Synesthetic: Composing works for Marimba and Automated Lighting

This paper describes a series of explorations aimed at developing new modes of performance using percussion and computer controlled lighting, linked by electronic sensing technology. Music and colour are often imagined to be related and parallels have been drawn between the colour spectrum and keyboard. Some people experience a condition, chromesthesia (a type of synesthesia), where experiences of colour and sound are linked in the brain. In our work, we sought to explore such links and render them on stage as part of a musical performance. Over the course of this project, tools and strategies were developed to create a performance work consisting of five short movements, each emphasising a different interactive strategy between the performer, lights, and composition. In this paper, we describe the tools created to support this work: a custom wearable lighting and sensing system, and microcontroller based OSC to DMX lighting controller. We discuss each composition and how the interactions reflect ideas about synesthesia.