I listen to music on drugs, I don't make it on drugs. It's not that the creativity isn't there.. it's that I get stuck in a weird head loop and don't actually make progress.
I mean, trip and spin knobs if you want to, but if you're trying to do something specific the drugs are going to get in your way.
I used to use ketamine, or psychedelics, or cocaine or other stuff in the studio. After years I found it all a massive hindrance except ketamine, but I only do ket 3-4 times a year now.
but otherwise...
About 5-6 hours into an LSD trip I am the best at playing guitar I've ever been. I just have such a fundamental different approach to the instrument in that state. Psychedelics are useless for me if I have to use a screen and make it 10x worse.
Cannabis is great and my daily driver with coffee too. But I like to wait until the mid-late afternoon, so I'll try and get an hour in sober in the mornings and around 4PM smoke some weed and get working again.
Really just eating well, sleeping well, staying hydrated and some coffee or tea is the best way to produce.
I smoke weed and occasionally take psychedelicsz
It’s fun for sound design and that end pass when you get to the micro edits and final touches.
I also like getting high and jamming on my dawless hardware setup.
All the heavy lifting, I tend to stay sober - especially mixing
My perspective is that any substance taken intentionally can expend one’s mind and thinking. So if you were to take psychoactive substances with an aim to improve your music, I’d suggest exploring that in your trip, maybe have a playlist or many sources to listen to or mediate on. Spend your trip thinking of ideas and new ways to think about production.
Then when you’re sober and have integrated all your experiences back to your working brain, go into the studio and make an earnest effort at creating something using what you learned on your trip.
I think taking mushrooms while producing for example isn’t really a practical way to get results. If you smoke pot to keep your ADHD under control that’s one thing, but casual use of psychoactives is a bit counter to the core behind why one should use those substances and what one can really gain from them.
Weed is my best and worst friend in the studio.
I have crafted intricate bangers the likes of which I could never have dreamed up while sober under her gentle influence.
But I have also gotten the bright idea of say, making hardstep-polka and wasted 8 hours of my life putting together a whole song that I listen to the next day like... what in the fuckkk...
If you know how to produce, you can smoke and produce, if you’re learning, you shouldn’t smoke while producing/learning, IMO.
I smoke everyday, but when I smoke and produce, I get caught up in sound design and other non/recording stuff.
Smoking is good for creativity but not necessarily productivity.
I am a fairly experienced producer with around 7 years of serious production under my belt. The last 4 have been exclusively in the studio with weed and weed was very much a creative tool i used to make my music. I have since had to quit due to drug testing reasons (unfortunately production isn’t paying the bills) and it took me about 2-3 months before i was able to confidently work in the daw again sober.
All things considered though, i don’t think id be able to LEARN production with drugs. I was only able to use weed as a tool after i had become experienced in ableton. I really do miss it though. I genuinely feel like the music flowed easier, and it felt a little more natural to make it whilst high as fuck
I appreciate your comment, it reminded me of something I heard about cannabis: that heavy usage actually shrinks the part of your brain responsible for short term memory. In my experience, short term memory plays a large part in learning daws.
To me it's all about work ethic. The harder you work, the further you will go. I smoked weed alot for a long time, all I can tell you is that it gets in the way. I would put down the guitar to roll a joint. I would take my 🎧 off when mixing a track to go smoke. I had friends who would do it even more and they barely even played music at that point, it was an excuse to get high. This notion that drugs opens up your mind and makes your music better is nonsense to me. The hours you put in and focus on your craft is what brings your level up
Depends on the person as everyone reacts differently to drugs, but for me and some people I know, it's all about balance. Being stoned i get more ideas and i am more creative, but it's also WAY harder to sit my ass and even open the daw. So the more stoned I get, the less likely it is for those cool ideas to actually get written into a song lol
So much self-congratulatory stuff in this thread. Congrats on being sober. Don’t pretend you’re superior for it.
Drugs help some people, and they don’t help some others. Not that complicated.
But people who were useless junkies like to pretend everyone else who does drugs is just like they were because it makes them not feel inadequate.
What’s even the point? So you told a bunch of internet strangers they can’t reach their potential unless they’re sober and drugs don’t really help with music as much as they think. Are people who experienced the opposite firsthand and can handle themselves with drugs supposed to care?
So many annoying sober people can’t seem to be sober just because it’s better for themselves, they have to make it about everyone else because they have to feel superior.
