Music | November 28, 2008 | 24 comments

Music by colour

source: http://www.hoagyhoughton.co.uk/aleatory_compositions.html

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abbym0308
“Aleatory Compositions” is Hoagy Houghton's book of musical works unknowingly written by people who coloured in a grid. The grids were then translated into musical notes based on a colour scale. This aural and visual combination creates an almost simulated synaesthesia. I want to hear what this sounds like!!
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24 comments // Music by colour

  • ejasun
  • QueerNews
  • milkthistle
  • Mobius2012
    • 0
      Mobius2012  

    • This isn't new information. Sound can be broken down into notes and frequencies. These frequencies correspond to brain states and the brain states correspond to colors. Brain states can be aroused or rather activated if the brain is exposed to any given color, whether imagined or exposed to visually. Hence the use of colors and music in corporate advertising, because, certain notes evoke certain feelings, as well as activating brain states, which in turn may result in producing a new consumer. :) Marketing 101

    • 4 years ago
  • DeliaTheArtist
    • 0
      DeliaTheArtist  

    • I wish my artistic side would benefit my math skills (of which I have none.) Music and art have always gone hand in hand for me, as well as writing and poetry, but unfortunately I can't comprehend numbers as well as colors :(.

      This keyboard looks cool, but I wonder why it's not in "rainbow order", if you will? For me, lower notes are blue, purple, "cool" colors and higher notes are red, yellow, "warm" colors.

    • 4 years ago
  • petarro
    • 0
      petarro  

    • Of course! This makes so much sense... if only I could get any of these Piano keyboards!

      (I mean, the normal keys don't say, "do, re, mi"

    • 4 years ago
  • Bigdog_mike
  • whathefk
  • Vierotchka
  • Bassman113
    • 0
      Bassman113  

    • This is a new form of mixed media. imagine what Mozart or Beethoven or Debussy would LOOK like? a great idea that I can't wait to see expounded on.

    • 4 years ago
  • CalgarC
  • Johnny_Danger
  • GeoffNI
    • 0
      GeoffNI  

    • This is pretty cool. I have cd's of another project which is assigning a hebrew letter to each musical note. Then the artists plays ancient hebrew scriptures through the instrument. So if need healing the artist will play the ancient texts on healing.

    • 4 years ago
  • Mr_Costello
    • 0
      Mr_Costello  

    • How would you go about building a synthesizer? Nick Collier shows us his passion for creating his own sound machines made of slinkies. World of Synth was made by Eve Wood at Sheffield Vision.

    • 4 years ago
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  

    • I have always, with my inner eye, seen colours and lights whenever hearing music, and heard music with my inner ear whenever I look at colours. It doesn't mean that I hear music all the time when my eyes are open, it happens when I look at paintings and such. Also, as a child, in maths class, whenever the teacher posed a problem aurally, I would see colours and lights, and as soon as the teacher stopped speaking, I would see the answer, and was invariably correct, but when the teacher would ask me to explain how I came to the answer, I was at a loss to explain save by saying I saw the colours and lights. I got punished over and over again for this - I guess the teacher was annoyed that not only did I always give the right answer, I couldn't or wouldn't reach that answer using the taught method. After months and months of detention because of this, I lost this ability.

    • 4 years ago
  • ahimsapls
    • 0
      ahimsapls  
    • Vierotchka:

      wow, that's so fascinating. i can just imagine what a joker they thought you were. "i know i know! the answer is 7 1/2!" "yes, vierotchka, you're correct! why is it 7 1/2?" because the colors and lights showed me." "what the hell, kid! you think you're funny?"

      was that also confusing for you and your teachers on tests? i assume that if you getting the right answer depended on hearing the question aurally, you would not be able to arrive at the answer in the same way on paper. seems that would be proof enough that you were experiencing a unique phenomenon.

      actually, now that i think of it, i wonder why they didn't try to do tests on you and want to understand your mysterious ability. silly educators.

    • 4 years ago
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • Vierotchka:

      You mock me, but it is absolutely true - I always got the answer, never got it wrong. Since then, I have discovered that it is not an unique phenomenon, either. It is part of the instant calculators phenomenon. Also, music and mathematics are very closely related, and I was always highly musical.

    • 4 years ago
  • ahimsapls
    • 0
      ahimsapls  
    • Vierotchka:

      oh no no no! i wasn't mocking you at all, i was trying to picture the scene and how frustrating it must have been. now that i read it over again though, it did kind of sound like i was being rude. i'm sorry! i didn't mean to be rude at all. =/

    • 4 years ago
  • JuliusBC
    • 0
      JuliusBC  
    • Vierotchka:

      My experience is different in the sense that I quite often think in pictures. In conversation, words will quite often escape me and math is literally a nightmare. My mechanical sense his highly developed which is where I find my well of creativity.

    • 4 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • abbym0308
  • jenhope
    • 0
      jenhope  
    • abbym0308:

      If you are interested Rudolf Steiner had a lot to say about color, sound and movement being related. Eurythmy is a very deep study of the natural relationship of these things within the human body. Every sound has a color number and shape that pertains to it. It is universal.

    • 4 years ago
  • rainbowryan420
  • arcticspirit
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