Critical listening and altered states


Ok, this is not a question about relaxing, but about listening to evaluate how the system (or a piece of gear is sounding).

What, in your experience, are the pluses and minuses of altering your state of mind for listening? This can include anything you've used to affect your everyday state of mind, from coffee, beer, scotch, tobacco, to much stronger — and psychoactive, dissociative — additives.

What do you gain by altering your consciousness in terms of what you notice, attend to, linger on, etc?
What causes more details to emerge?
What allows you to stick with a thread or, alternately, make new connections?

Or perhaps you like to keep all those things *out* of your listening; if that's you, please say a bit about why.

hilde45

Generally I'll listen to my favorite radio station all day at work, WCBN FM, Univ. Michigan student run station. So yesterday they played rasta man music for a couple hours, got me back in the old spirit of things! Made me think of the differences between THC and hallucinogens, THC can raise our awareness of certain things, this can help to create a spiritual experience, seeing Marley live in concert at a perfect size venue with fine acoustics while I was high certainly was one of those peak experiences. Had other peak experiences with THC, vast majority far more forgettable, once it becomes daily most of the magic lost. On the other hand you can never forget the hallucinogenic experiences, they alter the mind/brain in a way THC can never come close to. The one thing to be careful with when using hallucinogens is being attentive to state of mind just prior to tripping, no fear or anxiety, just an open mind as to what one is about to experience. I believe having good intentions when making the decision to use mind altering substances is paramount. I always thought back to Carlos Castaneda's, "The Teachings of Don Juan" as a very early compass for my mind altering journeys.

 

I also mentioned most desiring quiet during trips, I know someone mentioned the movie, "Altered States" in an earlier thread. Seems to me it could be a very anxiety provoking thing to be locked into an isolation tank, with no visual or aural reference/distraction there is only one's mind to absorb the mind, going to a dark place as in the movie could be very possible.

@sns - Indeed, when I was in college and taking lots of hallucinogens, some of which we even knew what they were, we were reading all those Castaneda books. 

One of my best friends' dad made 'Altered States'. 

Some substance are at the roots of religions...

Why not using them in some sacred cirsconstances?

I did it with THC for listening the "Christus" of Liszt one of the greatest religious work since Bach...

 

 The first 30 minutes contain what is nearer to a music describing Nature before sin, impossible to describe the simple purest cinematographic image of Eden in music...

It is the same with the choral Work of Hildegard of Bingen...

I used THC to increase my concentration and focus on each chord...