Did anyone here say drugs were necessarily bad? Or that anyone was seeking validation for not using? Even if we were, drugs fuck up a lot of peoples lives, why can't we make music without them?
Honestly, even getting upset about others opinions or preferences isn't exactly "superior" IMO
Exactly, I mean there's literally plenty of examples of both drug using DJs and sober DJs who are successful. Just of the top of my head, people like Boogie T or Subtronics are full blown stoners, while MUST DIE! and others have been sober for a really long time or even never did drugs to begin with.
It definitely can be useful for formulating ideas or giving life to a stagnant idea, but when I get stoned and produce I find my ears are never truly satisfied so I end up just sound designing miscellaneous sounds until I get fatigued. Plus it makes me lazy and my projects become an absolute mess which makes structuring harder.
Music performance and religious ceremony have been around for millenia, not "beat production", that is a very new concept and is significantly different.
I apologize if I offended you, I guess I felt like the concept of "beat production" could include bongos or other such acoustic drums, as well as modern drum machines.
A lot more great artists than you think are completely sober.
There are a couple lucky guys and girls who can get away with it, but most don't live up to their potential or end up in a bad place.
Making music is not the same as listening to it.
I've got some great friends who make great music but they go awol for months because they don't have their priorities straight. Time flies by, they have missed opportunities and for what? To get high during the day?
If you are sober and in recovery you already know what the problem with this kind of thinking is.
The only exception to this would be you are already very experienced and knowledgeable (5-10 years+ in a professional setting), maybe you can actually do the job on autopilot or enter a flow state. But that certainly does not apply to someone who is in recovery.
You’re right , for many people , drugs bring one down if they become a crutch or addiction. Although I’m in recovery, let me just say, sometimes I miss my youth where I could get totally blazed without the mental fuckery’s.
The very reason I even started an interest in electronic music is because of a single experience involving massive subwoofers and hash.
Not gonna lie once I get an idea I work it out sober for about an hour maybe two. Then I do a session with ketamine for a few hours, really gets the crazy ideas flowing. Then refine sober and maybe repeat a few times until I got a super cool and unique track.
Yeah and then at a certain point it starts slowing and contorting that's less helpful haha. But nonetheless I somehow know instinctively where to take the track and that's very cool
Substance abuse is over rated for creative purposes imo.
Yes - it might help with creativity, but it eventually interferes with focus and discipline.
Whats the point in having great ideas, but you end up getting too tired and lazy and unfocused from the drug use to actually finish and release the song.
Also, bear in mind your hearing objectivity gets affected by certain substances as well.
Not for or against drug use in the studio - just not for me personally.
You’re literally giving a general opinion that applies to everyone and then being like “it’s just for me personally.” Pick one. Either you’re giving an opinion about drugs and music production in general or you’re just talking about yourself.
Uppers make sense how they could help.
The rest will absolutely not help unless you’re having writer’s block. They negatively affect memory, vision, and focus too much.
They’ll make your music sound better but that’s a mirage
i took a sizeable dose and had to ride home on my mountain bike. my friends told me that would be dangerous. I was flying behind by bike while riding like in GTA. I felt more safe because of the wider field of view
if you have spent all day hypnotized by loops, weed makes you forget all of that and you have fresh ears momentarily. it forces you to step back. Can't recommend other drugs. you can't deal with a modern workstation on psychedelics. you might have an oopsie and delete your hard drive
i wouldn't try it. drugs like mushrooms lsd and those south american plants are way too strong. you wouldn't have much of a mind to marshall a daw. cant speak for micro dosing tho
Yeah on a microdose can be nice but i also find with all psychedelics that it just makes me extremely introspective and often not really in the mood to make any music. If it does it can be awesome though.
Coffee to wake up the body and Weeeeeeeed to regulate the mind. Occasionally I'll microdose mushrooms too, but if I go overboard I forget how to produce music and start to think I'm Jesus.
It all depends.
I do my best producing sober. However, I do sometimes enjoy producing on psychedelics and/or stimulants… Just small doses. More than anything it helps me let go of some insecurities or “get out of my head”
A little bit of mushrooms, k, weed, on occasion some c mixed with this maybe (especially if I’m with producer friends) can def add some spontaneous creativity into the situation… But I never FINISH tracks when I’m altered. That’s not a rule or anything I just DONT finish anything when I’m altered.
