• Blog
  • Creators
  • Understanding Synesthesia: What ‘Sound Purple’ Really Means
Creators

Understanding Synesthesia: What ‘Sound Purple’ Really Means

Tara Parachuk | December 21, 2023

Synesthesia represented by a blue and purple cloud of sound coming from a speaker

Have you ever wondered how it would be to hear colors or taste sounds? Have you ever been on the receiving end of confusing artistic direction, like someone telling you to “sound more purple?” Welcome to the world of synesthesia — a neurological phenomenon that intertwines our senses in unpredictable and captivating ways, making the everyday experience a vivid tapestry of sensory delights.

Ready to get started?

Sign up for a Voices account to start auditioning for voice over work today

Get Started for Free

In this article

  1. Key Takeaways
  2. Defining Synesthesia
  3. Types of Synesthesia
  4. The Synesthetic Brain
  5. Primary Visual Cortex
  6. Limbic System
  7. Synesthesia and Creativity
  8. Coloring Words
  9. Coloring Music
  10. Examples of Notable Synesthetes
  11. Creative Direction and Synesthetes
  12. For Synesthetes
  13. For Those Receiving Direction From Someone with Synesthesia
  14. Final Thoughts on Synesthesia and Audio
  15. Frequently Asked Questions
  16. How do you know if you have synesthesia?
  17. Is synesthesia a form of autism?
  18. Is synesthesia a mental illness?

Key Takeaways

  • Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon where one sense stimulates another, experienced by 3-5 percent of the population.
  • It has over 60 forms and enhances cognitive abilities through an immersive sensory experience.
  • Synesthetes can bring unique creative direction to music, art and other media that engage our senses and evoke emotions.

Defining Synesthesia

According to the Cleveland Clinic, synesthesia is when your brain routes sensory information through multiple unrelated senses, causing you to experience more than one sense simultaneously. For instance, you may have visions of vibrant red when hearing the letter ‘A’ or sense flavors like chocolate while saying the word “soft.” It’s an invigorating interplay of senses and people with this condition are known as synesthetes. 

Despite what many think, research suggests that it isn’t rare at all — at least 4 percent of the population has some form of synesthesia. Furthermore, each synesthetic experience varies from person to person making it unique, similar to our fingerprints. Although this unusual phenomenon adds flavor to their lives for better or worse, it doesn’t constitute a mental illness or a medical ailment. It’s merely a way that someone perceives life differently due to certain brain conditions.

Types of Synesthesia

Synesthesia encompasses a vast array of sensory experiences, with more than 60 known variations, including grapheme color synesthesia, lexical gustatory synesthesia, spatial sequence synesthesia and auditory tactile synesthesia.

Grapheme color synesthesia is when letters or numbers are given colors as if they were part of your personal painting palette. In addition to being one of the most common types of synesthesia, grapheme color synesthesia is also one of the most studied. With sound to color synesthesia, certain sounds such as piano notes could be depicted by blue while car horns might register a red hue on someone’s interior light show. Auditory tactile synesthesia exists where auditory sensations evoke physical feelings, like hearing chirping birds can feel like gentle caresses.

The Synesthetic Brain

Synesthesia is remarkable not only for its one-of-a-kind sensations but also because it helps us understand how our brains function. In these instances of sensory crossover, the primary visual cortex and limbic system collaborate to create an intense feeling that floods multiple brain areas at once.

The occipital lobe houses this same primary visual cortex which forms part of a unique symphony with other senses merging visuals into multi-sensory revelations. Meanwhile, the hippocampus works together in combination with the limbic system adding an extra emotionally charged impact to what most synesthetes experience and feel when they hear music — colors cascading across their mind’s eye while stirring deep feelings from them all at once — as if attending a spectacular, tailor-made performance.

Primary Visual Cortex

The primary visual cortex has an extra job when it comes to synesthesia, playing a role in the creation of unique and interactive internal sensory experiences. This area of our brain combines sensory input from visuals with other senses — such as touch and taste — forming ‘internal screens’ for perception that go beyond what can be seen with just your eyes.

These enhanced cognitive abilities may not stop at providing extraordinary outcomes from ordinary tasks. The activity level displayed by lexical-gustatorial synesthetes presents evidence linking heightened response times to improved performance on various tasks related directly to this form of synesthetic perceptual experience. Although getting involved in colorful amalgamations might make life more vivid, synchronization could also equip individuals who practice such habits with greater mental dexterity overall.

