List of people with synesthesia
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![]() | This article possibly contains original research. (April 2014) |
This is a list of notable people who have claimed to have the neurological condition synesthesia. Following that, there is a list of people who are often wrongly believed to have had synesthesia because they used it as a device in their art, poetry or music (referred to as pseudo-synesthetes).
Estimates of prevalence of synesthesia have ranged widely, from 1 in 4 to 1 in 25,000 - 100,000. However, most studies have relied on synesthetes reporting themselves, introducing self-referral bias.[1]
Synesthetes
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Name | Type | Lifespan | Country | Profession | Quote | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alessia Cara | Multiple | b. 1996 | ![]() |
Singer-songwriter | [2] | ||
Charli XCX | Sound to color | b. 1992 | ![]() |
Singer-songwriter | [3] | ||
Jennifer Cook O'Toole | Multiple | b. 1975 | ![]() |
Author | [4] | ||
Jack Coulter | Sound to color | b. 1994 | ![]() |
Artist | [5] | ||
Marina Diamandis | Multiple | b. 1985 | ![]() |
Singer-songwriter | [6] | ||
Patricia Lynne Duffy | Unspecified | Unknown | Unknown | Author | Wrote Blue Cats and Chartreuse Kittens, the first book by a synesthete about synesthesia.
Co-founded the American Synesthesia Association. |
[7] | |
Billie Eilish | Multiple | b. 2001 | ![]() |
Singer-songwriter | [8] | ||
Duke Ellington | Sound to color | 1899-1974 | ![]() |
Composer, pianist, bandleader | |||
David Hockney | Multiple | b. 1937 | ![]() |
Artist, stage designer, photographer | [9] | ||
Greg Jarvis | Sound to shape | Unknown | ![]() |
Musician | Founded the Canadian Synesthesia Association. | [10][11] | |
Billy Joel | Multiple | b. 1949 | ![]() |
Singer-songwriter, composer, pianist | "[W]hen I think of different types of melodies which are slower or softer, I think in terms of blues or greens ... When I [see] a particularly vivid color, it's usually a strong melodic, strong rhythmic pattern that emerges at the same time. When I think of [these] songs, I think of vivid reds, oranges, or golds." | [12][13] | |
Ash Lieb | Unspecified | b. 1982 | ![]() |
Artist, author, comedian | [14] | ||
Bloem de Ligny | Multiple | b. 1978 | ![]() |
Singer | [15] | ||
Franz Liszt | Sound to color | 1811-1886 | ![]() |
Composer, pianist | "Oh, please, gentlemen, a little bluer, if you please! This key requires it!" | [16][17][12] | |
Lorde | Sound to color | b. 1996 | ![]() |
Singer-songwriter | [18] | ||
Ida Maria | Sound to color | b. 1984 | ![]() |
Singer-songwriter | [19] | ||
Marian McPartland | Sound to color | 1918-2013 | ![]() ![]() |
Jazz pianist | [20] | ||
Bea Miller | Sound to color | b. 1999 | ![]() |
Singer-songwriter, actress | [21] | ||
Stephanie Morgenstern | Multiple | b. 1965 | ![]() |
Actress, filmmaker | [22] | ||
Finneas O'Connell | Unspecified | b. 1997 | ![]() |
Musician, record producer, actor | [8] | ||
Adil Omar | Multiple | b. 1991 | ![]() |
Singer-songwriter, record producer | [23] | ||
Itzhak Perlman | Sound to shape | b. 1945 | ![]() ![]() |
Violinist, conductor, music teacher | [13] | ||
Osmo Tapio Räihälä | Sound to shape | b. 1964 | ![]() |
Composer | [24] | ||
Maggie Rogers | Sound to color | b. 1994 | ![]() |
Singer-songwriter, record producer | [25] | ||
Jean Sibelius | Unspecified | 1865-1957 | ![]() |
Composer, violinist | [12] | ||
Carol Steen | Multiple | b. 1943 | ![]() |
Artist | Co-founded the American Synesthesia Association. | [26][27] | |
Daniel Tammet | Unspecified | b. 1979 | ![]() |
Author | [28] | ||
Brendon Urie | Multiple | b. 1987 | ![]() |
Singer | [29] | ||
Sabrina Vlaškalić | Multiple | 1989-2019 | ![]() |
Classical guitarist | [30] | ||
Richard Wagner | Sound to color | 1813-1883 | ![]() |
Composer, theatre director, conductor | [13] | ||
Pharrell Williams | Sound to color | b. 1973 | ![]() |
Singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, fashion designer | "The ability to see and feel [this way] was a gift given to me that I did not have to have. And if it was taken from me suddenly I'm not sure that I could make music. ... I wouldn't have a measure to understand [it]."[13]
"I thought all kids had mental, visual references for what they were hearing."[13] |
[13][12] |
Pseudo-synesthetes
- Alexander Scriabin (6 January 1872 – 27 April 1915) probably was not a synesthete, but, rather, was highly influenced by the French and Russian salon fashions. Most noticeably, Scriabin seems to have been strongly influenced by the writings and talks of the Russian mystic, Helena P. Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society and author of such works as Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine.[31] The synesthetic motifs found in Scriabin's compositions – most noticeably in Prometheus, composed in 1911 – are developed from ideas from Isaac Newton, and follow a circle of fifths.[31][32][33]
References
- ^ Simner, Julia; Hubbard, Edward M., eds. (2013). "A brief history of synesthesia research". Oxford Handbook of Synesthesia. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 13–17. ISBN 978-0-19-960332-9. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
- ^ "Alessia Cara Discusses Having Synesthesia".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Savage, Mark (12 December 2013). "BBC News - Charli XCX: Pop, punk and synaesthesia". BBC News.
