re interested. Please be aware that this is not proof that you have the condition. I highly doubt I have synesthesia and if I do it is very very faint, but I scored a 98% for chromesthesia on this test. That being said it’s a good way to get an idea of if what you experience listening to music is synesthesia.

I want to experience this but I don’t think I have the condition

You’re in luck!

Chromesthesia is a very common side effect of psychedelic d****. LSD, Shrooms and DMT can all give visual responses to sound in a way that very closely mimics synesthesia. Many musicians use psychedelic d**** to help shape their music in this way. There is evidence to suggest that what you experience is not actually synesthesia but is very similar experience wise.

A brain scan of someone on LSD. It’s pretty apparent looking at this, how d**** like LSD can evoke reactions like Synesthesia to stimuli

Additionally, research is suggesting that synesthesia can be learned. By continually practicing associating certain sounds with colors, you begin to form brain connections between the two senses. The research suggests that this may not be lasting – you need to keep reinforcing the connection over time for it to continue but studies have shown significantly higher synesthesia results for people who practice this. It’s also purported to benefit memory, creativity and IQ.

As awareness around the condition increases, companies are starting to capitalize on the market with products that will ‘help to invoke synesthesia’. I would advise people to treat these with caution especially if they involve costs. There is still little research done in this area and products offering to invoke synesthesia and help you learn it are far from scientifically grounded.

One such company

i feel like almost every artist be playing around when they say they have it

its an interesting one

its definitely a real condition but
we really dont know if its common (5% of all people) or incredibly rare (0.01%)

that being said it definitely should be overrepresented in the population of famous artists so im sure some of them have it

are some of them faking it? almost definitely but we'd have no way of knowing. the one way you could check is by looking at how an artist has described the colors of certain sounds over time and if the colors they use to describe a specific sound change over time they are likely faking it since its highly unusual for the associated color to change

I'm not buying it sorry scientists

I wish I had it so bad

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i think associating sounds with colors is kinda normal? i mean when i make music i can determine what color matches what sound. i know when im making a song that sounds "red" or "pink", but i dont be seeing colors.

I feel like it's the type of thing you could learn or like make up for yourself

same

so if thats consistent over time and strong enough that you really notice it and to specific shades then its Chromesthesia
it doesn't have to be actually seeing flashing colors the association is still part of the condition
its just less intense than some people get it

In on a safe thread

I don’t think I have this but I definitely hear sounds and associate them with colors

interesting

always thought it had to do with actually seeing colors in real life

same

looks super clean

will read later

am super into this topic

i actually worked with a girl who has it and she described the colors in one of my songs... it was a dope experience because what she saw is what i was going for...

i'm interested in colors and perception in general though because i'm color blind and i have this theory that it affects my personality

i see the world much more muted than most people and i typically come across as muted until you get to know me

colors have always had symbolic meaning to me though... and i find that i can enhance psychedelic experiences when using colors as mood lighting...

i wonder how many people with synesthesia are colorblind

like I said above if its specific and consistent then its likely a form of Chromesthesia just not on the same intensity as some people get
anyone can hear a sound and think of a color but for it to be Chromesthesia its gotta be

• same sound to same color over extended periods
• specific (certain shade of a color) and noticeable regularly
• involuntary

should have a list of artists who have the condition in OP. ive read kanye, charli, and tyler have it

that is really interesting
its definitely possible to be colorblind and have synesthesia that presents colors but there hasn't been research done on prevalence
theres a strong connection to left handed people though

its in there!
might add to it until I reach the character limit though

same

Do u think theres someone out there with perfect pitch and synesthesia? Thatd be crazy