I have the ability of your composer friend. I can take any instrument I’m familiar with and control it in my head as if I were actually playing it. And it really does seem like I can hear it in a way… except it’s different… While I can visualize things in depth, the experience of hearing something in my head feels far more real than “seeing something” in my minds eye. A facet of this you didn’t mention in your article is that many people can also mentally control “how” the sound is reverberating in their mental space. I can hear a melody from a violin played as if it were next to me, or the same melody echoing across a vast arena. Or, I can even change the direction. Is the sound from the left? Am I hearing it through a doorway?

I have the ability of your composer friend. I can take any instrument I’m familiar with and control it in my head as if I were actually playing it. And it really does seem like I can hear it in a way… except it’s different… While I can visualize things in depth, the experience of hearing something in my head feels far more real than “seeing something” in my minds eye. A facet of this you didn’t mention in your article is that many people can also mentally control “how” the sound is reverberating in their mental space. I can hear a melody from a violin played as if it were next to me, or the same melody echoing across a vast arena. Or, I can even change the direction. Is the sound from the left? Am I hearing it through a doorway?