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"...a cohesive and visionary work that seamlessly blends the organic and the electronic, the ancient and the futuristic... [it] not only establishes Jacqueline Cordes as a composer of extraordinary talent but also as an artist unafraid to push boundaries and redefine what music can be." - KIMU
"...a stunning debut that connects classical artistry with contemporary creativity... it expands the limits of what music can accomplish." - Dulaxi
"Singularity is an incredible experience that really cannot be missed. Jacqueline Cordes has created something truly special here, and it’s exciting to imagine where her creativity will take her next!" - Space Sour
"...transports you to worlds you hadn't planned to go to but won't want to leave." - York Calling
"[Jacqueline has]...an incredible instinct for atmosphere." - recording artist Denson Camp
"...moves us into classical piano territory a la 'Moonlight Sonata' suffused with nightmare vibrations... the final voice will make the hairs on your arm stand up." - Pitch Perfect
"It's an epic display of enveloping ambient music that captures a haunting aesthetic of truly gripping and mesmeric quality." - Plastic Magazine
"Jacqueline Cordes proves herself to be an intuitive and detailed composer capable of captivating storytelling." - Each Measure
"The absence of drums allows these tracks to truly act as a soundscape, allowing the listener to sink into the sonics and forget about reality for a while." - Rising Artists
"‘Singularity’ is a remarkable debut ... weaving stories as well as her synesthetic comprehension of the world around her." - Music Balans
"...it's pretty clear [she] 'sees' this music. There are colours here of course...but the overriding impression I get is of a large deep soundstage reminiscent of the landscapes in the movie Dune. The softly layered instruments pile up like hills of moving coloured sand." - Stefano Brunesci
"Jaw-dropping" - Gray Scott
"A luminous collection of atmospheric cinematic visions that transports the listener through aural portals discovered only in the fertile imaginations of the mind."
- Richard Meyer
“As a child, I was told not to talk about my mutant superpower, so I kept it secret and hid among humans. Now, I'm putting it to use, creating colourful music in a variety of styles and environments and proving that even non-synesthetes can appreciate the variety of colours, even if they can't see them.”
Imagine perceiving sounds as bursts of colour, where melodies glow and harmonies shimmer in vivid hues. For Jacqueline Cordes, this isn’t a metaphor but her everyday reality. As a chromesthetic composer, she experiences music through a kaleidoscope of colours, using this rare neurological condition as a powerful creative tool. Whether crafting the vibrant worlds of her debut album “Singularity” or colour-coding film scores to evoke precise emotions, Jacqueline’s unique perspective transforms how she approaches music. In this interview, she shares how chromesthesia has shaped her artistry, from her discovery of the condition to her mission to explore uncharted musical environments and inspire listeners to see the world through her eyes.
Do you remember the moment you discovered your chromesthesia? What was it like to realise that not everyone “sees” sound the way you do?
I was in my junior year of high school, I was practising Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in G minor, and I suddenly thought, “What an insane piece—it changes from red suddenly to green and blue.” Then it hit me: “What if this is another kind of synaesthesia I have?” By then, I already knew I had grapheme-colour synaesthesia. I’d figured it out at eight years old, after telling my parents how happy I was to turn eight because the number eight is a lovely shade of teal. My parents had heard of synaesthesia but were sceptical until they researched it and found that most synaesthetes agree the letter A is red. My dad called out from the other room, “What colour is A?” and I yelled back, “Red!” After that, I took a synaesthesia battery test, which confirmed I was a synaesthete.
Like many synaesthetes, I was stunned to learn that most people don’t experience the world this way. I was also surprised to find that non-synaesthetes can imagine black numbers and letters! Realising how rare synaesthesia is made me feel fortunate—it’s profoundly influenced my passions and life path.
Can you share what certain musical elements—like a minor chord or a specific instrument—look and feel like to you? How does your chromesthesia inspire your music?
