Color Organs

The color organ is a musical instrument which produces visual stimuli such that it corresponds to the sound in a certain manner. Numerous attempts are known to have listeners experience synaesthetic effects. In these effects stimuli in one organ of sense are experienced in another. Several great names in history, such as Plato, Pythagoras and Aristotle have already been working on music-color correspondence. Since the 17 century, a number of attempts have been taken to design and build devices which could simultaneously produce color and music. This paper gives an overview of the various creations of the past and describes a personal exercise to create a new color organ using modern techniques and color-music principles of the past.