Why does Cannabis make music sound way more detailed and hundreds of times more enjoyable?

[DMill]

For me, indica strains make music more enjoyable, but sativa strains have an opposite effect.

The rhetoric is indica would make you “chill” and enjoy music. Sativa would make “up” and fiddle with controls. I think we will learn a lot more about cannabis and it’s effects when its legal And objectively studied. For example, I have glaucoma and asked my doctor if I can get high and control my condition. His answer was, “sure, if you’re high 24/7.” My point is we will learn a lot about cannabis in the next few years. With regard to listening to music… it does seem to enhance the experience for me. But that is completely subjective.

 

[ahofer]

And some good ones. *shrugs

I'm not taking sides here... I done it both ways myself.

Hell, we had a Drummer that couldn't hit a beat without a Fo'ty and a line of coke... but give that boy what he needed and he may well have been one of the best drummers I played with.

I wouldn’t want to sight read intoxicated, or switch a familiar chart to an unfamiliar key. I can see how it might work out when you know chart and changes cold.

I gather Art Blakey was pretty coked up when he performed. I saw him with the messengers live a few times. One time I was seated near Mulgrew Miller and he had me bringing the Vodka and Grapefruit juice in large quantities. Tight in multiple senses.

 

[ryanosaur]

With regard to listening to music… it does seem to enhance the experience for me. But that is completely subjective.

30 years ago, it was the sh!t.
20 years ago, it was OK.
15 years ago I was questioning it.
10 years ago I pretty much stopped.
Today, Music still sounds flipping awesome! (Though maybe it's the Phil 3s and 7 Raal Tweeters surrounding me... )

Yes... Subjective. On both sides of the road.

Like B-Real says... you got to master your high, son.

But with that comes a different experience. Vastly different.

 

[Robin L]

As was already commented on... Miles had a notorious habit himself.
In many ways, Jazz of the Bebop era and beyond was defined by heroin and other drug use.
To this day there are unapologetic users who swear they will continue until they pass on their own or heroin and such carries them away. Some have actually found sobriety, or so they claim...
As to whether they ever recorded high or not... that is likely only known by a handful of people and will forever be relegated to urban mythology.
Stories of Tchiakovsky, Charlie Parker, Loius Armstrong, The Dead and Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, Syd Barrett, Dave Navarro, Anthony Keidis... all just off the top of my head... And how many more?

At least two very important composers, Beethoven and Berlioz. The conversation books of Beethoven indicate prescriptions for laudanum, basically opium in alcohol. Can be considered as a potential inspiration/explanation for the goings on in the "Late Period" compositions*. Probably prescribed for IBS. Laudanum was available over the counter and common at the time.

In the case of Berlioz the subject at hand is even more specific. Symphonie Fantastique is supposed to demonstrate the results of a near fatal overdose of laudanum, resulting in a form of synesthesia that converts emotions and actions into music. Synesthesia is the process by which one sensory impression is converted into a sensory impression of another kind. Symphonie Fantastique is Berlioz' best known, most frequently performed composition. Laudanum can induce synesthesia.

Just an additional note, John Cage was crazy for mushrooms, though I'm not sure how far his devotion extended.

*Charlie Parker's "Bird of Paradise" (really divisions on "All the Things You Are") reminds me of Beethoven's variation form finale for the op.109 piano sonata in E major, FWIW.

 

[pablolie]

Do I know you?

There was a point when I first started into the Medical scene and going to the Berkeley Co-Op back around '99-'00 where I had my hands on some ridiculous stuff. Absolute knock-you-out if you weren't careful stuff. Not couch-lock knock out, but in-touch-with-god type of stuff.

A lot has changed.

I've seen papers for some strains testing as high as 30% THC that comes with a spiritual golden ticket... but most clubs now you can't find a good sample to save your life. *shrugs

So much of this is more than the simple parts we try to add up.

Indeed all true! I am no newbie and the rules of cannabis have never changed. If it's a new thing, take your time, take it slow... when people get effed up it's basically down to bad judgement. Not attacking it, heaven knows we have all done it.

As a non-related side story - RSO oil healed my developing prostate cancer. There are many such stories, so I shall not defend my particular experience. All I'd say is that I'd encourage forum members to research it by themselves if they ever find themselves there.

