A synesthesthetic view of ambient music

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Synesthesia is a phenomenon that causes sensory crossovers. For people with synesthesia, ordinary sensory events, such as listening to music or reading text, can elicit experiences involving other senses, such as perceiving a taste or seeing a color. Forms of synesthesia that trigger color appear to be the most common with a prevalence rate of 86%. Synesthesia is not a disease or a medical condition and can enhance cognitive abilities such as creativity and memory, as it’s easier to make connections between concepts. Renowned creative minds such as Vincent Van Gogh and Vladimir Nabokov claimed to have synesthesia. Studies have shown a relationship between autism and synesthesia, which is is almost three times higher in people with autism (18.9%) compared to that of the general population (7.2%).

In literature, synesthesia refers to an author's blending of human senses to describe an object. Phrases like a “loud dress” or a “chilly gaze” blend our sensory modalities. Novelists and poets frequently use synesthesia in literature to add the power of sensual understanding to an idea. For example, Dante in The Divine Comedy (1472) wrote “Back to the region where the sun is silent.”

When working on this dream I was thinking of the music of Stars of the Lid, an American ambient music project that formerly consisted of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie. The duo formed in Austin, Texas, in 1993 and continued until the death of Brian McBride in August, 2023.