Format
Capstone
Faculty Mentor Name
Kyle Bruckmann
Faculty Mentor Department
Conservatory of Music
Abstract/Artist Statement
This research investigates synesthesia and its impact on musical perception. Synesthesia is the multimodal sensory phenomenon in which the stimulation of one sensory modality generates the experience of a second, otherwise unrelated sense. Discussed topics include: a description of synesthesia and its neurophysiological and perceptual characteristics, the historical conceptualization and documentation of synesthesia beginning with the ancient Greeks, and present-day scientific inquiry. This research explores three varying types of auditory synesthesia - chromesthesia (sound-to-color synesthesia), auditory-tactile synesthesia, and sound-gustatory/sound-olfactory synesthesia - and their multimodal sensory characteristics in relation to music. Prominent neurophysiological hypotheses regarding the existence of synesthesia are examined, compared, and contrasted; these hypotheses include V.S. Ramachandran and E.M. Hubbard’s hyperconnectivity feedback theory, P.G. Grossenbacher and C.T. Lovelace’s disinhibited feedback theory, and M.R. Watson et al.’s environmentally-acquired theory. The synesthetic experiences of two notable musicians with chromesthesia - twentieth-century modernist composer Olivier Messiaen and pop singer/songwriter Lorde - are discussed to exhibit the influence of synesthesia on a musician’s creative output.
Keywords: Synesthesia, multimodal, sensation and perception, music, chromesthesia, neurophysiology, hyperconnectivity feedback theory, disinhibited feedback theory, Olivier Messiaen, Lorde
Note: This Capstone will also be presented as an Oral Presentation during PURCC on April 29th.
Location
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
Start Date
29-4-2023 10:00 AM
End Date
29-4-2023 1:00 PM
Included in
Cognition and Perception Commons, Cognitive Science Commons, Musicology Commons, Other Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons
Music & Synesthesia: An Exploration of Synesthesia and its Relation to Musical Perception
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
This research investigates synesthesia and its impact on musical perception. Synesthesia is the multimodal sensory phenomenon in which the stimulation of one sensory modality generates the experience of a second, otherwise unrelated sense. Discussed topics include: a description of synesthesia and its neurophysiological and perceptual characteristics, the historical conceptualization and documentation of synesthesia beginning with the ancient Greeks, and present-day scientific inquiry. This research explores three varying types of auditory synesthesia - chromesthesia (sound-to-color synesthesia), auditory-tactile synesthesia, and sound-gustatory/sound-olfactory synesthesia - and their multimodal sensory characteristics in relation to music. Prominent neurophysiological hypotheses regarding the existence of synesthesia are examined, compared, and contrasted; these hypotheses include V.S. Ramachandran and E.M. Hubbard’s hyperconnectivity feedback theory, P.G. Grossenbacher and C.T. Lovelace’s disinhibited feedback theory, and M.R. Watson et al.’s environmentally-acquired theory. The synesthetic experiences of two notable musicians with chromesthesia - twentieth-century modernist composer Olivier Messiaen and pop singer/songwriter Lorde - are discussed to exhibit the influence of synesthesia on a musician’s creative output.
Keywords: Synesthesia, multimodal, sensation and perception, music, chromesthesia, neurophysiology, hyperconnectivity feedback theory, disinhibited feedback theory, Olivier Messiaen, Lorde
Note: This Capstone will also be presented as an Oral Presentation during PURCC on April 29th.