I find the correlation between cannabis and enjoying music or sex or anything else overrated. I enjoy things more when completely centered, personally, every layer of even slightly stupified abstraction detracts from it as a rule. Just listening to music gets me to chill. Then again, I have never found the rule that sativa amplifies you and indica chills you accurate.

 

[olbobcat]

Returning to cannabis objectivism, I’ve heard two objections to this:

1. There really isn’t indica and satire anymore as they’ve been hopelessly cross-bred.
2. Different blends of CBD and THC moderate your reaction differently. The rest comes from the user’s state.

I’m no expert on the subject, but #1 seems empirically true.

Try an Afgahni strain and tell me there is no difference. You can smoke it and maybe it is 13% THC which is pretty low in this day .1 CBD and it will it will kick your butt. There are a lot of chemicals in weed that have not been fully studied yet.

 

[raif71]

Is it distortion though, or additional clarity? I have spoken to many people who say that some drugs do not distort reality, but instead allow them to see reality differently, to view the world through a different lens or see it differently. And these are not un-successful people.

Well, in a land where people don't wear shoes, the one who wear shoes will be out of reality. This is what we define as "normal" or what most people experience. The fact you mentioned "see reality differently" , "different lens" and "see it differently" are situations that are out of norms or some form of "distortion". Whether one experience is distorted or not depends on the majority and I concede that majority may not always be right but they "control" what distortion of reality is all about. Just my 2cents.

 

[Recluse-Animator]

I've not experienced the cannabis effect of making music more enjoyable. I have, however, experienced the dysphoria of being on salvia and I can say that music didn't sound enjoyable at all during that 8 minute trip. Nothing was enjoyable. It did reveal though how a particular sensation could go from being perceived by me as miserable to pleasant without the actual sensation changing at all. It was all in how my brain interpreted the sensation. The only good thing I can say about salvia is the withdrawal experience is highly positive. It was great to feel the effects of the drug wearing off. To be fair to salvia, I have read reports of pleasant experiences involving the use of lower doses of the stuff. Apparently you can get subtle enough effects that you can't really notice it at all unless you sit in a quiet, darkened room without distractions. In that case the subtle hallucinations can be enjoyable and interesting. Maybe a little music could be added to the setting.

Salvia is in a totally different league than cannabis. You can get so high that for example you don't know if a chair or table is an object or what it is.
Some people just cry the whole 10 minutes because they can't handle it.

 

[Recluse-Animator]

I also think a lot of folklore goes into these "bad boy" stories about composing and performing high. Coincidentally, the albums recorded by artists with worrisome drug issues were also some of the worst they recorded and the artists' low point until they fixed it or died. The mighty John Coltrane is a typical case: Miles Davis *fired* him for being unreliable. John kicked his heroin habit and hence recorded the Blue album as a solo (and mostly clean, we're told) artist.

Heroin of course is completely different stuff to what we are talking about. Sativa and Indica are the Zimas of the drug world...

Many 80's albums sound bright because of cocaine.

 

[Peterinvan]

In the end, it seems like the drug-music connection is about achieving some kind of immersed meditative state of flow and attention. I’m sure it can be achieved without assistance - but with a lot of practice.

Like Bill Murray in The Razors Edge we can climb to the top of a cold mountain, seeking enlightenment in holy books, but in the end he burns the books to keep warm, and goes back down the mountain a new man. That’s the hard way. Nature provides a helpful shortcut when used to get to higher places.

 

[bkatbamna]

Because how much you enjoy something is based on the person's mind, not in the thing itself. Imagine you are set to eat your favorite dish. Just before you start eating, someone tells you that your best friend just passed away. Despite the dish being the same, you would not enjoy it as much as you would if you did not hear that news. The food is the same as it was 5 seconds ago but what has changed is the person's mind.

 

[Soandso]

Jazz reed instrument player and author of "Really the Blues" Mezz Mezzrow did some song arrangements which a fellow jazz musician once criticized. To which a radio show host took umbrage pointing out that many famous jazz musicians were quite happy with Mezzrow's arrangements. As proof the host declared he had one telegram clearly stating Mezzrow's arrangements were great - and that he should "please send more." Of course the word "arrangements" was actually Mezzrow's slang for cannabis.

