Ask A Sound-Color Synesthete!

The rules are simple: submit a song, receive a palette of the colors (hex codes included) I hear when I listen to it. Please use the search bar to see if your song already has a palette first! And be sure to check the links for more information on synesthesia and my experiences with it! I track the tag "askasynesthete" as well.

[askasynesthete]

so do you have perfect pitch too, or just synesthesia? because i'm looking for someone who i can relate too.

I do, yes!

Thank you very much for the question!

[askasynesthete]

American Pie - Don McLean. Anonymous request.

(The file was too big to upload the audio--I had no idea American Pie was almost nine minutes long)

[askasynesthete]

Does synesthesia has any negative impacts?

Sensory overload, for sure. There are several circumstances under which people can experience sensory overload (such as PTSD, disorders on the autistic spectrum, fibromyalgia, GAD, and schizophrenia), but synesthesia is definitely one of them. I briefly mentioned it under the "FAQ" section but it happens when one or more senses experiences over-stimulation for the environment. It sort of feels like everything's happening all at once and you don't have any control over it, and even the littlest things will stimulate you. So you just... shut down, in a way.

I can't say how it feels under any other circumstances because I only have synesthesia, and in particular only one kind of synesthesia, but it's pretty bad considering it overstimulates two senses at the same time. Generally what I need when it happens is peace and quiet, and I avoid listening to music until it's over.

It's also a bit troublesome for achieving perfect pitch. When I listen to music normally, the colors sound... sharp, and mixed. They don't sound like their purest element, if that makes sense. So I have to tone music down half of a half-step, because then the colors sound purer. Unfortunately that means that the music is technically "flatter" than it should be. [In that case, when I sing I have to pitch it so that the colors purposely don't sound pure.]

I've read up on other negative effects, and this list does a good job of explaining ten of them.

Thanks so much for the question!

[askasynesthete]

YAY — submitted by brightwall

here you go!

[askasynesthete]

Visit Original Link

Anonymous request

first request of the blog! this is generally how the posts will be formatted c: enjoy!

[askasynesthete]

I actually have a different type of question to ask... When I hear sounds or more so listen to music, I get these images... Like the beginning of one song gives me spiraling gray slashes and stop-and-go horizontal lines later. Do you think this is just normal thing, of that I could have a type of synesthesia? (Sorry to bother you but I wanted to ask someone who actually had it haha)

Hi!

Well, like I've said before, everybody experiences synesthesia differently, and even people with the same type of synesthesia experience it differently! Personally it sounds like a kind of synesthesia to me--I wouldn't put it past you or your brain, because there are so many different experiences and so many different types of the same condition.

[askasynesthete]

open for business!!!

so this was an idea I got from something I used to do to interact with my followers on my main blog. as someone with chromesthesia, or sound-color synesthesia, I've been able to better relate how I experience or perceive music by providing hex codes or color palettes for the songs that I listen to.

this is going to be a fairly interactive blog, where you get to submit a song for me to listen to, and in turn I'll post a palette (between one and five swatches) of the colors that I "hear" when I listen to that song. 

I only ask that you please

check out the FAQ/About Synesthesia/About the Blogger pages before you send in questions

only submit one (1) song per ask. Any asks with two or more songs will be ignored.

I think that's about it from me. For now, welcome to the blog! Poke around, submit a song, enjoy your stay c: