Synesthesia: What “Sound Purple” Really Means

Stephanie Ciccarelli

September 21, 2021

Subscribe to blog digest

Email

Subscribe Submit

×

Have you ever been on the receiving end of confusing artistic direction? Whether it’s your drama teacher asking you to “be a tree,” or a director telling you to “sound more purple,” we’ve all been given creative direction that we didn’t understand that seemed entirely clear to the director.

How can this be? So far as audio goes, did you know that there are people in our midst who hear through color?

Synesthesia is a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization of a certain color.

Find out more about what the phenomenon of synesthesia is and how it can be used in today’s Vox Daily.

What Adjectives Describe Vocal Quality?

In voice over, and voice production in general, there are myriad ways that we describe the vocal instrument. The words we use to describe tone alone could be the basis of an entire article!

When I was taking voice lessons at the conservatory, my voice teacher referred to my voice as sounding like “a burnished bell.” She used other words too, but that identifier has stuck with me over the years as being the most memorable.

While I liked her word choices, I wondered what it meant to sound like a burnished bell.

Knowing what a bell was came easily, but “burnished” was a word I had to look up. Based upon my research, I understood that burnished, in relation to my voice resembling a bell, meant that my instrument’s bell-like sound was shiny, polished, and bright.

Many creatives love words, that’s a given. But was this description merely a poetic way of labeling my voice, or, was my teacher interpreting the sound of my voice through shapes and colors?

Enter Synesthesia

If you’ve not ever heard of synesthesia before, people who possess such abilities can see, hear, or feel what the majority of us don’t. There are many forms synesthesia takes, and the form I’d like to explore with you now is called chromesthesia.

Of synesthesia, Wikipedia states:

There are two overall forms of synesthesia: projecting synesthesia and associative synesthesia. People who project will see actual colors, forms, or shapes when stimulated, as is commonly accepted as synesthesia; associators will feel a very strong and involuntary connection between the stimulus and the sense that it triggers. For example, in the common form chromesthesia (sound to color) a projector may hear a trumpet and see an orange triangle in space while an associator might hear a trumpet and think very strongly that it sounds “orange”.

Someone who has synesthesia is often referred to as a synesthete.

Coloring Words

Voice artists are encouraged to color their words, creating a desired emotional response through tone, emphasis, timing and so on. The meaning of a word, and the context within it is 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 world view.

Now that we have a baseline for coloring words, how about entire paragraphs or structures? What about a novel or documentary?

Do you see words in colors?

Coloring Music

One famous synesthete was the musician, Duke Ellington. He could see music in colors. There are also composers who write their compositions based upon colours. You might hear discourse among musicians claiming that one key is brighter or darker than another or that a music key has an assigned color. To take this a step further, some musicians see individual pitches as having particular colors as is the case with people who have perfect pitch.

That said, not all synesthetes agree on what color should be assigned to a specific tone or key. To illustrate, Franz Liszt and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, did not see eye to eye on the colors of musical keys.

This, you’ll agree, is far deeper than the average person would think into a pitch like A440. Unlike someone who has chromesthesia, your ears may be more attuned to emotions than the colour a key might represent.

Other Examples of Notable Synesthetes:

• Billy Joel
• Itzhak Perlman
• Nikola Tesla

Do You Have Synesthesia?

If any of this sounds familiar to you, you might have a form of synesthesia or you may have worked with someone who does.

Consider the following tips for clearing up creative direction.

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, let people know because they won’t likely have a reference point for what you’re seeking unless you communicate it to them. 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 if you will for how to decipher direction. You need not replicate this more than once if you print it up nicely and laminate it.

Keeping this tool on hand and providing an artist with these definitions will help clarify and communicate the vision you are after.

For Those Receiving Direction From Synesthetes

If you’re working with someone who gives direction for how ought to sound or do something using colors, ask them what they mean. Just like in musical circles, each director (or composer, musician, etc.) 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 much that you know what is meant by sound more purple or bluer. Jotting these notes down and internalizing them will make your sessions go better and give you the confidence to deliver your lines with accuracy.

What Do You Think

Do you have anything to add? I’d love to hear about your thoughts on the topic, particularly if you have personal experience with synesthesia in your work or daily life.

Take care,
Stephanie

Stephanie Ciccarelli

Stephanie Ciccarelli is a Co-Founder of Voices. Classically trained in voice as well as a respected mentor and industry speaker, Stephanie graduated with a Bachelor of Musical Arts from the Don Wright Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario. For over 25 years, Stephanie has used her voice to communicate what is most important to her through the spoken and written word. Possessing a great love for imparting knowledge and empowering others, Stephanie has been a contributor to The Huffington Post, Backstage magazine, Stage 32 and the Voices.com blog. Stephanie is found on the PROFIT Magazine W100 list three times (2013, 2015 and 2016), a ranking of Canada's top female entrepreneurs, and is the author of Voice Acting for Dummies®.

Connect with Stephanie on:

Twitter LinkedIn Voices Blog Author Page