Unlike many synaesthetes who associate specific chords or instruments with colours, my chromesthesia is tied to the musical character or feel. For example, most Irish jig music and sea shanties appear red to me—energetic, driving, and often in minor keys. Green music, which is rarer, emerges in orchestral film scores with strong chord progressions and soaring melodies, often in dorian mode, like the main themes of “Black Beauty”, “Night at the Museum”, and “The Power of the Heart”.
This perception shapes my compositions. I aim for clear melodies and chord progressions, which are more likely to evoke colours. Understanding the musical elements that create certain colours is invaluable when composing. For instance, when scoring a film, I might think, “This scene needs a heroic and soaring theme—something green.” A filmmaker recently laughed when she noticed I’d colour-coded the script, saying, “You’re, like, supernatural!”
Was there a moment during your childhood or early musical education when your synaesthesia became a creative tool rather than just a fascinating quirk?
Once I began understanding what the colours represented, they started influencing my compositions by helping me replicate the environments of pieces that inspired me. When I began sharing my synaesthetic experiences with teachers and peers, I found that most people were fascinated and full of questions. Over time, it became a defining part of my identity.
When you sit down to compose, do you start with a musical idea and see where the colours lead you, or do you begin with a visual palette and translate it into music?
Most of the time, I aim to create a specific musical environment, focusing on evoking particular colours and using instruments to build the atmosphere I envision. Over time, I’ve learned to consistently create colours by understanding the necessary musical elements. For example, green pieces often revolve around repeating chord progressions, while purple pieces start with melodies that guide the chords. Unfortunately, some great music feels “colourless” to me, so I use unique scales or other techniques to build a vivid atmosphere.
At the Fibonacci Conference, you spoke about cataloguing scales. Could you tell me more about that?
My goal in cataloguing scales was to encourage other composers to explore the vast array of scales available in music. I wanted to make unusual scales accessible, even for those without formal music theory training, and inspire experimentation beyond major and minor scales. Popular music today feels increasingly homogenous, but scales are powerful tools that can evoke distinct musical worlds. I hope to inspire composers to explore this untapped potential.
Do you see your work as a bridge to help people understand chromesthesia, or is it more about sharing your unique perspective with the world?
I aim to create music that captures specific musical worlds. My hope is that even non-synaesthetes can connect with my work and feel transported to another time or place. I’m constantly discovering new musical environments and hope to explore and document as many as I can.
Q: How does your synesthesia interact with your creative process?
CORDES: It definitely plays a large role. I think it helps me avoid getting so experimental with my music that it stops connecting emotionally with people. Colors seem to occur in that sweet spot between conventional and unpredictable. I think synesthesia also causes an awareness for when I’m changing the musical character in the middle of a piece; I can see when the color changes. If I change colors within a piece, it’s often an intentional decision for a contrasting section, rather than letting the color falter within a musical phrase, which I try to avoid.
Q: “Singularity” is an ethereal instrumental album. What was your creative process in making these tracks?
CORDES: I generally have different processes for each piece, but I’ll tell you my craziest one. I had been trying to write an orange piece for a very long time and couldn’t figure out how to do it. Since synesthesia is a subconscious process – it’s completely beyond my control and I don’t know what aspects cause each color – I decided to try to use my lucid dreams to help. During a lucid dream, I conjured a “color radio” in which each station (a set of colored buttons on the top) is playing a piece of the corresponding color. I pressed the orange button, and the main theme of the piece that eventually turned into Amber Sky (a synesthetically orange piece) began to play. I know it sounds crazy, but this is what happened!
Q: Did any real-life events occur in your life that inspired “Singularity?”
CORDES: Actually, no. I don’t tend to write about my own life in my music since my goal is to create new musical worlds rather than reflect on past experiences.
Q: Do you have a personal favorite on the album? Which one, and why?
CORDES: The tracks are really difficult for me to compare since they are all so different, but maybe my choice would be “Encounter From Beyond.” It was one of the pieces that was really effortless to write and also takes one of the most dissonant intervals–the tritone–and makes it palatable. That said, I think “A Child’s Song” really represents my typical musical style. It’s purple, which I write in often, and also has a spooky feel.