- ^ Cook O'Toole, Jennifer (4 December 2018). Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum. ISBN 9781510732858.
- ^ "Synesthesia artist Jack Coulter creates 'musical painting' of Glastonbury". 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Trust Your Gut: An Interview With Marina and the Diamonds". Rookie. 25 February 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Duffy, Patricia Lynne (2011-04-01). Blue Cats and Chartreuse Kittens: How Synesthetes Color Their Worlds. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 9781429928274.
- ^ a b "Billie Eilish Explains How Synesthesia Affects Her Music". www.iheart.com. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ see Cytowic, Richard E. 2002. Synaesthesia: a Union of the Senses. Second edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
- ^ Everett-Green, Robert (Dec 3, 2010). "For Musician With Synaethesia, The Cello Can Sound Too Fury. Or Too Red". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ "Life with synesthesia: Toronto man who can see sounds shares his story". Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine January 28th 2015, Metro – Toronto Edition.
- ^ a b c d MITCHELL, KEVIN J. (2018). Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-17388-7. JSTOR j.ctvc77m71.
- ^ a b c d e f Seaberg, Maureen. Tasting the Universe.
- ^ Lieb, Ash. 2015. "Note: 10001". www.ashlieb.com. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ https://twitter.com/bloomdewilde/status/1154801323935584258
- ^ Cytowic, Richard E. (2009). Wednesday is indigo blue : discovering the brain of synesthesia. Eagleman, David. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-262-25483-0. OCLC 317116544.
- ^ Liu, Annie (Yen-Ling) (2013). "Listening as Gazing: Synaesthesia and the Double Apotheosis in Franz Liszt's "Hunnenschlacht"". Studia Musicologica. 54 (4): 379–388. doi:10.1556/SMus.54.2013.4.4. ISSN 1788-6244. JSTOR 43289733.
- ^ Times, Music (2015-10-17). "Lorde Talks Curly Hair, Synesthesia & Wanting to be a Comedian in Tumblr Chat". Music Times. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
- ^ "Ida Maria". The List. 2008-05-22. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Hasson, Claire. A Discussion Of Marian McPartland's Style Archived 2009-07-23 at the Wayback Machine in Marian McPartland: Jazz Pianist: An Overview of a Career
- ^ Kelley, Caitlin (2017-10-10). "Takeover Tuesday: Bea Miller Paints Things 'Yellow' With Upbeat EP-Inspired Playlist". www.billboard.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ see Raskin, Richard. 2003. An interview with Stephanie Morgenstern and Mark Ellis on Remembrance. P.O.V., A Danish Journal of Film Studies; number 15 (March): 170-184.
- ^ https://tribune.com.pk/story/1763348/4-need-talk-adil-omar/
- ^ http://www.sikorski.de/media/files/1/13/27/10031/sikorski_magazin_4_2015.pdf
- ^ "Pharrell Williams Masterclass with Students at NYU Clive Davis Institute".
- ^ Steen, C. (2001). "Visions Shared: A Firsthand Look into Synesthesia and Art" (PDF). Leonardo. 34 (3). MIT Press: 203–208. doi:10.1162/002409401750286949.
- ^ "American Synesthesia Association Official website". American Synesthesia Association. November 19, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ^ Tammet, Daniel. 2006. "Born on a Blue Day." London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.
- ^ Spanos, Brittany (2016-01-15). "Panic! at the Disco: Band Is 'Outlet for Nonchalant Chaos'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
- ^ classicalguitarmagazine.com https://classicalguitarmagazine.com/sabrina-vlaskalics-early-struggles-give-way-to-new-confidence/. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
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: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ a b Dann, Kevin T. 1998. Bright Colors Falsely Seen: Synaesthesia and the Search for Transcendental Knowledge. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
- ^ B. M. Galeyev and I. L. Vanechkina (August 2001). "Was Scriabin a Synesthete?". Leonardo; Vol. 34, Issue 4, pp. 357 - 362.
- ^ Scriabin, Alexander. 1995(1911). "Poem of Ecstasy" and "Prometheus: Poem of Fire". New York: Dover.