A number of years ago, I read Tom Robbins "Jitterbug Perfume". As the title conveys, the major plot element revolves the scent/smell/aroma of perfume, or rather, the artistry of composing a perfume. In looking back on that sentence, I see I use the word 'composing'. And in a way, there is a musical element to perfume composition.
In doing some additional reading on perfumes, in recent history, there was a notable perfumer named William Arthur Poucher. He devoted
much of his life to perfumes. And exceptionally, rather than hiding the secrets of perfumery, he wrote a three volume set of books involving perfumery: "The Production, Manufacture, and Application of Perfumes". In the second volume, he refers to another perfumer by the name of Piesse, who actually arranged a core gamut of odours according to a musical scale. As a side note, the ninth edition is the one which has the best information. The 10th edition is much edited and changed, and has lost much of the excellent content of the 9th edition.
Moving on, in perfumery, the contributory elements of a perfume are known as:
- The base note: characteristic lasting note of any fragrance
- The middle note: compounds which emerge during the middle of a perfume's dispersion process
- Top notes: the compounds which are initially perceived, and which disperse the soonest due to be the lighter molecules
So, much like a symphony, well composed perfumes present a rich and delightful experience to the senses.
Well, I suppose, in many cases anyway.
The sensory experience was highlighted in an article entitled
ScentAir Brings Fragrance to the Front Lines in the American Express Departures magazine. The article discusses how an organization called ScentAir helps train soldiers in battlefield conditions. As smell is one of the senses, by fragrancing such training scenarios, realism is enhanced. The article goes on to discuss the base/middle/top note compositions of battlefield smells and sensations.
A reference to someone who read the article, but more importantly, has lived it:
South China Sea: Eau De...War Zone!.
From the final line in the article: "We recall scents with up to 65% accuracy after a year but recall visual cues with less than 50% accuracy after a few months."