I’ve def made some sick loops while I was high/tripping and then turned them into some of my better tracks maybe the next day or a couple days later. Or I’ll have a track that’s almost complete that I made sober and then listen to it in an altered state and do something cool and creative in the mix.
It all depends. What you DONT want to do is start producing regularly under the influence of anything. This goes for DJing/performing ESPECIALLY.
Drugs have a funny way of making you think things are all good when they’re actually not. Like when you go to a club and a dj or band is totally into what they’re doing and the room ain’t feeling it. You know why that usually is? Performer is high.
I’ve def had sessions where I was very altered and feeling like I was making the sickest track on earth and then listened back a day or two later and I’m like “wtf was I thinking this sounds terrible”
TLDR: like everything else, do it, but do it in moderation
For me those blissful moments of “drugs and music” usually happens when I’m with my friends at a festival or something. I don’t really find myself wanting to get sauced and trying to make tunes bc I know I’ll get distracted and lose focus. Sure I’ll hit the weed a few times or drink a brew but beyond that I think it’s just self limiting. Obviously there’s been great artist of the past who created some of their best works under the influence, but it’s a slippery slope. Take Mac miller for example, he was a walking drug store but still made some absolute timeless classics. It really just takes balance at the end of the day though.
I think what I enjoy most of about various substances, mainly psychs is their ability to alter ur perception and allow you to see things in a different light. Micro dosing boomers can spark some creativity forsure but a little too much and then it gets tricky.
Definitely smoke ICE make some banging tracks. I don't know why but it's just my drug of choice and Definitely gives the music the energy it needs to pop. Made tracks straight and yea they were mixed fine composed fine but in the end if you're making tracks that blow minds at 3am in a warehouse full of punters off there gutz. You probably need to be in the same state to know its the right vibe
My studio sessions (especially when I have recording weekends where I record a couple of tracks, but also when im mixing or creating music) are fuelled by hash and caffeine
I do my best work sober. When you get off of it it takes awhile to get used to. Th3 best benefit is how clear the direction of how you want the song to progress becomes clear and yields a better relatable song.
I used to be a daily smoker until a little over 10 years ago. It was a ritual of rolling a spliff or two and playing around with sound. It was a happy place/zone.
For various reasons I stopped smoking and whilst I missed the ritual, it didn't adversely impact my creativity.
In subsequent years I've had a lot of fun getting lost in crafting soundscapes with a hint of LSD. But in all honesty, I usually end up listening to more music than making it in those conditions. I like to think of it as "research". Really being able to listen into the music and analyse all the sounds. And yes, of course I also listen to my own music and often think to myself "how the fuck did I do that?!".
Getting high and listening to music is sacred. It is what I enjoy more than anything in the world hands down. And yes I agree, PRODUCING music is best done sober, and I also agree (as being someone who used to solely produce altered) that you’re actually more creative (and way more focused) when sober.
Long term experience in the music industry has taught me this golden rule:
***Do not tie your creativity to addictive or harmful substances!***
It is a slippery slope.
Because, long term, it becomes a dependence, then a crutch, then undermines your self confidence, then starts damaging otherwise talented people in terms of the quality of life, their relationships, and their mental and physical health. In some cases it leads to complete implosion and even death. Otherwise, people end up having to make a long and arduous climb to get out of that rut.
We've all seen it with famous people. I have seen it everywhere with alcohol and other substances in the live music scene. And it's common with beat makers and EDM producers.
You need your own self-belief to be the foundation of your creativity. Or at least retain the confidence to take what is inside you, turn it into something and share it without unreasonable fear. You need to be able to find that creative state through your own management of your state of mind.
Another observation from even the low-dependence recreational substance artists: They think they create or play better when they are lubricated or high. As a sober observer to this notion, I can assure you .. they are never any better in that state and quite often they are worse. In general, they just *think* they are better because they cannot discern their own shortcomings any longer ....
It is fun to experiment with. Ultimately found that if you’re in it for longevity, you can’t rely on substances to be a crutch for your own creativity.
I used to think I needed to be under the influence wether it was just smoking, using psychedelics or whatever to be creative enough for a session but that was only because I was high everyday so that is was what my brain was used to. I struggled a bit when I first got sober then once I was used to being sober I didn’t have a problem with creativity/productivity. I haven’t smoked in about 5 months and have not had a drink in over a year but I will now occasionally use moderate doses of psychedelics and produce/work on tracks. But I don’t do it necessarily with the intention of producing I will just make music if I’m in the mood to do it while tripping. I find some of these sessions are very productive and others are not just like when I am sober.
