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.
Some examples: Voice-shape
Since I was
about 9, I’ve associated certain shapes with people’s voices. They’re rods
coming from either the left or right side of my vision, always gray, with a
different cross-section depending on the voice. Men’s voices usually have this
trapezoidal aspect to them that women’s voices don’t have. Women tend towards
teardrop-shaped voices. The “default” shape is a very standard ellipse, like
the end of a maraca. (…)
There are
some voices where I’m like “dang, that is such a round voice” (e.g. glados in
portal 2, whose voice is almost a perfect circle except for two symmetrical
divots in the sides), and other times where it doesn’t even occur to me. (…) Once
a voice has an associated shape, anything else feels Wrong. Well, except for
that the shape can change depending on the tone - it’s not person-by-person.
Someone’s public speaking voice has a different shape than their just-woke-up
voice.
Sometimes voices have textures like the inside of an aero chocolate bar.
Is this
really not universal? Do people not get what I mean when I say that a voice is
trapezoidal?
(Source: This post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2023.)
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 Reddit/Synesthesia. 2022.)
Four interesting cases of voice-colour synesthesia, including one from over 100 years ago
(Source:
This comment on 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 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 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: 12 November 2023
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
As a child I was a very creative. I had numerous concussions, this is when I began to see a person’s singing voice (accapella) in a single color and then fade lighter as they went to a higher note and the shade deeper when they went to a deeper note. When I would hear a song accompanied by instruments and/or other voices; I’d seeing many colors and they’d be almost tormenting because I was already an energetic child but I’d try to scribble the song on paper and could not keep up. I eventually gave it up when I told my mother “that lady’s voice is orange” and she of course didn’t understand and told me to stop being “silly”. So, I kept this “magical” thing to myself. It never went away but I’d learned to push it down and fight it. Fast forward 45 years. I had a major Traumatic Brain Injury that has left me permanently disabled (high functioning but unable to work). I’ve been told I probably have CTE - what the football players get because I’ve had well over 100 head injuries, most not reported. Since the last one in 2017 that left me disabled, the “seeing singers or seeing songs” as I used to call it, because I also saw colors in instrumentals… I now have it much stronger. At first because I had such horrific migraines, wasn’t allowed on screens, had to stay in a dark room, I wanted to listen to music but when I did it was painful to see the colors. Now- wow! It is fun. Certain currently famous artists have a color. Such as Taylor Swift is always, in every song, plum. When she goes high the plum fades lighter but it stays plum. When she goes low, the plum goes very dark but never turns any other color- just an extremely dark plum. I had to laugh when I saw she had a song called Lavender Haze. No, she’s not Lavender but she is plum- at least in my brain. And I actually do see it on the walls as soon as I hear her voice. The funny thing is, I listened to here speak in an interview and I did not see color. I thought I would. A friend of mine is getting started in Nashville a singer- songwriter. He is always a mid-tone navy blue and goes deep navy on deep notes and pale navy on high notes. I have colors I see for many artists- same colors no matter what they sing (same color, different shades). I’m actually going to paint canvases to represent each artist. When I try use colored pens to do the entire song sounds, I get frantic just like I did as a kid! I’m now able to actually tune out the background and hone in on the singer’s voice. I no longer feel scared of it or weird. It’s one of the few blessings of having a debilitating brain disability. Thank you for your website!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I have this kind of synaesthesia but I tend to strongly voices with shapes- never colours (at least not consciously.) For example the base voice is a cube, Chappell Roan's is a cone, the Australian accent is a vertical ellipse with a slight point at the very top. Only people who are spheres can do covers as their shape doesn't need to change drastically to match with the original artist. I picture it in my head, where I find it extremely difficult to imagine colour. If I see someone make a post about what sound correlates to what I will immediately be able to tell if they are correct or not; I just can't seem to formulate my own associations with colour. I am also tone deaf and autistic so this might just be an association thing.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing is that I won't know the shape immediately- I have to think about it (it doesn't take me long). Irregular shapes make more sense when explaining it to other people (pitch and weight of voice is low = shape is horizontal/close to ground etc)
DeleteThis is very interesting, and yes, it’s definitely voice-shape synesthesia!
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