The Color Brown and other colors for Musical keys

Hello,
I would like feed back on a composition I've been work on. I'm thinking it is finished, but maybe I could add more. I hope to
write this down at some point, but just haven't gotten to it yet as I just came up with another idea for it this week. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and I would love your comments. The Title is "The Color Brown"



Also, are there any of you that have studied the colors that go with musical keys? I would like to write more color songs with the keys being the inspiration.

 

That is personal and subjective. I imagine that other than synesthetes, people don't see music as any color and even synesthetes don't agree on what the colors are.

 

Actually some people do claim to see music in colors.
See this website of my former teacher.
She does however not explain why Do is white and Re is brown. It never occurred to me to ask

 

That is personal and subjective. I imagine that other than synesthetes, people don't see music as any color and even synesthetes don't agree on what the colors are.[/quote]

I agree that it could be somewhat subjective. However, I did look some things up and it seems that the bright tones go with bright colors, which would make sense to me. As far as seeing music as a color, it's something that I'm somewhat interested in as I also try my hand at painting. (though I'm not that great!)

Actually some people do claim to see music in colors.
See this website of my former teacher.
She does however not explain why Do is white and Re is brown. It never occurred to me to ask [/quote]

I saw your teacher's site and noticed that she uses si instead of ti. Is that the way it is said in Russian, or is that just the way she says that? I've not heard that used before.

Anyway, besides the theory, what was thought of my composition? Besides the fact I know there are some timing issues in the recording. Also, would this be an acceptable recording sound for the audition room in the near future?

Thanks!

 

I don't know any better that that it is si. I think it's only the French that use ti. But could be wrong here.

Well hmmm.... if you ask me no questions I'll tell you no lies

It's not the most pleasing of sounds, a little metallic but at least it's clear and personally I think it is acceptable. Certainly more so than earlier recordings from you. For this kind of repertoire though, I see little hope to be honest.

 

Ok, thanks. I was just wanting feedback on sound.

 

I liked your composition. I don't believe a piece should be very complex, long and difficult to be good. I see colors in keys, but they're not the same you see. For me Do is yellow, and Re is red. Mi is yellow again. Fa is blue (and so on...). I'm brazilian and have studied music all by myself, so no teacher has told me "hey, this key is purple". No, all the colors have come from my mind, don't know why.

Good job!

 

Perrotta
Thank you. For some reason I just thought of brown. I think it was because I was playing on a brown instrument at the time and it changed so much from major to minor. Growing up, my sister would taste something and said it tasted like a shape. She once called water round. It was silly, but that's how she felt. Anyway, she probably wouldn't like it if she knew I was talking about her. At least she won't see this post.

 

There is a book by Oliver Sacks called "Musophilia: Tales of music and the brain" that talks about this phenomenon and others involving music. The website is http://musicophilia.com/. It was also a program on PBS.

I don't remember if it was this program or another one that talked about synesthetes and the connection between shape and taste. I remember a couple of sisters describing flavors and one commenting "This tastes round."

Scott

 

Actually, the French (and the Italians and Spanish, and any others that use Fixed-Do) use si, not ti (only used in moveable-do). What's unusual about the French solfege is that they do not use do; instead they use ut.

 

Interesting. I wonder who started these systems. In the choirs where I accompany, they use the number system. Sometimes it drives me crazy, and I think, wouldn't it be just as easy to say the names of the notes instead of the solfege or the number systems? I don't know, maybe that's just the pianist in me coming out, and being frustrated that not everybody in the choir knows how to play the piano. I just think it would be to their advantage to learn the piano.

 

It all started with a Latin chant called Hymn to St. John (one of very many) with incipt of "Ut queat laxis" in which each phrase in turn begins on the next higher degree of the major scale (C through A). The syllable sung on each of these first notes of the phrases is where we get the solfege syllables (ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la). Except, that ut, begining with a vowel instead of ending with one, was changed (probably by the Italians) to do, who I believe also added si. Ti only exists for sight-reading purpose in "movable-do" (a poor system in my mind for actually sight-singing; I was trained on fixed-do) and you will never find a piece titled Sonata/Symphony in Ti menor/minore, but you do find works in Si menor/minore, etc. If you google this stuff you'll probably find a nice article on it. BTW, in the US, the only places that I know of that train in fixed-do is the Curtis Institue and the Juilliard School. Anybody know of any other places? (I got mine with my piano lessons during HS).