Limbic System

The limbic system, which is linked with emotion and memory formation, can give an individual’s sensory experiences a unique ‘emotional flavor.’ It could be why some people hear notes as flashes or hues or why they taste music. It’s connected to enhanced fibers from their emotional center straight into their neocortex.

Synesthesia and Creativity

Synesthesia has been found to have profound impacts on creativity. Synesthetes’ brains are much like bustling cities with many associations and connections between different regions, which can lead to the forming of new ideas, behaviors or experiences. This gift for combining seemingly unrelated things leads to creative possibilities unique from others, like creating artworks through colors inspired by songs or poems filled with flavors derived from food. When synesthetes join the creative ranks, it gives us all access to a more beautiful world full of re-defined abstract concepts.

Coloring Words

Synesthesia adds an extra layer to language. It gives synesthetes the ability to perceive words as unique colors on paper, allowing them to create stories through vivid hues and shades rather than just text alone. They often link particular letters of the alphabet with distinct tints. For example, they might describe ‘A’ as red or ‘E’ as yellow or white, creating a private code. Not only does this give written works more vibrancy, but it also helps unlock something called ordinal linguistic personification which enriches its meaning beyond conventional interpretations.

The sensory side of synesthesia means it transforms language into multisensory experiences like tastes, sights and sounds. This helps writers construct meaningful lines from what could otherwise be bland text. The use of such creative expression grants readers access to moments in time where description comes alive in exciting ways.

Voice artists are encouraged to color their words, creating a desired emotional response through tone, emphasis, timing and more. The meaning of a word and the context in which it’s used, often dictates how it is approached and painted accordingly. Each voice actor comes at this from a different perspective depending on their life experience and worldview.

Coloring Music

Synesthetes have a special capability to combine their senses, blending visual colors with musical tones and notes. This creates an added dimension to the auditory experience, allowing them to visualize light shows dancing in time with music. Based on individual sensory experiences, higher-pitched sounds can be connected with pale hues like lavender and blue while deeper pitches may correlate with warmer tints such as gold or orange.

Having this unique ability offers creative inspiration for musicians when composing pieces of art that are multi-sensory encounters between color and sound. Through complex layers of audio stimulation accompanied by visuals coming from synesthetic color associations within each individual’s orchestra, this transcends more traditional note structures. Synesthesia essentially fuses what you see alongside what you hear, which enriches composition brilliance.

Examples of Notable Synesthetes

Synesthesia has left a lasting imprint on the world of art and music thanks to notable synesthetes who incorporated their unique sensory experiences into masterpieces. Wassily Kandinsky used his synesthetic perception to produce vivid abstract paintings that almost mirror the sounds and melodies of synesthetic associations he experienced. Likewise, some propose that Vincent van Gogh’s utilization of bold colors and dynamic brushstrokes could be reflective of synesthetic encounters.

One famous synesthete was Duke Ellington. He employed his synesthesia in crafting intricate jazz compositions whose moods were heavily influenced by being able to visually see sound as color. This ability is only possible through synchronized senses such as those acquired from having strong synesthesia properties within one’s mindscape. Ellington could see music in colors. 

Other notable synesthetes include Billy Joel, Itzhak Perlman and Nikola Tesla. These extraordinary individuals’ visions serve up plenty for us to appreciate about our multifaceted existence through their colorful legacies.

Creative Direction and Synesthetes

In voice over, and voice production in general, there are myriad ways that we describe the vocal instrument. Synesthetes bring a special perspective to the creative process, enabling them to create sensory experiences that expand beyond our senses. This approach can provide stimulating and fresh insights into projects such as painting or designing buildings with music-inspired colors and shapes. Experiencing a project run by an artistic director who has synesthetic tendencies is extraordinary. They tap into all five senses when creating something far more than just what we see or hear.

For Synesthetes

Something you can do to make your direction clearer to those you are managing is to explain what you’re seeing and how it relates to your expectations of them. Let’s say you want something to sound “more purple” or “yellower.” If you see an emotion or characteristic as a certain color, tell people so they have a reference point for what you’re looking for. This may take practice but will help others follow your direction.

What does purple mean? How about yellow? If yellow means bright or loud, write that down and create a legend for how to decipher direction. Keeping this tool on hand and providing an artist with these definitions will help clarify your vision.