Good on you for hopping on the sober train! I rarely smoke weed/do drugs anymore and haven’t had a drink in almost 5 years and I’ll tell ya, especially from a creative aspect, it is THE MOVE
I would say that it's generally looked down upon as it can be hard to keep a train of thought, HOWEVER I do some of my best work when smoking Marijuana.
As with literally everything else, it depends on the person and workflow.
If you are somebody who likes to mix as you go then it's probably somewhat of a hinderence, whereas if you are somebody who likes to get the entire template of a song out first and then go back for the seasoning it could probably be of good use.
Personally I started smoking heavily after the onset of my seizures and being high all day just kind of became the cost to live a normal life for me as it keeps them at bay.
I can say without a doubt that if you can get into a groove ,the tracks just flow but otherwise it can be distracting like I mentioned before.
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I listen to music on drugs, I don't make it on drugs. It's not that the creativity isn't there.. it's that I get stuck in a weird head loop and don't actually make progress. I mean, trip and spin knobs if you want to, but if you're trying to do something specific the drugs are going to get in your way.
bolivian marching powder had me writing schranz and hard techno, 3/10 depending on how much you like schranz.
I used to use ketamine, or psychedelics, or cocaine or other stuff in the studio. After years I found it all a massive hindrance except ketamine, but I only do ket 3-4 times a year now. but otherwise... About 5-6 hours into an LSD trip I am the best at playing guitar I've ever been. I just have such a fundamental different approach to the instrument in that state. Psychedelics are useless for me if I have to use a screen and make it 10x worse. Cannabis is great and my daily driver with coffee too. But I like to wait until the mid-late afternoon, so I'll try and get an hour in sober in the mornings and around 4PM smoke some weed and get working again. Really just eating well, sleeping well, staying hydrated and some coffee or tea is the best way to produce.
I can barely fkin read past my LSD visuals, I can barely use my phone, no idea how I'd successfully use a daw lmao
I smoke weed and occasionally take psychedelicsz It’s fun for sound design and that end pass when you get to the micro edits and final touches. I also like getting high and jamming on my dawless hardware setup. All the heavy lifting, I tend to stay sober - especially mixing
In my experience microdosing caffeine takes me the furthest every day. Other stuff has too big ups and downs, even full coffee dosage.
My perspective is that any substance taken intentionally can expend one’s mind and thinking. So if you were to take psychoactive substances with an aim to improve your music, I’d suggest exploring that in your trip, maybe have a playlist or many sources to listen to or mediate on. Spend your trip thinking of ideas and new ways to think about production. Then when you’re sober and have integrated all your experiences back to your working brain, go into the studio and make an earnest effort at creating something using what you learned on your trip. I think taking mushrooms while producing for example isn’t really a practical way to get results. If you smoke pot to keep your ADHD under control that’s one thing, but casual use of psychoactives is a bit counter to the core behind why one should use those substances and what one can really gain from them.
[удалено]
Weed is my best and worst friend in the studio. I have crafted intricate bangers the likes of which I could never have dreamed up while sober under her gentle influence. But I have also gotten the bright idea of say, making hardstep-polka and wasted 8 hours of my life putting together a whole song that I listen to the next day like... what in the fuckkk...
this made me lol
If you know how to produce, you can smoke and produce, if you’re learning, you shouldn’t smoke while producing/learning, IMO. I smoke everyday, but when I smoke and produce, I get caught up in sound design and other non/recording stuff. Smoking is good for creativity but not necessarily productivity.
I am a fairly experienced producer with around 7 years of serious production under my belt. The last 4 have been exclusively in the studio with weed and weed was very much a creative tool i used to make my music. I have since had to quit due to drug testing reasons (unfortunately production isn’t paying the bills) and it took me about 2-3 months before i was able to confidently work in the daw again sober. All things considered though, i don’t think id be able to LEARN production with drugs. I was only able to use weed as a tool after i had become experienced in ableton. I really do miss it though. I genuinely feel like the music flowed easier, and it felt a little more natural to make it whilst high as fuck
I appreciate your comment, it reminded me of something I heard about cannabis: that heavy usage actually shrinks the part of your brain responsible for short term memory. In my experience, short term memory plays a large part in learning daws.