Q: Was there a pivotal moment in your life when you decided to follow your path as a musician?
CORDES: Yes. I originally planned on studying linguistics in college, but when I started taking music classes and especially music composition classes, I realized that composing music was what I truly loved both studying and doing in my free time.
Q: What is coming up next for you?
CORDES: Another album called Frozen Star! It will be out in a few months, and it will transport listeners to another collection of musical worlds.
Interviewed by Taylor Berry
On a recent album, I was so excited to team up with Isabelle Saad, a friend from high school for this piece! I gave her the vocal part to sing since she's the best singer I know - she did a fantastic job!
My fifth album (2022)!
This piece I wrote was inspired by the first episode of the show DARK and my first piece for orchestra.
Here's my fourth album (2022)!
Here's my third album, released in 2021!
This song was inspired by the movie Pan's Labyrinth.
Come Home, inspired by the movie 1917.
I first recorded the piece Visions, inspired by the movie Donnie Darko, as a MIDI file, edited it in my laptop, and then played it back through the keyboard. It was so weird seeing the piece being recorded, without even hearing it!
I released my second album in 2020.
Several people have commented that my piece Turn (inspired by the movie Parasite) sounds like Radiohead. There can't be a better compliment!
Creating original music has jumped to the top of my list of obsessions! I released my first album on SoundCloud in 2020.
Liszt's La Campanella is definitely the toughest piece I've ever learned, so it was the perfect piece for the "Crash and Burn" challenge during my dueling pianos event!
I'm obsessed with piano and love tackling new challenges. In this video, I performed Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G Minor and then used a combination of Scratch and a JavaScript program to make visuals that represent the colours I see with the music (see Synaesthesia page for more information).
I recently found a fantastic piano teacher
at my high school and he's inspired me to take on even harder pieces and really focus on the details.
This is my recording of Bach's WTC Prelude No. 6 along with the images I see for different sections of the piece. I usually see colors for music, but Bach's music tends to give me images (I never see a color and an image at the same time), and I need to be actually playing the piece in order to see them. Also, once I gain muscle memory for the piece, I won't see the images anymore (but the exact images come back if I forget and relearn the piece).
I see Debussy's The Girl with the Flaxen Hair as a mixture of green, yellow, and blue. See if you agree!
I wrote this piano piece after the book Kokoro by Natsume Soseki. See the key in the comments under the video to see what the different sections represent!
Listen to more of my original music here!
As a young kid, I took piano lessons from Carol Johnson, who followed my parent's direction to not push me into the music theory and competition side of music and to simply let me learn to love it on my own schedule. I never practiced much, but without the pressure and without the grind of exercises and scales, I gradually gained a real appreciation of the emotion that music can communicate. After Carol retired, a life-changing invention entered my life: headphones. Freed from my perfectionism, I started practicing obsessively.
Now, my biggest challenge is to slow down and savour each new piece before rushing ahead to the next one.
My grandma was the organist at her church for decades and is mindbogglingly good at sight-reading. We always share our piano pieces with each other whenever I come to visit.
At one point, when I got obsessed with all the piano pieces from the game Dancing Line (this one is called The Autumn), I practiced as much as 8 hours per day. I can't get enough.
This is probably my favourite piece. It's literally colourful to me, like Rachmaninoff, and is incredibly beautiful.
I love this video because it helps remind me that performing is not about impressing people, it's about sharing music that you love. This was from when the Webb Piano Club performed for a local retirement home. This piece is one of my favourites: another Dancing Line song called Dream of Sky.
I was happy to just get through this 12 minute piece performance without getting lost. It was unfortunately scheduled on the last day of the semester and I had no time to practice!
Moonlight Sonata Movement 1
Believe it or not, this was one of the first classical pieces I ever learned!
I didn't think I was good enough to learn Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu, but I was curious to find out exactly what I would get stuck on. I've found that mindset to be very helpful for accomplishing tough challenges!
Gymnopedie