Tracking/producing in altered state

Overtime, i found out that i produce better and more creative music when i’m high on marijuana; and smoking has became some kind of way for me to be musically productive.

I wonder if any other Renoise users who tried to produce while on drugs or alcohol or any altered state, and the results of such experiments!

Me too, but when i sober up it just sounds like crap again. :stuck_out_tongue:

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enjoy your munchies then. baguette with nougat cream, I suppose?

I’ve heard, cannabis has a special effect on certain people. It can make you discern and feel sounds in a very acute way, some people can almost touch the individual noises in their heads in that state, being able to localise and distinguish sounds in amazing ways. I suppose this effect is stronger for people with musical education and trained ears, kind of blowing up their trained abilities temporarily by weakening the natural filters. The problem is however: when you mix sounds in this state, they can sound like the worst mud when you’re sober again, because then the artificially acute hearing comes back to normal. Also it can make you like very, very silly stuff, or fear the real good sounds because they overload you. Things that seem so exciting in that state might feel very boring when sober again. When relaxing (not at your work desk), it might happen you’re presented with a whole shitload of brilliant ideas and inspirations regarding your current or new projects, but most probably you’ll have forgotten them all afterwards or you can’t make any sense out of it if you managed to try to write them down or record speech describing it or huh…

If you can’t get rid of the feeling that your music is talking to you in a secret language, please stop consuming the stuff, if this feeling persists when the effects have worn off, please contact a psychiatrist. For real.

Every once in a while there are discussions on popular music and the influence of substances that can be felt through them. Like harsh metallic sound with bright reverb and macho aesthetics are connected with cocaine or speed, that 25 minute psychedelic hippie freakout mud with hallucinogenes, totally dry repetitive harsh electronic sounds with xtc like drugs, and so on. This is probably not so far from the reality, I guess, given the notorious history of drug induced breakdowns often seen in the musician and clubbing scenes.

Seeing a psychiatrist is the worst possible option as they will only jail and poison you after they have decided you are “unfit for life”, then force you to take addictive opiate derivatives for the rest of your life. lobotomy is an example of one of psychiatry’s “treatments” or “therapys”. Its basically sticking a knife into the brain and then wiggling it around to mash up the brain a bit.

psychiatric “diseases” are not diseases at all, just complete bullshit made up to sell drugs by force. (drapetomania)

Smoking some weed then doing some tracking is awesome…attention to detail, longer time spent “in the zone” lol.

No one ever got any kind of psychotic breakdown from ganja.

Maybe prohibitionists can give someone a breakdown with all their lies and bullshit though.

meth, coke and mdma will definitely give you a breakdown and they are totally non-creative as well…not useful for making computer music. ganja is the best for using renoise id say

@Mister Sombrero,

I don’t know very much about the subject, but I would def be careful with what strains I’d use if i was smoking. It seems to me, the marijuana business (“recreational”) has been growing seeds aimed to maximize the psychoactivity (e g THC), instead of keeping it natural and optimal for health benefits. I do believe that GOOD and well balanced strains can potentially be as important to someones health as exercise and proper nutritions. I would personally not use marijuana with high THC and low CBD.

EDIT: But yes, it’s rather remarkable that people with an anxiety syndrome can be put on something like benzodiazepines when good marijuana could be much less harmful and more beneficial.

Those high THC strains do make it a bit awkward when going out to the 24 hour shop late at night to buy reeses peanut butter cups.

mmm butter cups…

I have composed under the influence of various substances and above all, i found the “inspiration” to be more of an illusion and one that i was uncapable of translating.
Furthermore, i found that this illusion made me take my own creativity for granted. I work on my music sober now and get better results and know they were my ideas and not from being inebriated. I do however think that meditation and seeking higher states of consciousness may be beneficial, in my experience any substance seems to have given me false hope so to speak. My mind is clearer when sober, I can make better decisions and it is far more gratifying imo.

Seeing a psychiatrist is the worst possible option as they will only jail and poison you after they have decided you are “unfit for life”, then force you to take addictive opiate derivatives for the rest of your life. lobotomy is an example of one of psychiatry’s “treatments” or “therapys”. Its basically sticking a knife into the brain and then wiggling it around to mash up the brain a bit.

psychiatric “diseases” are not diseases at all, just complete bullshit made up to sell drugs by force. (drapetomania)

Smoking some weed then doing some tracking is awesome…attention to detail, longer time spent “in the zone” lol.