Here's a picture of the yesteryear famous "Mezz" off the bandstand without a clarinet:

 

[wadude]

First it’s talking about pot. Wisecracks and testimony. Next the conversation turns to harder drugs and how an acquaintance, friend, or sibling ruined themselves. Followed by remarks on how much more dangerous alcohol is. “Everything in moderation.” and, “Studies show that…” Finally, over time, for some, there is no longer a desire to imbibe in mood altering substances. Doe-Dee-Doe.

 

[steve59]

Cannabis helps many people get through the day. I quit using it fairly young, but when undergoing radiation treatment for what's becoming fairly common HPV+ throat cancer the thc edibles helped with breakthru pain and, yes definitely made music more involving.

 

[egellings]

Seems like a subject worthy of serious research.

What's particularly curious [to me, at least] is how the chronic is woven so deep into the country music scene. Funny, but "Okie From Muskogee" was a throwaway tune, intended mostly as a joke, but it became an anthem for reactionaries. And Merle Haggard, like so many in the country music scene, was a smoker all along. One of his last recordings was a pro-cannabis duet with Willie Nelson.

A "Musicians Desk Reference" of all the combinations of drugs used by famous musicians would make for a very interesting read. By the time Beethoven was writing the Late Sonatas, he was on more opioids than Yardbird.

One thing is for certain: lighting up a bowl or two is a much more cost-effective equipment upgrade than new cables.

And the bowls actually do something.

 

[egellings]

Are you high right now?

As required, as, required.

 

[Chr1]

At a small fraction of the price of the cables too.
Win win.
Yowsa.

 

[egellings]

Synaesthetia is a well documented phenomenon, it's inducement from chemical agents is less well understood, but there is a large body of evidence that supports it's existence. See this metastudy for some examples: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3797969/

Out of interest, how many senses do you think you have?

Lose the apostrophe on 'its'.

 

[Reed]

One of my favorite movies is “Adaptation” directed by Spike Jonze. Crazy movie. At one point, actor Chris Cooper is on the phone with Meryl Streep suggesting that she snort a specific orchid found in the Everglades thats used ritually by the local Native Americans. He said it could help her by making her more “fascinated” with things. I think it’s possible that pot might allow us to be more fascinated with music. I’ve also wondered if it enables us to break free of gestalt and focus on the individual elements more easily. And another possibility is that we have a “difference” bias. We have perfectly fine equipment that we perceive differently when high. Even a perceived increase in volume could get us to say the experience is better. Why do some of us enjoy a good scotch while listening? Does a Budweiser do the same thing? More research needed. Calling Dr. Olive.

 

[pablolie]

One of my favorite movies is “Adaptation” directed by Spike Jonze. Crazy movie. At one point, actor Chris Cooper is on the phone with Meryl Streep suggesting that she snort a specific orchid found in the Everglades thats used ritually by the local Native Americans. He said it could help her by making her more “fascinated” with things. I think it’s possible that pot might allow us to be more fascinated with music. I’ve also wondered if it enables us to break free of gestalt and focus on the individual elements more easily. And another possibility is that we have a “difference” bias. We have perfectly fine equipment that we perceive differently when high. Even a perceived increase in volume could get us to say the experience is better. Why do some of us enjoy a good scotch while listening? Does a Budweiser do the same thing? More research needed. Calling Dr. Olive.

It is known that some substances chill us and -more importantly- lower our inhibitions some. The latter means that it lowers the inner barriers we may have built to protect ourselves from some painful memories. I think that explains why sometimes people have started openly wailing when I have played something like Karl Munchinger's version of Pachelbel's Canon or Vikingur Olafsson "Ave Verum Corpus" and jazz stuff like Rodney Jordan's "The Morning After"... and several others. Out of nowhere. And I lead the pack - of course it's happened to me too. Kevin Mahogany's "Wild Hiney" can destroy me, it is a memory of my happiest day with the greatest love of my life (my ex wife), and thus my greatest loss.

I find it soul cleansing and those occasional moments are a process of healing. Powerful stuff. And it happens more often when judiciously aided by your favorite glass of wine or weed strain.

To quote Oscar Wilde's brilliant "The Critic as Artist":
“.. After playing Chopin, I feel as if I had been weeping over sins that I had never committed, and mourning over tragedies that were not my own. Music always seems to me to produce that effect. It creates for one a past of which one has been ignorant, and fills one with a sense of sorrows that have been hidden from one’s tears..”

Needless to say, he was known to experiment here and there...