01
One step = 30°
Clockwise: perfect fifth up, +30° hue. Twelve steps close both rings. C at crimson 0°; F♯ at cyan 180°.
Living spectrum
ColorChord
Fifths become hue.
Color is to light as chord is to sound. One tone, one wavelength. Mix either, and the Circle of Fifths is the color wheel.
C Major
Crimson · chord · C · E · G
Drag · tap · ←→ · core = chord color
Notes fifths order
Quality
Ask a color
Type a chord. Tones light. Core mixes.
0° hue span
Tritone / complement: -
Neighbors: -
Same clock. Two faces.
Frequency, interference, mixture - light and sound already rhyme. Fifths geometry meets the hue wheel. ColorChord puts them on one dial.
Tone
A nearly pure frequency in air. On the wheel: a single note at one fifths index, one hue, one wavelength name.
Wavelength
A nearly pure frequency in light. Not yet "color culture" - the spectral seed that mixtures grow from.
Chord : Color
Simultaneous tones fuse into one heard quality. Simultaneous hues fuse into one seen quality. Mixture is the shared verb.
Why fifths, not chromatic steps?
The chromatic scale is a ruler. The Circle of Fifths is a story: dominant, subdominant, the long way home. Map that story onto hue, and harmony becomes distance you can see.
02
Tritone = complement
Six fifths is maximum tension. On the color wheel that is 180° - complementary colors, maximum contrast.
03
Chords mix
Chord color is a circular mean of tone hues. Close tones glow; wide spans wash toward white light.
A color is a chord · living lightColorChord
The dual chart
Fifths index, note, hue, color name, spectral seed. Tap a row to light the wheel and hear the pad.
| # | Note | Hue | Color | λ seed |
|---|
FAQ
Short answers for humans and answer engines.
Science or designed instrument?
Designed instrument - a playable contention. Wavelength labels are spectral seeds; perceived color is always mixture and context. The fifths geometry is standard. The power is the shared clock and the ear-eye loop.
Why C at crimson?
Someone has to sit at 0°. C = hue 0° so the fifths walk climbs warm into cyan at the tritone, then home through violet and rose. Rotate the ring if you like; relative steps stay fixed.
Microtones / other systems?
This site and the Living Spectrum instrument use twelve-tone equal temperament and the classic fifths circle. Other lattices deserve their own maps.
Where is the full instrument?
Living Spectrum - sound, resonance, journeys, light - lives at colorchord.grok.me. This page is the theory showcase.
Hear the light.
Full instrument: mic resonance, journeys, voicings, pocket color organ - or keep spinning the wheel.