No one ever got any kind of psychotic breakdown from ganja.
Maybe prohibitionists can give someone a breakdown with all their lies and bullshit though.

meth, coke and mdma will definitely give you a breakdown and they are totally non-creative as well…not useful for making computer music. ganja is the best for using renoise id say

Whilst I see your point and agree with some of your sentiment to say that marijuana has no adverse effects i do not agree. There have been numerous studies that suggest otherwise, whilst many will not have bad reactions, those with a predisposition to schizophrenia will see it brought on by marijuana use. This has been documented. Though as I said, it affects us all differently, some seem to function quite fine whilst high, whilst others may become paranoid and may also become schizophrenic.
A psychiatrist much like a dr i see as having a duty of care and i don’t doubt some would go so far as you suggested, though maybe it is different here or i have not come across it. The old ways of psychology used pharmaceuticals as a means to try and legitimize the profession, though with the many forms that exist today, that is not the only option. Trans personal counselling for one.

Life is strange enough as it is. I don’t need to be in an “altered state” either for the sake of my music or anything else … :blink:

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Life is strange enough as it is. I don’t need to be in an “altered state” either for the sake of my music or anything else … :blink:

Indeed it is. Tapping into your creative self or meditation could be seen as an altered state, it need not just be under the influence of a drug.
:wink:

My Name is John Daker.

Brought to you by Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast and Youtube channel allenpalin.

Life is strange enough as it is. I don’t need to be in an “altered state” either for the sake of my music or anything else … :blink:

I’ve felt like I must be on acid ever since Trump announced candidacy. Help, my trip is getting worse

Lol, advice to seek care when not alright…yeah, being psychotic definately ISNT alright. Unless there’s different understanding between us. OK some people have light problems and would just need a 4 month break somewhere nice with someone to talk with, would be better than the bad medicine everyone gets here. But hard psychosis isn’t some silly LSD trip with flowers and such. At least seldom. Its rather like an amanita or brugmansia death trip, without any awareness of it, and big time suffering and pain, destroying everything in your life. I know the medication (even the modern) isn’t alright, too, but better than dying innerly every day again and again. I’ve seen the hard cases, life destroyed, before treatment, some get fine again after being treated and would be dead or in custody without. Where I live (germany) it is kind of hit and miss game, and you can have bad luck when in trouble and having to meet conservative bad asshole doctors and/or judges, i.e. when you cause enough trouble because out of your mind. It sucks, yeah.

And I second, even soft stuff like MJ can have its downsides, triggering shizo is one possible thing, also some people can loose their motivation, concentration and short term memory temporarily when overdoing pot, making them prone to live the life of a potato bag without any creative potential left. Many people seem to be able to smoke as much as they like and just live a high life without too many problems. I envy those! Other than that I’m an advocate of legalisation worldwide myself. Make me judge music with bass feel in head and chest when indica or big reverb in head when sativa, why not, I wouldn’t produce in those states though, I just get too lazy and keep getting strong laughing attacks when someting in the mix sounds close to something very silly.

And then again…meditation(!) can also trigger shizo episodes like MJ, and the worst psychotics I’ve seen had it triggered by strong alcohol abuse(!), absolute incurable loss of rationality. I wouldn’t want to ban alcohol or meditation (bwuhahaha) because of this, man, or suggest anyone to go into a closed ward if feeling slightly funny because of those…I just want people to take a little care in general.

And the soft side: many psychotics of the less severe kind have one or another spleen of painting and writing their strange ideas, or doing it to distract themselves from their pain, which can be quite fascinating. I wonder if there are shizos out there driving their demons and delusion into electronic music. Maybe many survivors that came back to normal and express what they’ve witnessed. It can be the real big cinema, so real, with yourself in the leading role against your will.

Me too, but when i sober up it just sounds like crap again. :stuck_out_tongue:

This

I remember laying down this sick dnb track in another program, was really psyched about it. Had this nice chopped break layered with some other beats, a really good arrangement, a reese I programed from scratch, etc

The next morning though, I couldn’t believe how harsh the snare was, how crap the bassline sounded and just how shit the overall mix down was. I instantly deleted the file and went for a long walk to contemplate things.

