Color Music

iota – Linksis a collection of links related to the issue of music colour or abstract cinema. This goes back to the 18th century with experiments on color organs that played colours rather than sound. It is an interesting history that tied to transcoding. I believe Diderot was inspired by it.

A good essay on the topic is The Dream of Color Music, And Machines That Made it Possible. Here is a quote:

“The Jesuit, Father Louis Bertrand Castel, built an Ocular Harpsichord around 1730, which consisted of a 6-foot square frame above a normal harpsichord; the frame contained 60 small windows each with a different colored-glass pane and a small curtain attached by pullies to one specific key, so that each time that key would be struck, that curtain would lift briefly to show a flash of corresponding color. Enlightenment society was dazzled and fascinated by this invention, and flocked to his Paris studio for demonstrations. ”

One of the interesting things is how this history has been recovered as the history of abstract color film. Even Disney’s Fantasia is seen as an offshoot of this tradition.