What

Color
Sounds
Like
Danielle Parkka

Colors, being part of the electromagnetic spectrum, can

Chapter 1

be expressed in terms of energy, wavelength, or frequency.

The Rainbow
and The
Scale

Frequency is measured in cycles per second, or Hertz.

Pitch relates to frequency, or how many times a second

the particles vibrate. This means sound can also be

measured in Hertz (or Hz).

Humans can normally hear sounds between 20Hz and

20,000Hz (20kHz). Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo

Violet Frequencies in the visible spectrum are between 1014
& 1015 Hertz.

We all know what a rainbow looks like. It is an arch
of colors in the sky and it displays the colors of the
visible light spectrum. There are seven main colors; the
colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and
violet, (or ROYGBIV). These are the only seven main
colors a human eye can perceive.

A musician, when starting out, generally learns the
major scale as their first set of notes. The major scale,
like the rainbow, is made up of seven parts, or notes.
Most every scale, except pentatonic scales, are made
up of seven notes. So now we have this similarity.
There are seven main colors, and there are seven
notes.

If you take the frequencies of each note in Hz (in equal

temperament) and multiply them by 240 (40 octaves), you

get a number in the THz. This would fall into the visual range
if it represented the frequency of an electromagnetic wave
instead of a sound wave.

The scale of the rainbow would be G, Mixolydian

A MAPPING BETWEEN MUSICAL NOTES AND COLORS

As you can see ROYGBIV ends up starting out on G. Any chromatic tones
end up being a shades of the primary colors around them.


Chapter 2

Real World
Uses

Though all of this color and sound science just
seems like a fun theory, in actuality there are people
who really do obtain and perceive sound from color
and vise versa. This condition is called Synesthesia.

Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in
which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway
leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a
second sensory or cognitive pathway.

There are also people who use this science to help
them when one of their sensory pathways doesnt
quite work correctly, such as being color blind.

There are also people who use this science to help

them when one of their sensory pathways doesnt

quite work correctly, such as being color blind.

Artist Neil Harbisson was born completely color

blind, but these days a device attached to his head
turns color into audible frequencies. Instead of
seeing a world in grayscale, Harbisson can hear a
symphony of color and yes, even listen to faces
and paintings.

This kind of science can also lead to musical

The possibilities for this idea are endless!

instruments. Audible color is an audio-visual

instrument. Sound is generated based on color
detected by a web cam connected to a computer.
Red, green and blue correspond with certain music
notes. When the colors are mixed, the resulting
secondary colors produce dierent notes.

Designed by Hideaki Matsui and Momo Miyazaki

Generative Design Workshop 2012 with Joshua Noble and Daviid
Gauthier
Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design

Designed by Hideaki Matsui and Momo Miyazaki

Generative Design Workshop 2012 with Joshua Noble and Daviid
Gauthier
Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design
4

Review
Question 1 of 8
What unit of measurement do we use to match colors with
sound waves?

A. Hertz
B. Wavelength
C. Octaves
D. Frequency

Check Answer

Works Cited
http://pondscienceinstitute.on-rev.com/svpwiki/tiki-index.php?page=music+note+or+sound+colors
http://www.endolith.com/wordpress/2010/09/15/a-mapping-between-musical-notes-and-colors/
http://www.harmonics.com/lucy/lsd/colors.html
http://www.yankodesign.com/2012/07/20/musical-colors/
http://www.losdoggies.com/colortones.html
http://www.lunarplanner.com/Harmonics/planetary-harmonics.html
ciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/The-Noisy-Reef/Science-Ideas-and-Concepts/Measuring-sound
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/emspectrum1.html
http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_harbisson_i_listen_to_color?language=en
https://vimeo.com/43306909