For Those Receiving Direction From Someone with Synesthesia

If you’re working with a director who you know is a synesthete, ask for clarification on their instructions. Each director may assign different colors to a given sound or tone. Realize that “sound orange” might have a completely different definition from one director to the next. You might get to a point where you’ve worked together so often that you understand their directions. Remembering them will make your sessions go smoothly and give you the confidence to deliver your lines with accuracy.

Final Thoughts on Synesthesia and Audio

Synesthesia is a powerful tool that opens the door to new and unique perspectives on sound, art, literature and more. Those who possess this ability can mix their senses to create stimulating auditory experiences like no other. Many synesthetes offer non synesthetes insights into how various senses interact with one another. They show us just how complex our perceptions are when it comes to creating meaningful moments out of everyday noises in life. In essence, through this phenomenon, we have been gifted an insight beyond what words alone can express.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you know if you have synesthesia?

A person may have synesthesia if they perceive colors when listening to music, sense tastes when hearing certain words, or experience physical sensations when exposed to certain sounds. To properly diagnose this condition, one could take the Synesthesia Battery Test which assesses how consistent these associations between senses actually are.

Is synesthesia a form of autism?

A 2013 study suggests that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are much more likely to experience synesthesia than those in the general population. Individuals on the autism spectrum often report feeling tactile sensations without actually being touched, a phenomenon known as tactile synaesthesia. This connection could provide insights into human neuroscience and how sensory information is interpreted differently among those who have ASD and others in society at large.

Is synesthesia a mental illness?

Research has found that people with synesthesia, a rare symptom in some medical cases, actually have improved scores on tests of memory and intelligence. There is no indication this phenomenon comes along with any mental illness or health issues. Synesthesia does not equate to an issue involving one’s well-being. It merely provides evidence for enhanced capabilities related to cognition or sensory perception.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments

  • Avatar for Evan
    Evan
    September 21, 2015, 4:35 pm

    It would be interesting to know how much perfect pitch and Synesthesia overlap; if every Synesthete has perfect pitch, or perhaps not? I wonder as well if there is actually a unique traceable quality throughout the works of Synesthete composers not found in the music of non-synesthete composers. Also, very interesting take on artistic direction for VO – I like it!

    Reply
  • Avatar for Howard Ellison
    Howard Ellison
    September 22, 2015, 4:57 pm

    Nice topic! I recall Bebe Daniels’s voice described as ‘yellow’ and the BBC announcer Frank Phillips’s as ‘dark brown’.
    Synesthesia is one of those inborn phenomena we tend to lose as we depart childhood: clearly, like so much else that underpins art, we should hang on to these gifts. Use ’em or lose ’em – though it would be interesting to see what we might resurrect as we tussle with ‘authoritative’, ‘friendly’, ‘booming’ and the rest. Would we all agree on a colour vocabulary, or is it personal?
    I don’t recall colour synesthesia, but up to about ten I did find that shapes could generate spontaneous unrelated words in the mind, and for many years symphonic music conjured up abstract visuals.
    It all puzzled me no end, and of course no adults in the pre-Google era could begin to explain it, or even believe it.

    Reply
  • Avatar for Gary Terzza
    Gary Terzza
    September 23, 2015, 12:15 pm

    Intriguing Stephanie; I have always seen days as colours, for example Tuesday is yellow, Friday green, Sunday silvery white. Does it help me colour words in voice overs? I wonder. Thought provoking post.

    Reply
  • Avatar for Kurt Feldner
    Kurt Feldner
    September 23, 2015, 3:11 pm

    At first read, I didn’t think I fit this description. But as I thought more about it, I’m thinking perhaps I might be a fit…or a variant of it. For example, when I see red, I think of a sports car or a heart, indicating passion, intensity, love. When I see yellow, I see the sun, indicating brightness, warmth, happiness. My visuals may not get quite as in depth as some Synesthetes, but I think I’m on to something here, which will no doubt help in the auditioning & recording.

    Reply
  • Avatar for Chris Malan
    Chris Malan
    September 2, 2020, 8:57 am

    I came here to see what ‘sound purple’ means. Lot’s of blah-blah-blah, but nowhere does it tell me what ‘sound purple’ means.

    Reply
    • Avatar for Oliver Skinner
      Oliver Skinner
      September 8, 2020, 11:52 am

      Hi Chris,

      What it means to ‘sound purple’ is entirely subjective. As this post explains, some synesthetes have reported the phenomenon of associating sounds or music with particular colors. The colors that are associated with those sounds have everything to do with the individual synesthete’s experience.

      Reply