Innovative Practice of Enhancing Musical Perceptions

Noppakorn Auesirinucroch

The human sensory system is complex and enigmatic but yet, attractive. Why are we continuously applying expressional words from another sensory modality and understanding it without any suspicion? In classical music, usage of the term dolce (sweet) to specify particular musical tones is frequently applied despite the word initially used to express a character of specific taste, which seems unrelated to music. This curiosity affects the researcher to explores a specific sensorial phenomenon, a crossmodal correspondence. The study's objectives are to comprehend and utilise the topic of crossmodal correspondences to design multisensory performance with an emphasis on sound-taste associations. This exposition contains scientific reviews on crossmodal correspondences, interviews with a neurologist, and personal experience at a fine dining restaurant; additionally, the related subject, synaesthesia. Lastly, a review on the process of creating a flavour musical piece for solo guitar in collaboration with a prominent Thai composer, Piyawat Louilarpprasert, has been elaborated.

A personal interest in cooking and dining increased drastically in the last year of the bachelor programme. It was begun with Netflix's cooking competition program, The Final Table. Charles Michel is one of the most prominent competitors in the program with artistic decoration and extraordinary ideas. His cooking style is the perfect rendition between food and a high artistic mindset. He has worked a lot with multisensory science and astrophysics using food as "an artistic medium to provoke and communicate emotions and to build community”. His idiomaticalness has been transferred distinctly through his food and presentation, which inspire the ideas about creating music with food.

With intentions to intrinsically understand the possibility of flavour, texture, presentation, and form of the gustatory experience, an exploration of fine dining restaurants began in 2019. Several restaurants have been visited during the past three years, but it would not be a complete journey without discovering Gaggan Anand restaurant.

Gaggan Anand is a progressive Indian chef who has received many prestigious awards and recognitions. There is no doubt that he is one of the most influential chefs in the world. The quality of food, presentation, and decoration look casual but very refined and well-chosen.

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