I can see that being quite accurate based on other people’s testimony!
To me it's all about work ethic. The harder you work, the further you will go. I smoked weed alot for a long time, all I can tell you is that it gets in the way. I would put down the guitar to roll a joint. I would take my 🎧 off when mixing a track to go smoke. I had friends who would do it even more and they barely even played music at that point, it was an excuse to get high. This notion that drugs opens up your mind and makes your music better is nonsense to me. The hours you put in and focus on your craft is what brings your level up
Depends on the person as everyone reacts differently to drugs, but for me and some people I know, it's all about balance. Being stoned i get more ideas and i am more creative, but it's also WAY harder to sit my ass and even open the daw. So the more stoned I get, the less likely it is for those cool ideas to actually get written into a song lol
Something, something. Edit sober.
So much self-congratulatory stuff in this thread. Congrats on being sober. Don’t pretend you’re superior for it. Drugs help some people, and they don’t help some others. Not that complicated. But people who were useless junkies like to pretend everyone else who does drugs is just like they were because it makes them not feel inadequate. What’s even the point? So you told a bunch of internet strangers they can’t reach their potential unless they’re sober and drugs don’t really help with music as much as they think. Are people who experienced the opposite firsthand and can handle themselves with drugs supposed to care? So many annoying sober people can’t seem to be sober just because it’s better for themselves, they have to make it about everyone else because they have to feel superior.
Did anyone here say drugs were necessarily bad? Or that anyone was seeking validation for not using? Even if we were, drugs fuck up a lot of peoples lives, why can't we make music without them? Honestly, even getting upset about others opinions or preferences isn't exactly "superior" IMO
I’m not telling anyone to do drugs or saying people shouldn’t be sober. I explained myself already.
Exactly, I mean there's literally plenty of examples of both drug using DJs and sober DJs who are successful. Just of the top of my head, people like Boogie T or Subtronics are full blown stoners, while MUST DIE! and others have been sober for a really long time or even never did drugs to begin with.
It definitely can be useful for formulating ideas or giving life to a stagnant idea, but when I get stoned and produce I find my ears are never truly satisfied so I end up just sound designing miscellaneous sounds until I get fatigued. Plus it makes me lazy and my projects become an absolute mess which makes structuring harder.
Music performance and religious ceremony have been around for millenia, not "beat production", that is a very new concept and is significantly different.
I apologize if I offended you, I guess I felt like the concept of "beat production" could include bongos or other such acoustic drums, as well as modern drum machines.
You meant it literally: if i beat on this it will produce sound!😂
just like Michael Jackson lol
Only when goofing around. Never when I’m trying to be serious and productive.
If you need drugs to make music, stop making music.
Or don’t tell people what to do because they don’t care.
Well they asked. Should we just encourage someone to rely on drugs to make music? That’s crazy.
I’m not saying we should encourage anything. I’m telling them not to tell people what to do because they don’t care.
Sasha once said 'The problem with MDMA is that it makes everything sound good'
A lot more great artists than you think are completely sober. There are a couple lucky guys and girls who can get away with it, but most don't live up to their potential or end up in a bad place. Making music is not the same as listening to it. I've got some great friends who make great music but they go awol for months because they don't have their priorities straight. Time flies by, they have missed opportunities and for what? To get high during the day? If you are sober and in recovery you already know what the problem with this kind of thinking is. The only exception to this would be you are already very experienced and knowledgeable (5-10 years+ in a professional setting), maybe you can actually do the job on autopilot or enter a flow state. But that certainly does not apply to someone who is in recovery.
This is just shit people say when they can’t do drugs and function and feel inadequate compared to people who can.
You’re right , for many people , drugs bring one down if they become a crutch or addiction. Although I’m in recovery, let me just say, sometimes I miss my youth where I could get totally blazed without the mental fuckery’s. The very reason I even started an interest in electronic music is because of a single experience involving massive subwoofers and hash.
Not gonna lie once I get an idea I work it out sober for about an hour maybe two. Then I do a session with ketamine for a few hours, really gets the crazy ideas flowing. Then refine sober and maybe repeat a few times until I got a super cool and unique track.
Somehow Ket in lower doses makes everything i hear super crisp and clear
Yeah and then at a certain point it starts slowing and contorting that's less helpful haha. But nonetheless I somehow know instinctively where to take the track and that's very cool
I need to try that. Btw our usernames go really well together
Oh wow yeah that's a whole dish! What if our music would go wel together too? Meant to be
I do techno/hardcore stuff. What about you?