So these days if I’m ever at home and intoxicated I just sit in front of a piano and improv, that way if it sounded like shit at least it was cool in the moment~

Lol, advice to seek care when not alright…yeah, being psychotic definately ISNT alright. Unless there’s different understanding between us. OK some people have light problems and would just need a 4 month break somewhere nice with someone to talk with, would be better than the bad medicine everyone gets here. But hard psychosis isn’t some silly LSD trip with flowers and such. At least seldom. Its rather like an amanita or brugmansia death trip, without any awareness of it, and big time suffering and pain, destroying everything in your life. I know the medication (even the modern) isn’t alright, too, but better than dying innerly every day again and again. I’ve seen the hard cases, life destroyed, before treatment, some get fine again after being treated and would be dead or in custody without. Where I live (germany) it is kind of hit and miss game, and you can have bad luck when in trouble and having to meet conservative bad asshole doctors and/or judges, i.e. when you cause enough trouble because out of your mind. It sucks, yeah.

And I second, even soft stuff like MJ can have its downsides, triggering shizo is one possible thing, also some people can loose their motivation, concentration and short term memory temporarily when overdoing pot, making them prone to live the life of a potato bag without any creative potential left. Many people seem to be able to smoke as much as they like and just live a high life without too many problems. I envy those! Other than that I’m an advocate of legalisation worldwide myself. Make me judge music with bass feel in head and chest when indica or big reverb in head when sativa, why not, I wouldn’t produce in those states though, I just get too lazy and keep getting strong laughing attacks when someting in the mix sounds close to something very silly.

And then again…meditation(!) can also trigger shizo episodes like MJ, and the worst psychotics I’ve seen had it triggered by strong alcohol abuse(!), absolute incurable loss of rationality. I wouldn’t want to ban alcohol or meditation (bwuhahaha) because of this, man, or suggest anyone to go into a closed ward if feeling slightly funny because of those…I just want people to take a little care in general.

And the soft side: many psychotics of the less severe kind have one or another spleen of painting and writing their strange ideas, or doing it to distract themselves from their pain, which can be quite fascinating. I wonder if there are shizos out there driving their demons and delusion into electronic music. Maybe many survivors that came back to normal and express what they’ve witnessed. It can be the real big cinema, so real, with yourself in the leading role against your will.

Any form of experimentation of altered consciousness is dangerous, I agree. The risk of psychosis when expanding consciousness too quickly in meditation is very real indeed. Even more risky when a person becomes addicted to it like a drug. The key i think, is to know your own limitations and what is not good for you and what is.

Creating art and music is very cathartic, especially if one is suffering. The art can often capture emotions and inspire empathy or understanding of that suffering. It is very good for healing indeed. I have created music as catharsis and it helped.

I’ve tried writing music a few times on things over the years on Renoise. My limited observations:

Alcohol is abad one for me, music gets faster, louder and turns into a mess. I lose interest and end up watching crap on Youtube.

Weed got me stuck on one loop endlessly, sounded great, so great I didn’t want to add to it. Then got bored and had to eat.

Mushrooms was weird, some interesting results but ended up laughing too much at an automated volume slider moving about, plus the pattern display caused some wacky visuals. I eventually got freaked out that the music was writing me and not the other way round - very strange ended up having a mildOOBE.

My conclusion was to stay sober!

I’ve tried writing music a few times on things over the years on Renoise. My limited observations:

Alcohol is abad one for me, music gets faster, louder and turns into a mess. I lose interest and end up watching crap on Youtube.

Weed got me stuck on one loop endlessly, sounded great, so great I didn’t want to add to it. Then got bored and had to eat.

Mushrooms was weird, some interesting results but ended up laughing too much at an automated volume slider moving about, plus the pattern display caused some wacky visuals. I eventually got freaked out that the music was writing me and not the other way round - very strange ended up having a mildOOBE.

My conclusion was to stay sober!

You have to combine the three to really get the vibes :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m only sober when I’m doing the boring stuff… Like chopping up tiny bits of audio.

Thanks, but I don’t i’ll be trying that!