VUSIC is the visual equivalent of MUSIC.

Agreeing that MUSIC is the most Artistic way of stimulating the aural sense would then make VUSIC the equivalent to MUSIC and it would, "If Silence Is Black", be the most Artistic way of stimulating the visual sense.

This does not mean that everything that stimulates the visual sense while the auditory sense is being stimulated is VUSIC, any more that just because you HEAR something while you are LOOKING at something makes what you are listening to MUSIC. Rather, VUSIC is the use of LIGHT to produce the visual equivalent of MUSIC instead of it being just visuals going WHILE MUSIC is being played.

The idea of VUSIC would not be as powerful as it is if this were all there was to it. But there IS more... so much more!

What else there is to it that makes VUSIC so enchanting, entrancing, and the absolutely most Artistic expression of beauty yet devised is: Its ability to produce Synaesthesia (which is discussed in the Chapter titled "SYNAESTHESIA").

So at this time let us consider the LUMIC Art of VUSIC.

The precise correspondence between the SOUND being HEARD and the LIGHT being SEEN is the mark of virtuosity that is so highly prized in the world of beauty perception. It is the virtuosity of a performance that makes it possible for whatever medium employed to move us spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

As the development of the philosophy of VUSIC is more and more formalized and with more and more VUSICIANS becoming active, the awareness of the Art form is becoming commonly known. But what makes this the time for VUSIC is that Television equipment has finally reached the stage of development were it is able to keep up with not only the aural portion of the program, but the visual as well. TV cameras are just now getting to the point where they are not overwhelmed by a LIGHT producing VUSIC instrument such as The Crystalume.

Add to this the computerized "frame grabber" technology that is just now becoming standard and the future for the recording of the VUSIC that had been developed by the VUSICIANS is looking quite optimistic indeed.

It has long been known that LIGHT and crystaline mediums were somehow special.

Polished gems of every color, stained glasses and faceted crystals seem to wield a strange and mystical power over the mind by virtue of their exquisite beauty.

Jewel encrusted articles, stained glass windows of immense size and chandeliers of enormous proportions and flawless craftsmanship, have since antiquity been used to supply a much sought after "other-worldliness" to occasions and situations such as: Coronations of Royalty, and to bring an aire of piety to seats of power and sanctity.

The power of SOUND has long been known to be able to stir the soul. Meld the transcendent power of LIGHT and color with the stirring power of MUSIC and the result my well be one of the most unforgettable experience that it is possible to have.

There has been much discussion on the subject of LIGHT and SOUND correspondencies as far as matching each note and beat with a color, decided by intellectual deduction about why it should be this way or that. The following is a bit of information on the reality of that situation and what the real world state is of that kind of thinking.

In trying to analyze the methodologies of making VUSIC, there have been found least four distinct ways, or "Styles" to produce the correspondence of MUSIC and VUSIC that have proven to actually produce a MUSIC/VUSIC combination that induces the mystical Synaesthesia.

Each is its own legitmate "Style", but each is different in philosophy.

The VUSICIAN can choose one of the ways to interpret the SOUND or he can employ any one the four Styles as the need arises.

The following is a summary of each philosophical methodology:

The First Style is to follow an individual instrument discreetely. That means: To make visual "booms" to match the Bass Drum, visual "bangs" to match the Snare Drum, visual "shatters" to match the Cymbals, and this has to be able to be done with each and every one of the instruments used to make the MUSIC.

The Second Style is to follow the "line" or "flow" of the MUSIC. Changing the characteristics of the visuals to match the changing characteristics of the predominant aural forms. The shapes and motions of the visual forms should match the SOUND of the aural forms. Guitars sound different from Drums. Guitars should look different than Drums.Thus this style follows more "generally" the MUSIC.

The Third Style is to use the MUSIC as a dancer would use the MUSIC, and follow the MUSIC not so discreetly as Style One, but more generally than Style Two. This is the most general following of the MUSIC.

The Fourth Style is to play the VUSIC instrument as its own instrument. To play its own line.

These Styles are the four ways that have so far been found and are used to play VUSIC.

Other Styles are possible as one mixes and matchs these Styles. And there may even in the future be developed other Styles and techniques.

Probably the ultimate step would be the production of MUSIC that was composed especially for the use in VUSIC production.

A bit of reflection on that aspect of the project: There is some MUSIC that sounds really good. There is some VUSIC that looks really good. The most beautiful MUSIC is not alway the most beautiful VUSIC. The optimum Synaesthetic effect is reached when the MUSIC sounds the best when the VUSIC looks the best! Generally though audiences are not yet sophisticated enough to know when the MUSIC/VUSIC is good or bad, but the MUSICIAN/VUSICIAN should be.

Usually the effect has been, if the production was well done and went off without a hitch, the program was accepted by the audience as a success. But the ideal is to have a program that is not only well produced, but also has beautiful content in both the MUSIC and VUSIC part of the show. This is when the results are most noticable. People accept what they have just seen as if it were a gift that they will cherish for the rest of their lives.

There have even been many expressions of transformations of thoughts and attitudes brought about because of having seen a MUSIC/VUSIC program.

People sometimes express how they saw "something" in a presentation that was relative to them alone. This is probably a result of having a Synaesthetic experience and is linked in some psychological way that is akin to the ability of the mind to have "revelatory" experiences when the occasion arises or the necessary stimuli is applied.

There is also the idea to actually embed messages in the VUSIC in ways that could be considered subliminal. But the most usual experience has generally been that: Any "hidden" meanings or content has been in the eye and mind of the beholder.

There have been a number of instances where people, after seeing a show, had questions about how I "knew" so much about them that I could present instances in their lives with such depth and accuracy. "How did you know that about me?" has been the question that is commonly asked in this situation.

It is not that anything was known about them, but that THEY attached the "meaning" to what they were seeing as a way to keep from losing the continuity of their thought and perception processes.