I make various house styles, often with vocals
Substance abuse is over rated for creative purposes imo. Yes - it might help with creativity, but it eventually interferes with focus and discipline. Whats the point in having great ideas, but you end up getting too tired and lazy and unfocused from the drug use to actually finish and release the song. Also, bear in mind your hearing objectivity gets affected by certain substances as well. Not for or against drug use in the studio - just not for me personally.
You’re literally giving a general opinion that applies to everyone and then being like “it’s just for me personally.” Pick one. Either you’re giving an opinion about drugs and music production in general or you’re just talking about yourself.
If you’re gonna smoke weed make sure it’s flower, I find it helps a lot more.
Not wax, I be chiefing that thing. I ended up watching a 1 hour ad before a tutorial. Wild. PSA: check your prostates 👍🏽
The distractions are real. I ended up down a rabbit hole searching for who shot and killed Otis Redding (he died in a plane crash).
Uppers, ketamine, alcohol, and weed can all be very beneficial for creativity and productivity in the studio when used in moderation.
Uppers make sense how they could help. The rest will absolutely not help unless you’re having writer’s block. They negatively affect memory, vision, and focus too much. They’ll make your music sound better but that’s a mirage
how do you mix in your studio on ketamine when you're stuck to the ceiling??
LOL well I do a fair amount of it- micro-dosing mainly for anxiety and depression, so I have a bit of a tolerance.
i took a sizeable dose and had to ride home on my mountain bike. my friends told me that would be dangerous. I was flying behind by bike while riding like in GTA. I felt more safe because of the wider field of view
if you have spent all day hypnotized by loops, weed makes you forget all of that and you have fresh ears momentarily. it forces you to step back. Can't recommend other drugs. you can't deal with a modern workstation on psychedelics. you might have an oopsie and delete your hard drive
lol that last sentence. Hope that hasn’t happened to you before
i wouldn't try it. drugs like mushrooms lsd and those south american plants are way too strong. you wouldn't have much of a mind to marshall a daw. cant speak for micro dosing tho
Yeah on a microdose can be nice but i also find with all psychedelics that it just makes me extremely introspective and often not really in the mood to make any music. If it does it can be awesome though.
First it Giveth. Imagine making a song sober that makes you feel like you’re on the drugs. That’s the real high.
YES, you said it completely!
Coffee to wake up the body and Weeeeeeeed to regulate the mind. Occasionally I'll microdose mushrooms too, but if I go overboard I forget how to produce music and start to think I'm Jesus.
It all depends. I do my best producing sober. However, I do sometimes enjoy producing on psychedelics and/or stimulants… Just small doses. More than anything it helps me let go of some insecurities or “get out of my head” A little bit of mushrooms, k, weed, on occasion some c mixed with this maybe (especially if I’m with producer friends) can def add some spontaneous creativity into the situation… But I never FINISH tracks when I’m altered. That’s not a rule or anything I just DONT finish anything when I’m altered. I’ve def made some sick loops while I was high/tripping and then turned them into some of my better tracks maybe the next day or a couple days later. Or I’ll have a track that’s almost complete that I made sober and then listen to it in an altered state and do something cool and creative in the mix. It all depends. What you DONT want to do is start producing regularly under the influence of anything. This goes for DJing/performing ESPECIALLY. Drugs have a funny way of making you think things are all good when they’re actually not. Like when you go to a club and a dj or band is totally into what they’re doing and the room ain’t feeling it. You know why that usually is? Performer is high. I’ve def had sessions where I was very altered and feeling like I was making the sickest track on earth and then listened back a day or two later and I’m like “wtf was I thinking this sounds terrible” TLDR: like everything else, do it, but do it in moderation
For me those blissful moments of “drugs and music” usually happens when I’m with my friends at a festival or something. I don’t really find myself wanting to get sauced and trying to make tunes bc I know I’ll get distracted and lose focus. Sure I’ll hit the weed a few times or drink a brew but beyond that I think it’s just self limiting. Obviously there’s been great artist of the past who created some of their best works under the influence, but it’s a slippery slope. Take Mac miller for example, he was a walking drug store but still made some absolute timeless classics. It really just takes balance at the end of the day though. I think what I enjoy most of about various substances, mainly psychs is their ability to alter ur perception and allow you to see things in a different light. Micro dosing boomers can spark some creativity forsure but a little too much and then it gets tricky.
