Is music visual?

J

Josh English

New member
My sister is a photographer and so we end up having long discussions of art in it's different forms. Recently it got me to thinking of the differences between her visual art and my auditory art. Basically, is the difference really as extreme as it seems? When you hear a great songs that really moves you, don't you picture something? Isn't there a visual image that it creates?
This led me to trying to decide which inspires me to write more, hearing an amazing new song or seeing a photograph or a painting or a landscape that I find exceptionally beautiful.
I thought it was kind of an interesting comparison and I figured I'd ask for your input.
Just wondering what ya think
Josh
 
if i had to vote on this one i would say!!!! music is visual because some songs not all have the tendency to get your imagination flowing.
 
hi josh

that's an interesting question. i've worked a fair bit with directors, scoring their shorts. one director has suggested creating a film based on my music (as opposed to me writing based on his visuals and narrative). we've had a quite few discussions around this, but i'll keep you up to date if you want?

there's definitely a strong counterpoint between visual and aural stimuli, we have to admit that. but obviously, music and visual arts are completely different constructions, and experienced in a different way. i might see something and suddenly imagine a sound (not necessarily music) that would accompany it. or, i might hear something and imagine a whole film that it could score. or, i might not experience that for either, and that doesn't imply that the works were less successful.

a lot of people say that they hear music 'colours', some producers even label their desks with colour codes instead of instrument names because it makes better sense to them. as a matter of fact, just today i was in a discussion where someone told me that they always imagined E Major as "yellow", as a key. I've got to say, I experience this a bit, too.

So, your question opens up areas much more complicated than being inspired by a visual stimulus :) For me, I find many things inspirational, especially great visuals, but not necessarily beautiful landscapes or photos or paintings. However, I don't hang around for inspiration anymore, it doesn't come often enough.

How's that for a response? ;)
 
you know that reminds me of this study i saw on tv where it was talking about a group of people who say they see colors when they hear music. i think that is so cool and i wish i could have that experience.
 
Excuse me for this one.........

LSD + Moody Blues + Pink Floyd + anyone else = Multi-colored orgasm!!! :D

Just my opinion, Ozlee :cool:
 
Yes, I would say music is HIGHLY visual.

Visual art doesn't move me much per se ... Maybe I just don't understand it.
 
I think every form of art can touch people on many levels.

Certianly good lyrics can allow the listener to form a vision of what the story line implies.

I do think some musical soundscapes can suggest certain visual concepts, Perhaps a lovely piano melody over subtle strings could suggest a mountain stream (or whatever). Naturally, it all depends on the listeners ability to get lost in the music.

I have done music to some independant fim, jingles and industrial videos, certainly I try to create music that works with the video - althouhg I'll never know if the music by itself would allow the listener to "see what I see".
 
I'm not a big (visual) art dude, but I always seem to be inspired after my wife drags me down to the museum to see the latest exhibit. I can't understand art either, but I get some neat songwriting ideas by basically checking out the interpretive stuff at the exhibits. I went to a Whistler exhibit (you know, of "Whistler's Mother" fame) a while back, and one of the characteristics of his art was low perspectives - painting a subject as though you are looking at them from the ground. I never would have noticed that, had I not read about it. Then of course it was very cool to see, and I thought how can I write a song from a "low perspective." Although I guess I haven't figured that quite out yet...

As for if music IS visual, I have to second the LSD/Floyd comment. I haven't dabbled in such in many years, but I sware there were times I could see the sound waves bouncing off various surfaces. The high freqs looked different from the lows like they should and everything. Quite amazing. Of course I'm not neccesarily suggesting drugs are a good thing.
 
Slightly off the subject

Is music visual....I would have to say for me, yes and in a number of ways.

A photo, painting or movie can inspire me to write or play. The visual image stimulates the creative part of my brain.

As a guitarist, I tend to "see" chord and scale shapes. I guess that is visual as well. I like to experiement with different voicings and tones.

Now for the somewhat off the subject part......when I write a song I "hear" the entire arrangement......every instrument, every part. This is a blessing and a curse. The blessing part kicks in when I perform all the parts or when a band mate is having trouble developing a part. The curse aspect is when the part my band mate(s) come up with are very different than the part(s) I originally "heard" for the song. I tend to "hear" them as incorrect. Drums and bass are particularly problematic as the rhythm/meter of the song serve as my foundation for the tune.

I've had to learn to give others more room to create. It's not always easy, but most of the time (not always) it produces a better end result.

Anyone else think that way?
 
Well, I don't know about music being visual in and of itself. I think the relation may stem from them having a common source of inspiration. What does a visual artist do? They paint a picture of something they saw or some event, through the frame of reference of their experiences. What does a musical artist do? The write a song about something they saw or some event, through the frame of reference of their experiences.

Our minds have a tendency to translate from one to the other. When I see a painting, I imagine music to go along with it. When I hear music, I get an image to go with that music. It works both ways...
 
I sometimes tell people that when I hear a song, I see the color of the album cover in my head. For example, Zeppelin's "Achilles Last Stand" has a white quality while "Going to California" has a cloudy, bluish gray quality, mainly due to the respective colors of the album covers.

If I hear a song that I don't have in my collection, I either experience no color or the color of my surroundings when I first heard it.

Many musicians and music lovers understand, while the rest of the world thinks I'm crazy.
 
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