Re: Musical synaesthesia

On Mon, 26 Jun 2000, Danny Wier wrote:

>To me, I associate certain keys with various moods:
Interesting! I associate them more with how good they sound
or resonate in various instruments. The notes C, D, Eb, F &
Bb had "greater resonance", while Db, F and A had "lesser
resonance". The rest were crap. For example, notes (or chords
built on them) with lesser resonance sound full on organs I've
played; but those with greater resonance sound full and also
vibrate the building, causing the windows and vents to rattle.
They're powerful, and almost a physical force. Crap notes (and
chords) sound puny and weak.

Transfers over to other horns as well: clarinets and brass sound
good in F, G, C & D (concert Eb, F, Bb and C). Brass especially
in C (concert Bb), as this is the fundamental tone of the horn.

>C major: triumph
Agree here: very open sounding.

>D minor: courage
>G minor: alarm
>G major: joy
>(or am I just thinking of Bach's "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring")
>A minor: sadness
>E minor: hope
>B minor: melancholy
>D major: reverence (a lot of hymns are in D)
There are a lot in Bb and Eb, too (especially in the Methodist
Hymnal), which makes them real easy to play.

>Bb major: military
>(I was in marching band in school; Bb is a very common key)
Yep.

>Eb major: patriotic (the key of many national anthems)
>C minor: anger
>Ab major: love
>F minor: fear
Notice also, that the ones you list as joy, reverence, military
and patriotic; I've listed as sounding especially good on most
instruments. May be a connection.

>
>That's all I can think of for now.  By the way, I use a twelve-color system
>to describe personality types, so perhaps I could use it for the circle of
>fifths in Western (12-tone) music.
>
>Daniel A. Wier  ¶¦¬þ
Fancy cat. :/ Just use a smiley like the rest of us.

Padraic.