Mazec wrote:Be that as it may, I've heard a lot of recordings by local bands which were markedly impaired by nothing stronger than a little THC. For instance, there was a rap group that insisted on playing high in the studio and their whole album had to be digitally reconstructed 'cause they were too stoned to rap on beat.

u mean moving the words over a bit? i bet it sounded better off beat. or maybe it was just time to give up, let them have their off-beat album.

yknow THC messes with some peoples musicianship, but down in jamaica they smoke a ton of it, and many of those musicians were pretty prolific and consistent back in the day. i think it can work for some. its worked for me but most of my best recordings have been sober.

i used to think drunken playing really couldnt work, no exceptions.... but a few weeks ago me and a friend got a session on 4-track after some drinking, we were really into it at the time, really enthusiastic... the next day we returned to it and it sounded very good.

BClark wrote:yknow THC messes with some peoples musicianship, but down in jamaica they smoke a ton of it, and many of those musicians were pretty repetitive back in the day.

FYP.

I've found that a mixture of ordinary/non-ordinary reality in equal parts is the real winner. I'm mainly talking about grass and psychedelics, but for example just pressing record while completely high and then going out there for two hours straight will offer the alternative brain patterns a chance to do their thing. Then come back to it straight and pick out the bits that you would never recognise as yourself, then go through the rest of the project straight, right up to mixdown. At this point stick a mix down then get really high again and I guarantee there will be at least five glaringly obvious fixes that somehow you never spotted, then mix that one down. Just like most studios do an extra mix with the vocals up, doing an extra mix high will prove that you hear things differently, then its up to you to decide if thats a benefit or a hazard.

As for those who might totally reject the role that altered states can play, like demanding that you should self-actualize instead of getting high, I'd suggest taking on board the explanation offered by Huxley with his "reducing valve" idea. Its really too broad a question to be answered in any meaningful way. The many possible states offered by drugs is so utterly varied that its similar to asking if you like hearing music in the studio.

from what i've read:

coke fucks with your high frequency hearing, so it seems like that'd be a bad idea in the studio.

pot/psych's do create new neural pathways, so you are actually thinking differently. you shouldn't really be doing that in the studio, unless you're one of those dicks that writes in the studio.

me, who gives a fuck what i do?

"Trout Mask Replica" has always confused me in that Zappa produced it but was anti-drugs.
Van Vliet said that no-one in the band took drugs whilst making it.

So were they just mentally ill?

i remember hearing that they were only in the studio for a day, the band had got so tight practicing in that house for 8 or 9 months that they just went in and played the album perfectly.

i also heard that van vliet was lying when he said nobody took drugs.

that damned fly wrote:from what i've read:

coke fucks with your high frequency hearing, so it seems like that'd be a bad idea in the studio.

That doesn't explain Dreamboat Annie.

As for the boom in new posters lately, I imagine that among the lurking population there are always a handful of lurking members just waiting for the right time to delurk. I envision a domino effect that gives lurkers the courage to start posting. (courage isn't really the word I'm looking for--comfort?)

JosieSabbath wrote:Hey Man.

So how do you feel about drugs in the studio?

You holdin'?

sunyab wrote:An interesting time.

Ugh.

Worst time ever. Seriously.



I cannot play when I am feeling the least bit affected. My motor skills are severely diminished under the influence of both alcohol and the occasional smoke. Some can function well in those situations, but not me. I'm glad I am like this though. I feel sorry for people who "can't play unless they are high" (I don't really believe this is the true), they have a real problem.

It's their money and time...