I've always been amazed by technology that can turn our brainwaves into something tangible. I remember learning about a special brainwave-sensing headband that lets you control a computer mouse by thinking thoughts like "taco" or "hamburger" for the different mouse movements. There are also some brainwave dueling games, like Mindflex, where you have to out-concentrate your oppenent. I just found out about these special headphones that choose music for you based on your brainwaves.
I was thrilled to talk with Dr. Diana Deutsch, a pioneer in the field of music perception and psychology (she literally wrote the book on music psychology). Diana has discovered a number of famous musical illusions. Prepare to have your mind blown by the octave illusion, the scale illusion, the tritone paradox, the mysterious melody, and the speech-to-song illusion "Sometimes Behave So Strangely," made popular by Radiolab. Diana also explains how composers can benefit from studying these perceptual illusions.
Songwriter Warren Hildebrand of Foxes in Fiction has a special sensory gift. He experiences images and color when he listens to certain music, and hears tones when he sees certain images. In this episode of Composer Quest, we talk about Warren's synesthesia and how it shades his music making. Warren Continue reading... 
Dr. Mary Beth Huttlin is not only a talented composer and clarinetist, but she's also gifted perceptually. She has perfect pitch and a constant stream of melodies in her head to draw from. Mary Beth also experiences auditory-visual synesthesia, meaning she perceives colors when she hears music. In episode 24 of Composer Quest, Mary Beth talks with me about how these gifts affect the way she listens to and makes music. We also discuss why Bach is possibly the coolest composer ever.