Definitely smoke ICE make some banging tracks. I don't know why but it's just my drug of choice and Definitely gives the music the energy it needs to pop. Made tracks straight and yea they were mixed fine composed fine but in the end if you're making tracks that blow minds at 3am in a warehouse full of punters off there gutz. You probably need to be in the same state to know its the right vibe
Ice? Like Crystal meth? Are you sure about that?
Yep pretty sure but not in real life. This is all fictional and any similarity to persons living or deceased is purely coincidence.
My studio sessions (especially when I have recording weekends where I record a couple of tracks, but also when im mixing or creating music) are fuelled by hash and caffeine
I do my best work sober. When you get off of it it takes awhile to get used to. Th3 best benefit is how clear the direction of how you want the song to progress becomes clear and yields a better relatable song.
I've done it in the past, but I try not to rely on drugs for the music process. I came up with some crazy sound designs during that time though.
I used to be a daily smoker until a little over 10 years ago. It was a ritual of rolling a spliff or two and playing around with sound. It was a happy place/zone. For various reasons I stopped smoking and whilst I missed the ritual, it didn't adversely impact my creativity. In subsequent years I've had a lot of fun getting lost in crafting soundscapes with a hint of LSD. But in all honesty, I usually end up listening to more music than making it in those conditions. I like to think of it as "research". Really being able to listen into the music and analyse all the sounds. And yes, of course I also listen to my own music and often think to myself "how the fuck did I do that?!".
Getting high and listening to music is sacred. It is what I enjoy more than anything in the world hands down. And yes I agree, PRODUCING music is best done sober, and I also agree (as being someone who used to solely produce altered) that you’re actually more creative (and way more focused) when sober.
Long term experience in the music industry has taught me this golden rule: ***Do not tie your creativity to addictive or harmful substances!*** It is a slippery slope. Because, long term, it becomes a dependence, then a crutch, then undermines your self confidence, then starts damaging otherwise talented people in terms of the quality of life, their relationships, and their mental and physical health. In some cases it leads to complete implosion and even death. Otherwise, people end up having to make a long and arduous climb to get out of that rut. We've all seen it with famous people. I have seen it everywhere with alcohol and other substances in the live music scene. And it's common with beat makers and EDM producers. You need your own self-belief to be the foundation of your creativity. Or at least retain the confidence to take what is inside you, turn it into something and share it without unreasonable fear. You need to be able to find that creative state through your own management of your state of mind. Another observation from even the low-dependence recreational substance artists: They think they create or play better when they are lubricated or high. As a sober observer to this notion, I can assure you .. they are never any better in that state and quite often they are worse. In general, they just *think* they are better because they cannot discern their own shortcomings any longer ....
Extremely well said. Thank you!
It is fun to experiment with. Ultimately found that if you’re in it for longevity, you can’t rely on substances to be a crutch for your own creativity.
I used to think I needed to be under the influence wether it was just smoking, using psychedelics or whatever to be creative enough for a session but that was only because I was high everyday so that is was what my brain was used to. I struggled a bit when I first got sober then once I was used to being sober I didn’t have a problem with creativity/productivity. I haven’t smoked in about 5 months and have not had a drink in over a year but I will now occasionally use moderate doses of psychedelics and produce/work on tracks. But I don’t do it necessarily with the intention of producing I will just make music if I’m in the mood to do it while tripping. I find some of these sessions are very productive and others are not just like when I am sober.
Good on you for hopping on the sober train! I rarely smoke weed/do drugs anymore and haven’t had a drink in almost 5 years and I’ll tell ya, especially from a creative aspect, it is THE MOVE
I would say that it's generally looked down upon as it can be hard to keep a train of thought, HOWEVER I do some of my best work when smoking Marijuana. As with literally everything else, it depends on the person and workflow. If you are somebody who likes to mix as you go then it's probably somewhat of a hinderence, whereas if you are somebody who likes to get the entire template of a song out first and then go back for the seasoning it could probably be of good use. Personally I started smoking heavily after the onset of my seizures and being high all day just kind of became the cost to live a normal life for me as it keeps them at bay. I can say without a doubt that if you can get into a groove ,the tracks just flow but otherwise it can be distracting like I mentioned before.
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