Sound, designed. Seeing colour through sound

What if you could see colour through sound?

Synaesthesia. The perceptual phenomenon in which two sensory or cognitive stimulations overlap. A crossing of senses if you will. Someone who possesses this ability of visualising colour when hearing sound is known as a synaesthete, and two such artists are Jake Andrew Nason and Tokio Myers. In collaboration with Braun Audio, a project was launched in which they interpret the sound delivered by the LE range through a work of art. Watch below with headphones for the full, immersive, binaural experience.

‘C is white, D brown, E is blue,’ says Tokio, a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and writer from London who describes himself as a “documenter of music.” After winning Britain’s Got Talent in 2017 and releasing his debut piano album in that same year, he is now working on several projects, including another piano album and follow-up to “Our Generation.” Tokio is fascinated by visually tracing the effects of his music. When people ask about his fierce reactions to sound, he explains to them the concept of synaesthesia. “I’m tripping off my face literally on music.” He sees ‘rainbows and colours‘ where others see only black and white.

Sound, designed.

Multidisciplinary artist and experimental musician Jake-Andrew Nason exhibits internationally but works between Norwich and London. Through his art, he encourages his audience to explore the two worlds of sound and colour as one and to put that experience into the context of existing in a society often at conflict with itself. His pieces reflect on the peculiarities of the human condition through abstract yet introspective arrangements.

In an in-depth analysis of the project, Jake comments on the interplay of music, art and speakers. ‘There’s so many different layers to [the way the speakers work]. And with Tokio’s music, there’s so many different layers as well,’ similar to how Jake uses layering in his pieces to ‘[create] the textures on the canvas. The LE speakers ‘kind of mess with what audio is‘ because the sound seems to come from everywhere rather than one clearly definable source, Jake says. With this project, he wants to show people that, like art, sensory perception is anything but one-dimensional.