Synesthetes

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington (born Edward Kennedy Ellington) was an American big-band leader, composer, and pianist. Born in Washington, D.C., Ellington was a prolific composer and a monolithic figure in jazz, though his compositions encompassed many other genres including film, blues, classical, and gospel. Not limiting himself to any one genre, Ellington referred to his compositions as American music. His creative uses of orchestration and texture are emblematic of his sound-color synesthesia.("Synesthesia Digital Library | Duke Ellington",2012)

“I hear a note by one of the fellows in the band and it’s one color. I hear the same note played by someone else and it’s a different color. When I hear sustained musical tones, I see just about the same colors that you do, but I see them in textures. If Harry Carney is playing, D is dark blue burlap. If Johnny Hodges is playing, G becomes light blue satin” (George, 1981, p. 226).

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Lorde

Lorde — the 20-year-old singer and songwriter of the hits "Royals" and "Green Light" — has a rare neurological condition called synesthesia, and she said it helps her to write her wildly popular music. Between 1 percent and 4 percent of people have synesthesia, a condition in which different senses are mixed, according to a 2011 study published in the journal PLOS Biology. In Lorde's case, sound-to-color synesthesia means that she sees specific colors when certain notes are played. The New Zealand native's next album, "Melodrama," is expected to be released in June, and she said each song is a creation of her imagination, synesthesia and collaborators.("Painting a Song: Lorde's Synesthesia Turns Colors into Music", 2017)

"From the moment I start something, I can see the finished song, even if it's far-off and foggy,""It's about getting the actual thing to sound like what I've been seeing,"("The Return of Lorde.”, 2017)

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Marilyn Monroe

While Marilyn was never diagnosed with synaesthesia, there’s a good reason for that – it wasn’t an established concept during her lifetime, although Wright believes it has been described in literature for centuries, noting that many artists, musicians and writers exhibit aspects of synaesthesia.("Marilyn: A Proto-Synaesthete? – ES Updates", 2017)

Her first husband, Jim Dougherty said: "He recounted evenings when all Norma Jean served were peas and carrots. She liked the colors. She has that displacement of the senses which others take drugs to find. So she is like a lover of rock who sees vibrations when he hears sounds...It also provides her natural wit...she did not have a skin like others." Her neice also stated: "Synesthesia is a term Marilyn and I were unaware of; in the past, we simply spoke of the characteristic experiences with terms such as 'extraordinary sensitivity' and/or 'extraordinary imagination'... Marilyn and I both studied acting with Lee Strasberg, who gave students exercises which could bring us awareness of such abilities, and the means of using them to bring characters to life. As you know, the varied experiences can bring sadness or enjoyment...Marilyn's awesome performance in "Bus Stop" (the one she was most proud of) grew out of the use of such techniques and quite wore her out." ("Was Marilyn Monroe a Synesthete? | Psychology Today", 2012)

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Vladimir Nabokov

Born in 1899 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Nabokov moved to England in 1917, to Berlin in 1922, then to the United States in 1940, and finally to Switzerland in 1959, where he died in 1977. Nabokov was best known in the United States for his novel Lolita, which was banned in France, Argentina, and New Zealand shortly after its publication for its controversial subject matter of a European scholarly man who becomes obsessed with a 12-year old American girl. Nabokov is the author of other works such as Pale Fire, Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle, Transparent Things and Invitation to a Beheading. He also wrote volumes of poetry and published collections of short stories. Nabokov, his mother, his wife, and his son Dmitri all had synesthesia. Nabokov, his mother, and his son had grapheme-color synesthesia, and his mother and Dmitri also had sound-color synesthesia. Very little was understood about how synesthesia worked during Nabokov’s early years.("Synesthesia Digital Library | Vladimir Nabokov",2012)

“As far back as I remember myself (with interest, with amusement, seldom with admiration or disgust), I have been subject to mild hallucinations. Some are aural, others are optical, and by none have I profited much” (34-35). In spite of this dismissive statement, Nabokov goes on to describe his rich, vivid experiences of colored, textured letters: “In the brown group, there are the rich rubbery tone of soft g, paler j, and the drab shoelace of h…among the reds, b has the tone called burnt sienna by painters, m is a fold of pink flannel, and today I have at last perfectly matched v with “Rose Quartz” in Maerz and Paul’s Dictionary of Color” (34-35).

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Sources

  1. “List of People with Synesthesia.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_with_synesthesia.
  2. Synesthesia Digital Library, “Duke Ellington,” Synesthesia Digital Library, accessed March 16, 2019, http://sdl.granthazard.com/items/show/59.
  3. Synesthesia Digital Library, “Vladimir Nabokov,” Synesthesia Digital Library, accessed March 16, 2019, http://sdl.granthazard.com/items/show/66.
  4. “Was Marilyn Monroe a Synesthete?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sensorium/201202/was-marilyn-monroe-synesthete.
  5. marina72. “Marilyn: A Proto-Synaesthete? « ES Updates.” ES Updates, blog.everlasting-star.net/2017/09/psychology/marilyn-the-proto-synaesthete/.
  6. Geggel, Laura. “Painting a Song: Lorde's Synesthesia Turns Colors into Music.” LiveScience, Purch, 14 Apr. 2017, www.livescience.com/58696-lorde-has-synesthesia.html.
  7. Weiner, Jonah. “The Return of Lorde.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12 Apr. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/magazine/the-return-of-lorde.html.

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Background Photo by Syd Sujuaan on Unsplash


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