SynLyrics - a synesthetics view to lexical music 

Team

• Tim Soo

Description

As a medical student, I regular attend case presentations of unique and rare abnormalities. One of particular interest to me is synesthesia, a neurological condition in which different sensory pathways cross (i.e. you can see sounds and taste colors). Although a less common form, grapheme-color (lexical) synesthesia can potentially connect the visual and lyrical world, while potentially giving insight to the more subtle ways our brain interprets lyrics. Even with the mass of knowledge the top researchers wield, the effect of music on the brain (and its mechanisms) is still largely understood. This project toys with one facet of that mystery.

The script simply generates a randomly placed (within a shape) circle whose color is based on a suggested color-grapheme synesthetic equivalent and whose size is based on the length of the word. It is known that there is a high amount of variation among color-grapheme synesthetes, but I just used a rough color estimate based a few research studies. 

(quick background)

I began this project after being a bit bored and fed up with the other project I was working on. Not being from Boston, I continued programming while others went home (since home was six hours away for me), hence the birth of this project. Needed something to keep me awake, right? Having little programming experience, this project was in truth just a way to dive into a bit of Javascript, PHP, and HTML5. Many thanks to all who taught me along the way.

Links

http://www.timsoo.com/musichackday/synes.html Note: Since the LyricFind API Key no longer was effective post-MHD, I have since turned it into a simple HTML form in which one can paste lyrics. The old code that used the API is still there, simply commented out.

http://www.timsoo.com/?page_id=1049

Tools, Platforms and APIs Used

LyricFind API

Javascript, PHP