Music & Creating

A little confession...  

Sometimes I become obsessed with a song and listen to it on repeat while editing an image. 

Always, when I design, sketch, or edit, I have music playing.  

As I listen to music, I experience it as not only as an auditory sensation, but also as a visual one.  This might sound a little odd, but when I hear music, I see colors, textures, and even very vivid imagery.

A song is a whole experience for me--and depending on how much I like it, almost like a short film playing in my head.  And albums, those can be even more fantastic, inspiring me to create.

I've been wanting to write about this for awhile now.  To share and see if anyone else out there, especially other fellow creatives, experience music in this way.  So I decided to share an image that I recently edited, while listening to a new song that captured my imagination and senses.  ​

​SYML has a number of songs that I truly enjoy.  When I first heard Symmetry (Dark Version), I immediately had visuals.  So I decided to sit down tonight and let the journey begin.  

Symmetry (Dark Version) reminded me of a very dark time in my own life, which I had photographed--the "Red Yarn" series.

This series came almost two months after the community college, where I was teaching, had a mass shooting.  Emotionally, it was a difficult time, as I found myself trying to put on a brave face for my students, who were terrified that such an atrocity could happen in their small rural community. 

I was terrified too. 

And angry, depressed, shocked, anxious...  

I couldn't express verbally the tsunami of emotions that slammed me daily.  So late one night, as I sat in bed, knowing I needed to sleep, but my mind would not stop looping through the emotions, I grabbed my camera. 

Of course, that was after I wrapped my entire head in yarn.  

Then I began taking photos.  Shaking my head violently and snipping away at pieces of the yarn with dull scissors, it was a struggle.  It was probably very silly looking.  It was artistic expression?  

Eventually, I became unwound--both the yarn on my head and the emotions inside it.  

I digress, so this image, it was inspired by emotions of my past and music in the present.  Music that conjured imagery and feelings that connected me to this moment in time.

I'm curious.  Have you ever felt the need to create when hearing a song?  Do you see music, as well as hear it?

Please feel free to share your experiences or links to your favorite songs and music inspired creations!