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#1 2008-05-12 00:30:43
- Moran from Planet X
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- From: Here to There
- Registered: 2005-10-11
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Shakuhachi Synesthesia
Shakuhachi Synesthesia, A Conceptual Piece for the Shakuhachi Art Gallery & Museum
What shapes, colors and forms do you see,
what kind of sensations and textures do you feel
and where do you feel them,
what tastes do you taste
when you play Ro, Tsu, Re, Chi, Ou, Ri/Ha and I
all the meri and kari and so on and so forth ....
Do some notes give you shapes while others give you colors?
Do certain lines of a piece evoke a taste or provoke a palpability?
Maybe a whole composition unfolds a palette of gestures?
No right or wrong answers here.
If you can't find the name of a specific color like mauve
then 'dim reddish-purple' will do.
If you're _very_ synesthetic
it may be a low-swooping bitter mauve or a savory blue sandpaper swipe.
Is Tsu dai-meri like a squatting silken walnut?
But simpler may be better.
No matter. Metaphors and similes welcome.
And mixing is definitely allowed.
Your reflections here ...
*Synesthesia: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I am all out of bubblegum." —Rowdy Piper, They Live!
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#2 2008-05-12 10:04:35
- Zakarius
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- From: Taichung, TAIWAN
- Registered: 2006-04-12
- Posts: 361
Re: Shakuhachi Synesthesia
I hope this response doesn't offend anyone, but I couldn't help but respond to such a great question...
My synesthesia is more often associated with feelings/touch than color or taste. When playing a riff that has a series of faster notes (often in kan or dai kan) and ending in one or a short combination of longer notes (often Ro), it feels orgasmic. Sometimes the longer note(s) follow as a second breath. (For example, the quick riff played twice in Tamuke can serve as an example.) As most of us have probably had the experience before, you know that an orgasm is sometimes astonishingly powerful and other times surprisingly bland. My playing of these phrases has a strong correlation to the sensation -- play it well with a swelling final note and I can really 'feel' it.
Some notes have specific feelings for me like...
Ro: visceral, a tremor, stage fright
Tsu dai meri: the quiet moments after heavily weeping
Re: hope, unwavering, an impending collision
Ri: a silk shawl in the wind
Zak -- jinashi size queen
塵も積もれば山となる -- "Chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru." -- Piled-up specks of dust become a mountain.
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#3 2008-05-12 14:13:31
- Horst Xenmeister
- Shiham
- From: Germany
- Registered: 2007-05-26
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Re: Shakuhachi Synesthesia
Chris Moran wrote:
[
what tastes do you taste
when you play Ro, Tsu, Re, Chi, Ou, Ri/Ha and I
Tasting Ro=Bier
Tsu=Wurst
Re=Schnitzel
Chi=Schnapps
Ri=Steinpilze
i am horst
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#4 2008-05-12 20:39:44
- Moran from Planet X
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Re: Shakuhachi Synesthesia
Horst Xenmeister wrote:
Ri=Steinpilze
So sensei, in translation, Ri would be Precious Men's Mushroom?
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I am all out of bubblegum." —Rowdy Piper, They Live!
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#5 2008-05-15 15:31:56
- Moran from Planet X
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Re: Shakuhachi Synesthesia
Zakarius wrote:
Re: hope, unwavering, an impending collision
Yes. When I was at Chikuzen's and Mujitsu's workshop last year, a train came rolling by the tracks close-by and someone yelled out "RE!"
When I first played shakuhachi music for my mother (I think it was John Singer's Shakuhachi Zen cassette tape) she described the feeling of dark (but not 'evil') anticipation, as if something were about to reveal itself right around the corner. Not really synesthetic on her part, but a nice description.
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I am all out of bubblegum." —Rowdy Piper, They Live!
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#6 2008-05-15 16:26:59
- KenC
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- From: Western Massachusetts
- Registered: 2006-01-05
- Posts: 75
Re: Shakuhachi Synesthesia
I tend to relate in terms of "places or things". Spending a lot of time in the mountains and woods hiking and backpacking, certain pieces or phrases remind me of places i've been or things i've seen. The place may be a mountain top, a trail crossing of a brook, a hidden out crop, a uniquely shaped rock, tree, or formation. Even a particular day. Birds, animals, insects, all fit in there.
Every time i play Sanya i re-live a memorable backpacking trip, oddly and approiatley enough sitting at the top of the three "Bonds" here in the Northeast. Sitting on Mt Bond looking south to Bondcliff anf then northwest to West bond. I can almost feel the drizzle and fog of the morning.
I wish i had enought ime to write more today...
Good thread Chris!
K
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