Also called
touch-to-sound (or touch-sound) synesthesia
Some people report hearing sounds when they touch or handle things, the
specific sound depending on the texture or type of object they are touching. It could be related
to kinetics-to-sound synesthesia, where the sound concurrent is triggered by
their own body movements, and it could affect the same people, although I am
not aware of any studies on the subject that might confirm or refute this. In any case it is a
very uncommon type of synesthesia: according to Sean Day's study on prevalence, only 0.35% of the 1,143 synesthetes interviewed
reported having this kind of experience.
Here are some descriptions written by people with this type of synesthesia:
“When I touch something softly enough that I can't actually hear it, I hear it in my head. This extends to kinds of touch that never make sounds that you can hear; for instance, I can hear when someone pinches me.
(…) Surfaces have their own sounds and the sounds are different depending on how I touch the surface.”
(Source: This post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2019.)
"I can [hear] touch. Like when I'm swiping on my phone, or typing. Or touching my fingers, or my bedsheet, floor, scratching something, even I can hear sounds from touching inside my mouth using my tongue."
(Source: this post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2022.)
"I get sounds from touching different textures or vibrations, I thought it was a common experience for the longest time until I started asking people about it. The most obvious one is the vibration from a touch screen I'll get a slightly jarring buzz sound. Different fabrics will sound different based on their textures. I'll mainly get sounds from fingertips or other sensitive skin areas, at least that's what has been on my radar."
(Source: a comment on this page of the Synesthesia Tree (see below). 2024.)
Go to the page on kinetics-to-sound (and motion-to-sound) synesthesia
I think I have this... When I touch something, particularly if movement is involved, I can hear it. It doesn't matter how far away it is, or if I have noise canceling headphones on, or how lightly I am touching it. It also doesn't matter if I can see it. They don't sound different from what you would expect, no mechanical noises or the like. It is most obvious with movement, but it is usually still there (just very quiet) without movement
ReplyDeleteAlso, my name is Kate
DeleteHi Kate, yes, I would say you do have this!
DeleteAlso, I really find this site useful and informative. Thank you!
Delete-Kate
Thank you for reading and commenting!
DeleteReally happy to have found this site! I get sounds from touching different textures or vibrations, I thought it was a common experience for the longest time until I started asking people about it. The most obvious one is the vibration from a touch screen I'll get a slightly jarring buzz sound. Different fabrics will sound different based on their textures. I'll mainly get sounds from fingertips or other sensitive skin areas, at least that's what has been on my radar. Does it sound like this might be considered tactile-auditory synesthesia?
ReplyDeleteHi Ryan, yes, it sounds totally like tactile-auditory synesthesia. I'll include it with the examples in the article above because I think it's a very good example, in fact. It's especially interesting about the different textures giving different sounds, as having concurrent perceptions for different types within certain categories of things is an important feature of synesthesia. It's also very interesting that the sounds are more perceptible when you touch something with a more sensitive skin area. That would make sense, as the texture or vibration would make a bigger impression on you as you feel it more if you touch it with that area of your skin.
DeleteThanks for commenting!
Thanks Pau, I've been curious about the experience for at least 15 years now! I've been having a bunch of fun reading the pages and checking out the links, the website is an awesome resource.
Delete