Soundscape music and synesthesia

[Louigi Verona]

I was wondering whether synesthesia can have something in common with soundscape music.
To me the most important element of sound music is visualizing sound, tasting sound. Reading about synesthesia in wikipedia the other day, I realized that not all people might perceive sound in that way at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
See Sound → color synesthesia

[Paul Legovitch]

The very first music book I ever bought (Piano Music by Guy Sacre) was filled with descriptions of landscapes associated with piano techniques or harmonic changes. So I can say I've always thought about music this way (classical music that is) but I don't know if it's really synesthesia since it really depends on the type of music. Olivier Messiaen has described in depth his coloured visions of harmony, (he certainly had this synesthesia phenomenon), and it was not limited to descriptive music.
I don't have visions when listening to Bach but I certainly do with Debussy, Prokofiev, Ives... Most of the time it's because the music was intended that way (like the piano suite "Starry Sky Cycle" by Urmas Sisask... recommended).

I've little knowledge about soundscape music but I guess it's composed with the intent of making the listener feel that some sort of "scene" is taking place before his ears/eyes. So maybe it has more to do with the great tradition of descriptive music (like Beethoven's "Pastoral" symphony) than with synesthesia.

[Louigi Verona]

No, no, I did not mean portraying a scene, but more visualizing sound. To me this is not only an important part of listening to music, but also an important inspiration. To me each sound is an object. When I listen to piano music, I "see" all individual notes, although it is difficult to describe what exactly they look like. I don't think that this is unique to me, this obviously is the same for many-many people, but not for all.

Soundscape music is what I call ambient music that is intended to be listened not merely as a background, but as foreground, with your full attention. It has a lot of aspects which make it (in my view) a form of art principally different from more usual note based music.

[uncloned]

I have mild synesthesia

the intensity varies - I "see" textures / notes

"pure" wavefprms are very bright pastels or at least just bright.

I agree this would make a drone-ish or soundscape piece more enjoyable.

[Louigi Verona]

Do you have colors for notes?
I also think my synesthesia is mild, although it is difficult to define its intensity since I have no clear standard to compare to, but I also have relationships between notes, so that each note has a character of its own, not only color. I also have a very weird calendar layout in my mind (not weird to me).

But it is surprising not all people have it. I thought everyone has this kind of thing %)

[uncloned]

not specific colors per note - but notes and especially chords can take shapes.

I'm partially color blind which may be why.