For some people music is more than simply a sound, a tingling in the ears, a buzz on the lips or a bassy sensation in the chest- a simple note can evoke a private world of colour and form, that is completely involuntary.
Emma Smith meets a handful of artists with synaesthesia and talks to leading synaesthesia experts about what these extra sensory traits could mean for all of us.
Related audio
- Emma Smith talks to synaesthete Charli XCX
- NZ Society: Synaesthesia (Part 1)
- RNZ Concert interview with University of Canterbury's Patrick Sherpherd on his synaesthesia research
- Nine to Noon 2008 - Synaesthesia: Why some people "see' music and "taste" words
Music Details
Artist: Leopold Stokowski & The Philadelphia Orchestra
Song: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Composer: Dukas
Album: Fantasia OST
Label: Festival
Artist: The Mint Chicks
Song: ABC Reharmonised
Composer: Nielson/Nielson
Album: Bad Buzz
Label:
Artist: Alphabethead
Song: Beautiful Fence
Composer: Morrison
Album: Quartz Plumage
Label:
Artist: Edan
Song: I See Colours
Composer: Edan
Album:Beauty and the Beat
Label: Lewis Recordings
Artist: Straighjacket Fits
Song: She Speeds
Composer: Carter
Album: Life in One Chord
Label: Flying Nun
Artist: Diving
Song: Synesthesia
Composer: Hill
Album: Synesthesia
Label:
Artist: Pharrell Williams
Song: Baby feat. Nelly
Composer: Williams
Album: In My MInd
Label:
Artist: Kristin Hersh
Song: Snake Oil
Composer: Hersh
Album:The Grotto
Label: 4AD
Artist: 50 Foot Wave
Song: Hot Pink Distorted
Composer: Hersh
Album: Free Music
Label: Reincarnate
Artist: Andrew Bird
Song: Pulaski at Night
Composer: Bird
Album: I Want To See Pulaski At Night
Label: Grimsey Records
Artist: LJ Rich
Song: , Gothenburg Trees, London Sunset Sounds Like This, Flying Through Colour 2,
Composer: Rich
Album: ljrich.wordpress.com
Label:
Artist: Eyeliner
Song: Pinot Noir
Composer: Rowell
Album: Buy Now
Label: Beer on the Rug
Artist: Nancy Ambrose King
Song: Metamorphoses After Ovid for Solo Oboe Op. 49 02 Phaeton
Composer: Britten
Album: Evocations
Label: Boston
Artist: Frankie Knuckles
Song: Your Love
Composer: Knuckles
Album: Your Love
Label: Btech
Artist: Jorge Montilla & Hamilton Tescarollo
Song: Sonata for E-Flat clarinet and piano: IV. Molto vivace
Composer: Montilla/ Tescarollo
Album: La Revoltosa
Label: Clarinet Classics
Artist: Eurythmics
Song: There Must Be an Angel
Composer: Lennox/ Stewart
Album: Be Yourself Tonight
Label:
Artist: Alphabethead
Song: Interzone Intermission
Composer: Morrison
Album: Quartz Plumage
Label:
Artist: The All Seeing Hand
Song: Clot
Composer: The All Seeing Hand
Album: Mechatronics
Label: Muzai
Artist: Shapeshifter
Song: Out Of Love
Composer: Shapeshifter
Album: Real Time
Label: Kog Transmissions
Artist Myung-Whun Chung / Radio France Orchestre Philharmonique
Song: Couleurs De La Cite Celeste
Composer: Messiaen
Album: Myung-Whun Chung Conducts Messiaen
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Artist: SSELLF
Song: Rainbows Don’t Look Like That
Composer: SSELLF
Album: SSELLF
Label:
Artist: LJ Rich
Song: This Morning’s Sunrise
Composer: Rich
Album: ljrich.wordpress.com
Label:
