Interview with ‘The Scientist’ Magazine (2017)
Understanding the Connection Between Synesthesia and Absolute Pitch
Fascinating reading about the research into Synaesthesia and Perfect Pitch – brilliantly researched and written by Science Writer Catherine Offord
*post added in 2018, article written 2017
Reflections on International Women’s Day 2018 (6 minute read)
Today the world celebrates International Women’s Day. A time to celebrate Inspirational Women, but today I also want to include inspirational people. That is – humans – I’m not bothered about the gender.
There is a collective role that all leaders, influencers, and team members have. That responsibility is to create meaningful progress to inclusion. Inclusion of not just women but different people, people that think, look, and behave in ways that might not be the same as you or I.
To get ahead as a woman we’re given a lot of advice, in fact in my line of work there is a nice long queue of people all to ready to give advice on what I should do to progress – including: don’t be so outspoken, dress less sparkly, cover your arms, be more like a man, be more feminine, don’t show off, get a new job, get a real job, wear less lip gloss, lose weight, wear thinner and higher heels, learn more STEM, speak with less of an accent, and so on.
The reality is that while the women’s movement has come a long way, its progress is slow and not reflective of the contribution that women have to make.
It’s also true that people find their skills underused, unknown and untapped.
I suspect that everyone regardless of colour and class will have their own version of unwanted advice that gets thrown at them. Advice on what one should and shouldn’t do or say. Advice on what’s feasible for them to try to achieve, and what society expects from their role, and how high they are expected to aim, because some things are simply not possible. Luckily for me I ignored quite a lot of advice – from ‘you’re not pretty/thin/tall enough to be on TV’, ‘you’ll never be taken seriously’ to ‘You? Learn soldering? …But you’ll burn yourself’. Oh and so many more. You’ll have your own ones I’m sure.
Some people are already doing the thing they’ve always wanted to do for a salary that suits them. And I’ve decided they fall into two main groups. I call the first group Peacocks* – those who feel threatened by others and want to stop anyone getting on their patch. Peacocks worry about their mortgage or their profile and do everything in their power to hold on to their social status and the status quo. They are likely not to want to learn new things and would rather stick to ‘the way it’s always been done’.
I call the second group Phoenixes. Phoenixes are glorious. They dream and they do. They become positive mentors, helping the next generation realise their potential. They know how to innovate and always find ways to live well. They know there is enough to go round and that they can always find new ways to create opportunities for prosperity. They are still ambitious but want to accomplish their goals while being supportive, kind, and socially responsible to those around them. Like you, I’ve interacted with both types of these people. I think you can guess which type is happier, more fulfilled and more likely to have authentic connections with others. I grew up around peacocks, but I’m optimistic that there are more and more Phoenixes around. People are realising that making their environment better has a direct effect on their own well-being. Phoenixes know that helping others to fly could be construed as a healthy selfishness as it makes them feel part of something bigger – the magic of ‘self-actualisation’ at the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. I want to be a Phoenix when I grow up.
(*yes, Peacocks are male but I’ve decided in this context my made-up term can also include women who use the same ‘gatekeeping’ tactics)
There’s a difference between recognising truth when a person tells us the truth, and being thrown harsh words by someone for their own peace of mind.
Those harsh words repeated by many voices as we go through life erode our hopes, and threaten to compress our dreaming souls into quiet grey conformity.
Those harsh words are spoken so freely and thoughtlessly to many of us who are different. From outspoken or unsolicited anonymous online commentary to well-meaning yet undermining advice from loved ones, those harsh words have the potential to stop an amazing idea from being born.
Which is why I think it’s time more of us stopped listening to ‘society’ when it’s used as a lazy way to maintain a status quo which works for just a few peacocks.
I think society would benefit massively from becoming inclusive – a community where ideas from women and people who think differently are welcomed. Wouldn’t it be such a refreshing energy boost? New insights into existing challenges could create an amazingly fertile environment, and that’s when big problems get solved with good humour. Instead of feeling threatened, great leaders and strong people can hear previously unheard voices – and harness these ideas based on merit, not on what kind of human created it.
A group’s strength and reach is amplified because everyone’s strengths are diverse, not duplicated. How boring would a superhero ensemble movie be if everyone had the same super-power? They save the day by having different abilities and learning how to work together and combine their talents.
While the data shows us that there are fewer women than men working in and with technology, everyone reading this article knows that technology itself is not the problem. It can be learned by anyone – class, race, gender, age – it does not matter. There is no reason why technology needs to be aligned with a particular gender. It is neutral, but a great lever in which to accelerate your reach, your ability, and power to connect with others.
I’m glad I stopped listening to the people who told me I couldn’t do anything, that I’d never amount to anything, that I was not worth bothering with. I have met many people who have sadly been told something similar. Well, if no-one has said this to you yet, you can do anything. You are worth bothering with. You have the potential to change the world.
Like many people, trying to gain new skills makes my brain hurt and I will get stuck. But that just makes me more determined. I will ask for help. I will keep learning, I will find a community and contribute to it – or create one if it doesn’t exist yet. And at the same time I will keep giving talks and performances that hopefully inspire people despite the fact that a few still find it a novelty that I am female. Occasionally people tell me this in person.
Judging from all the advice I have been given, I never fitted in. I am not what society expects from a person. But that’s OK. When I wanted to fix my broken iPad, so many people told me it was impossible, and it wasn’t worth trying. But I kept trying. I failed the first time, but succeeded on my second attempt. I filmed the whole thing for the BBC at the same time. After I fixed it, many people contacted me to say they saw me do it and realised that they could do it too. Lots of people replaced their phone screens because they could see it was possible and felt confident enough to try it themselves.
So if after reading this one extra person aims to be a Phoenix, a community builder, a world-changer, a coder or even feels that today they can get out of bed and do the washing up – if you can do something, one thing that you are proud of after reading this, then I shall celebrate International Women’s Day with you, and so will many others, regardless of how different we might be.
LJ Rich
Adapted from a talk given on International Women’s Day, March 6th 2018 to Sheffield Hallam University and Leeds University as part of an ACCAGlobal event.
Available now for download on iTunes Amazon and CDBaby
I’ve been away from work and the internet for a while working on a massive project – building a baby! Having always been completely fascinated by music’s power to move us and change our perceptions, I thought there would be lots of music specifically for giving birth – but nothing came up. Which was ironic, I thought, considering that for conceiving a baby there are any number of musical accompaniments available! So I created music especially for me and anyone else going through the intense experience of labour, birth and early parenthood.
This album is very special to me – I wanted music that had calmness at its heart to support the incredible and inevitable journey from pregnancy to parent, but I think it’s also a very enjoyable listen if I just want to zone out and remember how to breathe.
Talking of which, this instrumental music complements all kinds of breathing rhythms during stages of labour and birth. I composed it while pregnant and only completed it half an hour before labour!
Originally I wasn’t going to release this music or talk publicly about my experience (it’s so personal!) but below I explain exactly why I chose to do so.
So yes, I had a baby – he is awesome. And for anyone interested in why I wrote such an album, I’ve shared my very personal story about conquering a lifelong phobia of giving birth below the track listing. If you’re not interested that’s fine too – in any case it’s good to be back, baby! Normal streaming, tweeting and writing about music, inventions, technology and synaesthesia will soon resume.
TRACK 1: Incarnation. Labour, Birth and Calm
Over an hour long and can be repeated seamlessly throughout labour. will play on multiple devices and speakers without sounding out of tune or out of time. It also works as a continuous loop. I didn’t want music to get in the way of my breathing or the physiological process of giving birth – this was actually the hardest part, making sure it was musical and rhythmic while still leaving space for getting into the zone. I had this track on repeat throughout my labour.
Plus – Bonus Tracks for after the big day to give the new family a gentle soundtrack for those first utterly indescribable weeks….
TRACK 2: Serenity. Soundtrack to a Contented Baby
Serene piano sounds soothe and support a calm environment – contains a unique ‘white noise blanket’ – to soften any unexpected sudden sounds from outside that might startle a new baby. It seems to soothe my little one!
TRACK 3: Relaxation: Sleepy Parents, Sleepy Baby
Encouraging even breathing; aims to elongate any rare moments of calmness and sleep – not that you’ll get much sleep over the first months of parenthood! I found this really helped my little one settle. A sleepy soundtrack to chill out with the new arrival. For babies AND parents.
No apologies for massive wall of text below!
(NB don’t worry there are no scary bits. It contains music, a little tech and a deeply personal story behind the album)
I gave a talk at the wonderfully diverse and always thought-provoking Thinking Digital 2015 conference.
But instead of a conventional keynote speech, Herb Kim the organiser kindly said that I could present whatever I liked. The result: “A Musician’s Guide to Inventing”.
I worried before going on stage that this was a completely crazy idea – and a bit far off anything else in the conference. I couldn’t sleep – I was up late tweaking the presentation. I knew the room was full of interesting and influential people who knew about technology trends, and when I give any presentation I’m obsessed with the idea of giving the audience something that they could use – something that would be valuable to them. How could I give something new to feed their amazing brains? Perhaps I could share something more personal that they might not know about… but maybe that’s not going to be interesting enough? Oh, how I fretted…
So, completely unsure if this would work and with the inherent sense of adventure that gets me into all kinds of amazing situations – I did this:
And I’m so glad I did it. I was so relieved! It went better than I could have imagined! What a pleasure to have 3 floors of such an energetic and friendly audience laughing, clapping and bonding! It’s weird, the one thing I wasn’t worried about was the music performance – even though that bit is really complicated!
Of course, with hindsight I was very happy that I decided to go with my audacious idea – it was only then I realised that by doing what I did I was taking the advice of my own presentation! So I guess this is a post dedicated to those thinking about doing something amazing and ambitious and wonderful who perhaps need that extra push to go ahead and start. Go on! And let me know in the comments what you’re gonna do.
Well,
this started as a paragraph and escalated to an essay.
It’s dedicated to those of us who find it hard to integrate their synaesthesia in public, those of us who are yet to learn that it’s OK and in some cases lovely to be a little different, and those of us who might be struggling with interacting with the bright loud sharp world that we inhabit compared to those without our quirky neurology.
I went back to see my old music tutor at Oxford a few weeks back. It must have been around 15-20 years ago when I studied music there. The prof told me I spoke like no-one else he taught. I would describe, say, Bach in terms of texture, taste, colour, touch – with so many layers to music it was really important to me to be accurate in my description, but how odd to my tutor for me to describe Bach as a green forest or the smell of damp wood – back then I didn’t know about synaesthesia so it was a joy to finally talk to him about it.
For him, it made sense of all the things I used to say about music – I got a feeling that he was almost relieved to have an explanation for it!
And for me, it made me think a lot more on what might be why many of us with synaesthesia struggle with human interaction.
I think describing the world and especially music cross-modally (i.e. synaesthetically) works really well in a creative context, but in normal conversations I started to wonder if my happily jumping between senses may be jarring to people who are just trying to understand what I’m on about.
Here’s my theory: we synaesthetes freely switch from taste to sound to colour to texture to <insert sense here> when we are talking about something – we engage whatever description works to convey the feeling we have with the most clarity or accuracy, just like someone else would, though we have a much larger vocabulary to choose from, sometimes even including gestures or noises. So to a non-synaesthete I wonder if it might sound like we’re picking from the wrong list.
For example – let us imagine people are expecting a food to taste like <taste>.
When instead we supply someone with
‘this food tastes like <sound> or <colour> or <noise>’
this may seem at right-angles to conventional expectation and leads to scenarios like:
a) Conversation partner completely ignores modality switch consciously but gets confused on some level; tries their best to continue
b) doesn’t notice cross modality at all; continues as if nothing out of place
c) (common with non-synesthetes) conversation moves to curiosity and synaesthetic experience questions – the question of what the food is like is not as important anymore! Questions, so many questions!
d) (common with other synesthetes and close friends) conversation partner understands, accepts and enjoys description, conversation continues and comparative modalities are explored. Amazing, a meeting of uncommon minds!
All of these are OK. I’ve probably missed some others out.
So, I learned a few sentences to say that a) put people at ease and b) put me at ease. I’ve found these are great to use with both “unaware synaesthetes” and non-synaesthetes as it gives a context to our choice of words or actions when they don’t quite fit what people expect. Here they are:
“I have synaesthesia which means my senses are a bit mixed together” works really well.
“I think everyone has a version of synaesthesia, some people experience it more intensely than others” is great when people are more curious and want to perhaps explore their own associations. I believe that everyone has the potential to experience cross-modality at some level.
I’m actually happy to talk about my synaesthesia when asked, much happier if I have access to a piano at the same time. If/when someone says I’m weird that’s OK. I tell them that they are probably right and smile gently. If someone says I’m making it up that’s OK too, it doesn’t matter to me what they think, I smile and say that it’s my experience, which is all we have to go on. If I’m feeling a little like I’m being judged negatively – and some people will be suspicious of things they don’t know about – I try to remember that everyone has their own struggles, perhaps they’re not in a receptive mood for other reasons – then I’ll think privately on how much I’m enjoying delicious food or music around me more than someone who’s not wired the same way.
We have many challenges as synaesthetes. Having said that though I feel that the overall potential to experience the world so deeply with so little effort is worth the odd strange look, explanatory conversation and sense of overwhelm that we no doubt all have to deal with.
__
Here is an interview I did (it was really early in the morning!) about food and synaesthesia for a documentary on Radio New Zealand – I’m among a variety of artists interviewed all talking about their own experience.
I broadcast a weekly streaming show on the Periscope app. 12 weeks in and it’s rather good fun. In fact, my #ljtunes show has picked up quite a bit of late (over 400,000 likes at the time of writing) – for those of you who haven’t visited, please do come by on a Monday night 20:30 UK time. Or hop on through my twitter account – where links to the show are posted…
Live – from anywhere with a piano can mean #LJtunes – more info www.ljtunes.com / or twitter.com/ljrich
It’s clear streaming has finally hit the main-stream – perfect for the sort of concerts I give – live, interactive, conversational composing. I love playing music while guiding viewers along genre-irrelevant leaps – awesome tunes, fun with synths – or even performing live-composed glitching soundwalking through London – all this while chatting away to a brilliantly engaged, interactive audience.
And it’s not just playing music – I sometimes talk about the music theory behind the great tunes – what makes things catchy – why the best bits of a song work, my favourite chord progressions, original compositions and pastiches of contemporary and classical tunes, music theory, mashups, music tech and live-composing, all with the simultaneous challenge of conversing with a virtual audience!
A maximum 200 people can chat through the app (though we’ve had 1,600 people on – not sure of the upper limit of viewers). When the broadcast fills up the chat regularly spills over onto Twitter using the #ljtunes hashtag – it’s amazing and very challenging having to process so much information while playing the piano and chatting to everyone at the same time, but even with those challenges it’s an incredibly pleasing experience.
I’ll see you online!
More info about Live Streaming
Background:
Periscope is an app (like Meerkat, Bambuser and predecessors Qik and Seesmic) allowing a bunch of people to watch one person’s smartphone camera – in effect turning everyone with a mobile phone and an internet connection into a broadcaster. Viewers can communicate not just with the person generating the feed but crucially with each other too – and those discussions during real-time events give a sense of immediacy to the wildly varying content.
I was (I think) the first in the world to periscope while broadcasting live on the BBC (BBC World News, April 9, 2015) but just 90 days later it’s quite normal for news outlets to host ‘behind the scenes’ clips or even integrate real-time streaming into their programming. People stream their public transport journeys, back gardens – even sunsets. I’ve seen someone sleeping and chatted with other people who were also watching that person sleeping.
Watching live streams is an oddly voyeuristic experience – an insomniac moment leaves me awake at 3am and instead of browsing a forum I watch someone else’s cat watching TV, or my friend drinking in a hotel bar or someone walking in their garden on the other side of the world.
It feels like there’s currently a sense of authenticity about live-streaming content – which will last at least until someone figures out how to spoof the camera feed.
This has to be one of the weirdest bits of TV I’ve done in a while, but thoroughly enjoyable at the same time.
A frankly strange case of broadcast-ception, live-streaming a pre-recorded live stream while talking about live streaming on BBC World News.
Meanwhile I’m looking forward to tonight at 20.30 UK Time, please join me online for my live streaming interactive music show!
I’ve recently started playing with an app called Periscope, giving interactive music concerts at my stage piano.
My ‘cast’ (if that’s what it’s called?) includes talks on music theory, breaking down similarities in familiar tunes and of course playing the odd request – like a classical version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Human Nature’ – or a mashup between Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ and The Commodores’ ‘Easy Like Sunday Morning’
It’s really fun – and my usecase seems to be a unique enough to get a mention in the Daily Telegraph‘s round up of the technology.
So, what do I get up to when I cast? you can find out on Mondays at 20:30 UK Time! At least, that’s the plan…
Essentially I’m talking about classical music theory using contemporary tunes – why is something catchy? What songs sound similar? What bits make a tune feel good? The session is mixed with live composition and conversation – content creation and audience interaction in real time.
Giving the audience access to the creative process and also a chance to communicate is pretty much exactly opposite to a traditional classical concert, where I’d be on a stage, far away from the listeners.
I believe it’s possible to demystify music without dissecting it, it’s so fun to explain what’s happening while playing some of the most memorable songs on the planet. I think this kind of informal direct broadcast is a great proving ground until I have my own big budget show where I have a huge grand piano and some notable musical guests to riff with.
Until then, viewers who make the effort to interact and contribute positively are going to shape how this cast evolves. How exciting! What works, what doesn’t, what do people want more of? I’m finding out every day. I’d hope to keep the audience interactivity if a big TV company wants to fund the huge grand piano and notable musical guests version.
For those of you reading this on Thursday 9th April 2015, there’s a replay available until 22:30 tonight, but you’ll need to download the app on an Apple device to watch at the moment. They say there’s an Android version coming. And, if you do visit, please ignore my faffing with the cables at the start, it definitely gets better.
At about 1AM this morning, I think I solved the problem of getting a decent audio feed in and listening at the same time, so Monday’s cast should have really rather good sound quality.
Oh and a final note from the technology presenter in me – streaming from mobiles has been available before – apps like Seesmic and Qik did this many years ago. But now data is cheaper, social media makes things more immediate, plus our connections are generally faster. This means the tech is ripe for mass adoption.
A notable alternative Meerkat has some big names endorsing it – Madonna released a video using this platform recently. I’ll let you know if I get a chance to try it out. And I’m sure there are other players in this area. In coming months we’ll get to see whether a single platform gains dominance, or if these apps can co-exist. It’ll inevitably play out over the next few months. Interesting interactive times!
Date: Mon 23 March 2015: Event: My first ever full-length musical !
TICKETS AVAILABLE!
I’m super-excited to call myself a London Theatre Impresario! A date, a venue, a show, tickets on sale!
Scary as I’m currently only about 70% of the way through writing every single note of the upcoming musical adventure that will be held in conjunction with the inimitable Hack Circus in exactly one month’s time.
We’ve written a story to go with some expert talks and some rather spiffing tunes as well even if I say so myself. Leila happens to be a genius librettist in my opinion and I’m hoping my tunes and orchestration will do those fantastic lyrics justice. She and I have hatched a musical monster of a night out… What a nerve-wracking but satisfying experience this is!
TERRIFYING REALITY:
ONE NIGHT ONLY
Talking of which, if you’re in London that evening AND want to be the first to see this quite peculiar and creative take on the musical genre. From the HC site:
We will be travelling in a unique sound-powered tunnelling vessel, currently under development. Please bear in mind: we really don’t know what we will find. We need a strong healthy team. It might be worth getting down to the gym now if you can.
Bring a torch. This is very important. We are expecting it to be dark.
We will be guided on our journey by three experts: monster afictionado sci-fi author Chris Farnell, historian and volcano enthusiast Ralph Harrington and shark-mad comics legend Steve White – but who knows who (or what) else we might encounter?
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE!
OK, I’m intrigued, tell me more:
(link for mobile users: http://www.hackcircus.com/underworlds )
DID I MENTION TICKETS ARE ON SALE?
Yes!! I’m ready and can’t think of a better way to spend a Monday night!
(link for mobile users: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hack-circus-underworlds-tickets-15756232315?aff=es2&rank=1 )
^^This link goes to the EventBrite Ticket Page if you’d like to buy a ticket or two.
**For some reason, none of my links work. Head over to hackcircus dot com forward slash underworlds. Oh the humanity…
LJ Rich 