Myriad
I have so many questions and research is my love language. Therefore, there are many concepts and ideas floating through my mind. The only way to explore these is to get it out on paper. Let the words or lines do some of the thinking for me. I’ve categorized many of my interests such as neurology, musicology, astronomy, botany and biology into various series.
My synesthesia of being able to assign objects, letters and numbers a very specific “gender” translated to musical notes. For example, the notes C, B and G are considered more “masculine” and the notes A and F are more feminine. D and E tend to switch back and fourth, but I feel it’s more because they’re kind of somewhere in-between. D is a female with masculine strength and E is just more androgynous if that makes sense. It holds both energies in my mind.
Musicology
I studied the relation of color and shape with music; specifically classical and jazz. Certain instruments were assigned colors. Lines and textures followed suit. For example, the harmonica showed up as a sort of golden yellow spaghetti-like texture; the lines like the strings on a guitar would flow parallel to each other and create loops and arcs. The sound of a violin is very particular as well, with the lines appearing to be made of gold. They had a metallic sheen compared to the harmonica, which were more matte.
With the jazz music, the backgrounds in which these shapes, lines and textures appeared in felt darker and more mysterious; whereas the classical music had a brighter one.
I wondered if that synesthesia was actually more of a musical language that each person already had. Much like how symbolism of certain objects, places, and what not change with each person based on their own life experience and reality. I conducted an experiment in which I listened to the same song, Mozart’s Allegro Assai, and doodled shapes, lines and textures. I did this three times, giving myself enough time to rest and clear my head before each session. At the end of the experiment, I compared the doodles from each session and looked for any recurring motifs. What instruments, chords or notes did I associate these with?
