Sound triggers the perception of other senses And whole many people have synesthesia, and they are not aware of it. Since there are no precise studies on the prevalence of chromesthesia, let’s instead take this as a guesstimation.ĭetermining the prevalence of synesthesia is challenging anyway. But this study is already a little bit outdated and lacks an empirical approach. There is a study that claims that the prevalence of sound synesthesia in the general population is 5-15%. [cytowic synesthesiaĪnd seeing music as colors may also be one of the most exciting kinds of synesthesia. 40 % of synesthetes report having this type of synesthesia. Learn about the science of the synesthetic brain.Ĭhromesthesia is a common type of synesthesiaĬhromesthesia is one of the most common types of synesthesia.Find out if you hear colors or see sounds yourself.Discover techniques to become aware of your synesthetic experiences.

Learn what Sound – Synesthesia is and what it means to have it.These paintings of Sounds and Music were done by the synesthetic artist Timothy Layden These paintings of Sounds and Music were done by the synesthetic artist Timothy Layden These paintings of Sounds and Music were done by the synesthetic artist Timothy Laydenīefore you say that you do not hear music in colors, take 5 minutes to try it out! We do not notice that we hear the music in colors. But attention to the sense of hearing is needed to perceive it consciously.īecause so often we are distracted from the present moment in modern society, we miss the sense of hearing and the synesthetic experiences. These synesthetic experiences are automatic and involuntary. Some people see music in shapes and colors, they may have a perception of taste and smell, and in their fingertips, they may even feel a texture. An acoustic perception evokes a visual experience. Maybe you do hear music in colors! But you have not noticed it yet!Ĭhromesthesia is a type of synesthesia. Wouldn’t it be great to see Music in shapes and colors? Or if you could hear colors without the use of any drugs like LSD? Sound-Color Synesthesia, or Chromesthesia, is a phenomenon of people seeing sounds in shapes and colors. “And the guitar and its green tones were dancing along the shore.” Seeing sounds and hearing colors- Sound Synesthesia The result only resembles very crudely what I typically experience, but enough to give an idea.Seeing Sounds as shapes and colors – Chromesthesia – Hear colors The demos below simulate (very crudely!) the kinds of sounds that might be experienced. I have added sounds, generated by measuring the motion energy from the video frames (how much light is changing over space and time) and using that to modulate white noise. I have now met quite a few people who experience this too, so perhaps I’m not completely bonkers! It’s interesting but it can get pretty distracting, especially at the end of a tiring day. For example alternating flashing beacons on either side of a zebra crossing might sound like ‘ shiii’, ‘ shuuu’. The sounds are like white noise (‘sshhh’), but often they have different harmonics, especially when there are sequences of flashes. It is a clear auditory sensation, mostly in my mind’s ear, though sometimes I can confuse it with real sounds if the latter are very quiet. For example, I ‘hear’ car indicator lights, flashing shop displays, animated adverts on web-browsers, lip-movements, and the footsteps of people as they walk. However in people with strong ‘visual ears’, even abstract motion or flashing can evoke sounds.

Auditory visual synesthesia