It could also be called conceptual-auditory synesthesia
This type
of synesthesia is interesting but uncommon. It consists of a concurrent sound
perception – frequencies, timbres or even melodies – triggered by the different
concepts or items that form part of a series, category or sequence. Some
already known examples are grapheme-sound (evoked by letters and/or numbers)
and colour-sound, and pain-sound synesthesia might also fall into this
category. However, in addition to these there are other, less habitual, concepts
that can each produce their own specific sound perception. The
auditory concurrents evoked are involuntary and consistent, and although some
synesthetes may hear the sounds physically as if they were real, it appears
that most only hear them in the mind.
Here are
some descriptions written by people with this type of synesthesia:
Shape-to-sound
“I ‘hear’ the outlines of shapes. For example: think of
those little racecar tracks that little kids put together. If I trace that
track with my eyes, I can ‘hear’ (in my head, of course) the sounds of the
curves, twists, bends and loops. Even straight lines have a specific ‘sound’.
Each sound is always the same for that particular ‘outline’. So a loop does not
sound like a straight line. And sometimes the sounds slow down and speed up,
depending on what the ‘shape’ is.”
(Source: This post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2022.)
Time units-to-sound (years)
“Every time
a certain year appears, I hear a piece of music that goes with that year. Not
all years, just some of the them seem to activate the music, and there’s no
logic to it, I only know that certain years correspond to certain pieces of
music and that each year has its own piece. I don’t understand how my brain
invents these things, but I’ve been like that all my life. And if you were born
in one of the years on this list, it means you’re defined by the music
associated with that year.”
1975 https://youtu.be/TxDqZTlJqmo
1992 https://youtu.be/07GF9DxlrKc
(Source: a post in the Facebook group “Synesthesia”, 2021. Original text in French.)
People-to-sound
(Source: This post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2021.)
Proper names-to-sound
“Sarah sounds like a cup falling off the counter.
Dominick sounds like a big fan turning on.
Augustine sounds like a cat’s nails on tile.
Rowan sounds like a spray bottle being squirted (one of my favorite sounds!)
Cecilia sounds like a ball bouncing in a small room off of all the walls.”
(Source: this post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2022.)
Hairstyles-to-sound
I think it's a lot less noticeable, but I vaguely remember getting sounds from other series of things.
(I hear them) in the mind. Usually, the more prominent and eccentric the hairstyle is, the louder and longer the sound is. Different parts of certain hairstyles seem to produce different sounds. A friend of mine has a large spiky mohawk on the top of his head, but shorter hair over the rest of his head. The mohawk produces the sound of a quick, energetic bass guitar riff, whereas the shorter hair produces the sound of a hard-to-specify wind instrument in the distance. I also know that even similar hairstyles can produce wildly different sounds."
(Source: a conversation arising from a post in the Facebook group “Synesthesia”, 2021.)
Go to the page on colour-sound synesthesia
Go to the page on grapheme-sound synesthesia
Go to the page on number-sound synesthesia
Go to the page on pain-sound synesthesia
Go to the page on motion-to-sound synesthesia
Go to the page on coloured sequence synesthesia (concept-colour)This page last updated: 1 July 2024
This page first published: 15 August 2021
Wow
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