Is there scientific studies into certain frequencies relating to colours/light/mood?

Question

Hello.

I'm working on a little web project (I'm a web developer by trade) where it's basically a mouse controlled synth inside a browser. Nothing fancy, but it's letting me get to grips with some of the cutting edge Audio API stuff going on in browsers these days.

I'm keeping this experiment very simple... You move the mouse up the browser window, the pitch of the oscillator goes higher. You move the mouse down the browser window, the pitch of the oscillator goes lower. There is more to it, but that's my starting ground.

Thing is, I was curious to know if there is any sort of scientific studies on frequencies associated with colours or moods? For example, Hz before 100 (for example) signify mostly with the colour 'brown'. For example, Hz above 15,000 signify mostly with the colour 'blue'.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense. But I'm just looking into having some visual to go with the simple sounds I'm generating with my mouse. Was curious to know if there was anything I could look into...

Many thanks!

Answer 1

There are two things that come to my mind that might interest you:

Sound - Colour Synesthesia: Colours triggered by sounds. It doesn't happen with everyone - just a few people (I remember first reading about it in Bruce Swedien's 'Make Mine Music'). Here a wiki page to get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia#Sound_.E2.86.92_color_synesthesia

Binaural beats/tones: A controversial subject. It's a method in which binaural beats are used to entrain the brain into certain states. An example of a binaural beat would be a 410Hz sine wave played in one ear and a 400Hz sine wave played in the other year. Because of the mechanics of our hearing system we end up hearing a beating frequency of 10Hz. There are said to be four brain states: Delta (0.5Hz-4Hz: Deep Sleep), Theta (4Hz-8Hz: Drowsiness), Alpha (8Hz-14Hz: Relaxed but alert), Beta (14Hz-30Hz: Highly alert and focused)

Please research as much as you can before trying out experiments. Such things should be treated with caution.

Answer 2

Perhaps you are looking for the free tools of Nicolas Fournel ( http://www.nicolasfournel.com/ )

AudioPaint ( http://www.nicolasfournel.com/audiopaint.htm )

WMidi ( http://www.nicolasfournel.com/wmidi.htm ) Import a picture an personally redraw it with sound.

My personal approach would be to relate the frequency of the light to the sonic frequency. Therefore, start with the first audible and visible frequency.

20 Hz -> 379 THz Red

And subdivide until the last audible and visible frequency.

20.000 Hz-> 769 THz Violet

You just have to have the right tools for the analysis.

Answer 3

More obvious/concrete correlations between emotion and sounds can be drawn from specific notes, chords, etc. Minor chords, diminished chords, majors, etc. Just about any human with a "normally" functioning brain will glean similar emotions from those.

As for the frequencies stuff, there are some studies out there but I think it's still a widely debated topic. Personally, I have played around with using some "binaural beats" during meditation (Yoga Nidra specifically) and found it seems to enhance things for me. Could be placebo of course.

I've heard about some studies of the acoustic properties of ancient sacred places which I find quite fascinating. Stone Henge, the great pyramids, ancient temples, etc. There are theories that these spaces are designed with/for their specific resonant properties, and the effect of those properties on people. Neat stuff.

Keep us posted on your project, sounds cool!