So far, you guys have heard the jazzy approach to composition. I generally tend to gravitate toward writing tunes and pieces that are based around common jazz harmonies and rhythms. Now, you’ll have a chance to hear another side of my style; one where I take a more electronic approach. There are quite a few electronic tunes and pieces that I’ve written. The one that I’m going to focus on deals with the unique topic of synesthesia. Music and synesthesia? How could I possibly pull THAT off?
“Hearing colors“
Synesthesia refers to a “crossing” of any of the five senses of the human body. This means that people can “taste” words or “hear” colors. In the case of my piece of music, hearing colors is what I’ll focus on.
For a small percentage of people with this phenomenon, certain musical sounds (or notes) may be registered in their minds as a color. The notes of a simple scale may correspond to the order of the colors of the rainbow. For example (and forgive me for any complex musical terminology), let’s take the C major scale (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C). The note C would be red and B would be indigo; the last C would be the beginning of the scale in the next octave.
How synesthesia is applied in my piece
The piece that I composed, entitled “Synesthetic Serenity,” encompasses the idea of hearing colors. It begins with the playing of a simple note of a repeated melody containing the note sequence G-C-F-E-G-D by a “processed” pre-recorded saxophone. By processed, I mean added effects such as reverb, delay, and other cool effects to make it sound ambient and ‘space-like.” That first initial note is intended to represent a color (whichever one the listener interprets it as). The note is eventually and gradually joined by the rest of the notes in the melody, which is recycled in various ways. In other words, more colors gradually begin to be heard. To add more denseness to the piece, I even included tracks for synth strings and synth bass.
At the piece’s climax, a huge kaleidoscope of colors dance in the minds of the listeners. They begin to slowly disappear as notes are taken away in various ways. The once intense energy of rapidly moving colors mellows down toward the end of the piece.
Fair warning…It’s not quite like your average 3-minute pop song!
Now before you guys click the link down below to listen to the piece, I’ll give you a fair warning that it’s an 11-minute piece. But it’s very ambient and I think you’ll find it quite relaxing. My recommendation: go to a quiet area and close your eyes while you listen. Maybe even meditate if that’s what you’re into. I want you all to see both my vision behind this piece and why this is one of my favorite pieces of music that I’ve ever written!
Response Magic