Michelle ‘Misha’ Oraa Ali
MuSyC is a project which aims at building a music to colour synaesthesia visualizer.
Synaesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which perception of a certain stimulus, such as the musical note ‘A’, involuntarily elicits another seemingly unrelated sensation, such as seeing the colour red. There are various types of synaesthesia, one of the most common of which is music to colour associations. However, explaining the qualia or feeling this cross-sensory activation elicits is hard to do – thankfully, music visualizers have made it easier to showcase how sound can influence and shape images.
Our goal with MuSyC is to make a wearable device which is sensitive to the frequency or pitch of a sound and flashes certain colours in response to certain frequency ranges or particular defined notes, the universal A, B, C, D, E and F. Not only will this device allow non-synaesthetes to experience the world and music from the eyes of a music-colour synaesthete, it has great potential to be used as a tool for performance art in collaboration with musical orchestras and bands. Moreover, we hope that this device can also be used as an educational tool for those beginning training in music and those who need an additional visual cue to help distinguishing between closely related notes. Another potential use of this device is create a way for individuals who are hard of hearing to experience music in the form of a visual light show in real time, allowing them to integrate cues from physical vibrations with the sight of music.
This project would not be possible without help from the Mount Holyoke MakerSpace, the Five College Digital Humanities. Specifically, Luke Jaeger and Shani Mensing for their mentorship and Cassiel Moroney and Kyoko Sano for their brilliance and collaboration.
You can view our progress and updates about this project here.
MUSYC 