Dear Mr. Robertson-

While synaesthetes do indeed exist (I believe Scriabin is a famous
example), they are to my knowledge quite rare and not consistent among
each
other in the associations they make between, say, pitches and
colors
(although I seem to recall reading one study that suggested they are
fairly
self-consistent over long periods of time, such as 20 years). 
This
suggests to me that while many mappings--parametric or otherwise--are
possible, the notion that there is some "true" or even widely
acceptable
mapping between the aural and visual functions of the brain that would
not
involve a large measure of arbitrary "license" (as you put it) is
very
probably false.

As you know, there is a veritable cottage industry in the field of
computer
"visualizations" or various kinds.  These are usually based of real
time
measurements of coarse features of the amplitude and phase of the
music
being played.  But I suggest that most of their charm comes from
extremely
simplified correlations that are mostly of a rhythmic nature,
since
waves--musical or otherwise--exist in both space and time in
perceptually
compatible ways.  But the number of possible mappings is (I'd
guess)
infinite, so while you might find ones you like very much, others are
very
likely to have much different preferences.

Thanks for an interesting question in any case.  You might wish to
look
into mappings into spherical harmonics such as those used in
quantum
physicists.  I don't believe this has been tried, and in any case
might
generate some nicely correlated images and sounds.

Best wishes,

Professor F. Richard Moore, PhD
UCSD Department of Music

http://www.ucsd.edu/music/faculty/moore.html



At 04:52 PM 7/13/2002 +0100, Nathaniel Robertson wrote:

>Dear Sir,
>
>My name is Nathaniel Robertson and I m an English researcher exploring
the
>non-linear dynamics of synaesthesia with special attention to
the
>potential of directly translating music into visual landscapes
and
>pictures into music with a computer.  I started this non-academic
research
>when I listened to the Orbital album In Sides about 3 years ago and
was
>amazed at the visual impact on my brain of this type of electronic
music.
>
>I ve encountered programs that use scaled parameters to represent music
as
>images but have not yet found a literal translator that depicts music
in
>an authentic and actual visual way that stays totally true to
the
>composition and employs no artistic licence.
>
>  I m currently in contact with the Chaos-Gruppe in Germany and
in
> particular with Dr Werner Eberl the designer of the Chaos Von
Eschenberg
> fractal translator.
>
>If you have the time Sir, my question is this:
>
>What processes would be involved in computer system architecture
that
>would allow true volumetric plotting of music streams into visual
mapping
>possibly fractal - and similarly, what nature of algorithm should
be
>employed to achieve the reverse without artistic or scientific licence
in
>the translation procedure?
>
>I believe that if the brain overlaps senses to create a union of audio
and
>visual stimuli which synaesthetes prove - it should be feasible to use
a
>computer to listen to a painting and to watch a piece of music.
>
>With Sincere Regards,
>
>Nathaniel Robertson BA(Hons)

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