Subtypes of
auditory-visual synesthesia
The sound
of people speaking or singing can trigger very specific visual concurrents for
some synesthetes. Although this is a little-researched phenomenon, it can be
considered a subtype of auditory-visual synesthesia. Visual synesthetic
concurrents induced by voices include colour, texture, shape, size, spatial
position and direction. It can either coexist with other types of
auditory-visual synesthesia (so the same person might also have timbre-shape or
tone-colour, for example) or exist independently of any other sound-to-sight
synesthesias. It can be considered a type of chromesthesia (a general name
given to any type of synesthesia where the inducer is sound or music and the
concurrent is, or includes, colour), particularly in the case of singing, as
the term chromesthesia is preferably used in reference to musical sounds.
“Some voice
synesthetes “see” the voice better when the person is singing. For some
synesthetes colors vary little between voices but for others, colors depend
strongly on the individual speaking. Concurrents may also be influenced by
familiarity with the voice or the medium it is transmitted through, such as
direct personal communication vs. radio. Some voice synesthetes identify the
pitch to be a strong influence whereas others cannot define any criteria of the
voice that change their concurrents. In Fernay et al. (2012), the synesthete's
perceptions included color, size, and location of the associations. The authors
found that a higher pitch, or fundamental frequency (f0), resulted in lighter
color associations and a higher position in vertical space. Male voices induced
larger shapes than female voices.”
Synesthetic
reactions to voices are idiosyncratic and very varied, and the following examples have all been mentioned by different synesthetes describing their own particular experience:
- brighter colours correspond to higher-pitched
voices and darker, muted colours to deeper voices
- the colour, texture or shape depend on the
accent
- only
familiar voices, or those of people the synesthete knows, have colour, while
those of strangers do not
- the
colour of the voice is the same colour as the one they associate with the
person (go to the page on person-colour synesthesia)
- men’s
voices tend to be black, grey or brown, while women’s voices can be any colour
- the
texture corresponds to the type of emotion expressed: angry, tired, upset, etc.
- different voices create specific colours and also specific tactile sensations linked to each colour
As with
other types of auditory-visual synesthesia, if the synesthete perceives the
visual concurrent physically appearing in front of their eyes they would be a
“projector” synesthete, whereas if they visualise it in their mind’s eye they
would be an “associator”, this latter type being more common. As with other
types of synesthesia, it is consistent: the concurrents may vary depending on
different factors (see list above), but they are always the same for each
particular synesthete.
An example of voice-shape/texture
“Some things I’ve associated with people’s voices are - a wooden block, just cubic with a couple of weird crater holes in them because of the airy tone - a thick, dense, maple syrupy texture that sort of pours out of a bottle - the soft and cool pinch of spraying cologne on your wrist (don’t ask idk either LMAO) - a bag of yellow chips puffed up with air.”
(Source: This post on the online debate platform Reddit/Synesthesia. 2022.)
Four interesting cases of voice-colour synesthesia, including one from over 100 years ago
(Source:
This comment on the online debate platform Reddit/Synesthesia. 2021.)
2. (Voice-colour-tactile sensations)
“I think a good example for me would be any song by Kimya
Dawson? She has a kind of desaturated, pinkish plum coloured voice and I feel
it on my nose and the bottom ridges of my eyes. Sometimes, when her songs get
more ‘white’ I feel it on my sternum as well.”
(Source: This post/comment on the online debate platform Reddit/Synesthesia. 2021.)
People's voices are almost always yellow or green. Yellow for logic and green for emotion. (…) When the color shifts, it means they're changing into a different style of communication. It doesn't always indicate they're lying, but usually indicates they're hiding something.
(I’ve had it) all my life. I didn't realize that it was rare until a couple years ago, in my mid 20's.
I don't know if it's a change in their pitch or not. I just know that the color changes. It could very well be that the pitch level changes or their mannerisms change which is why I pick up on it, but for me the color of their voices just changes.
I think the most interesting anecdote I've learned through this is that it's much easier to lie as a logical person than an emotional person. I very rarely see yellow shift to green, indicating a logical person had to access their emotional side. Occasionally I'll see an increase in orange around the yellow when a person is unhappy with something, meaning that something is off with them. Emotional people have to rationalize something before they lie, and give themselves away far too easily in the process of rationalizing."
(Source: This post and comments on the online debate platform Reddit/ IAmA - Ask Me Anything. 2011.)
Ticker tape
Another voice-related type of visual synesthesia is “ticker tape”, which is when words are automatically visualised in the form of “subtitles” on hearing people speak. Go to the page on ticker tape synesthesia
Go to the page on voice-to-taste synesthesia
Go to the page on auditory-visual synesthesia in general
This page last updated: 26 May 2022
i believe i may have something similar, but not exact. i see people's voices as a pattern of white lines on a black background. everybody's line patterns are different depending on the tone variation, grumbly-ness, crackly-ness, breathiness, use of speech fillers, pitch, etc.
ReplyDeleteYes, that certainly sounds like you have synesthetic visuals from voices. Very interesting! And as you say, slightly different from the examples here.
DeleteWhat about like 3d dna strands? With geometric shapes to determine pitch and like the texture of the voice can determine what state the shapes or the strand intelf is, uh the strand follows the same path the voice came from, and if the voice is confused or confuses myself then it becomes something like bob the hand bug on the windsheild
ReplyDeleteAnd dependi g on the type of voice, the voicw can drip liquid or be frosty or hard like a rock
Although once i knew a giy and the only thing i could imagine from his voice was a vaccum cleaner in a library