Music Sounds Better On LSD, Study Finds

Megalith

Megalith

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A controlled study presented in the latest Psycho-pharmacology journal confirms the long assumed but rarely proven idea that LSD makes music more awesome.

Ten healthy volunteers listened to five different tracks of instrumental music during each of two study days, a placebo day followed by an LSD day, separated by 5–7 days. After listening to each track, participants were asked to rate their experience on a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the nine-item Geneva Emotional Music Scale (GEMS-9). According to the participants’ subjective ratings, LSD enhanced the emotions they felt while listening to the instrumental tracks, particularly those described as “wonder”, “transcendence”, “power” and “tenderness”.
 
They should have done brain scans of the people listening before LSD and after. That would have been interesting.
 
So.. this gives me more of a reason to... (retracted). Sounds like a cool study!
 
I'm curious how many of us here have a personal opinion on this?

I lack qualifying experience. To be clear I am listening to music right now.
 
Where's the study to determine whether I enjoy sex more with hot girls, than with ugly ones?
 
Lol, as if you'd need a placebo for LSD.

But totally agree with the results. Best way to describe it is used in a track title by The Infinity Project - 'When Sound Becomes Colour'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na7kexWB17Q
One of my favourite 'come up' albums when 'travelling' on the couch.. been a while since last having such fun though. Those sort of experiences can make a decent Hifi worth it's weight in gold. Psilocybin also has similar effects and much more natural.
Natural sounds experienced in the flesh are also very incredible, sea, waterfalls, wind, etc. Pretty much white noise, but your brain fills in the gaps.

Certain strains of Cannabis apparently also makes music sound better but I'll have to wait for the test results to be truly sure... ahem.
 
I think it depends on the music. Dark goth type music might give you a bad trip and cause you to freak out.
 
A mind-altering drug has an effect on someone's emotional responses to sensory input? I would have never guessed! :rolleyes:
 
Phoenix333 said:
A mind-altering drug has an effect on someone's emotional responses to sensory input? I would have never guessed! :rolleyes:
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This.

They just think it sounded better, the reality is at the drugs distorted their hearing making it sound worse.
 
Just because a drug causes a profoundly elevated mood does not necessarily mean it improves the experience of music. There are plenty that make music too harsh/demanding to listen to. Frequencies that are normally quite pleasant can be distorted and irritating to encounter.
 
Overall, I think music goes best with Pot or MDMA. I can recall a concert with a so-so mix. 1 hit of pot and the mix sounded good. It works better with a good mix, but that was the first time I experienced that. And I think this shows that sound engineers shouldn't get high until after the show :)
 
"Better" is the wrong adjective when describing normal activities undertaken whilst high. I prefer different.

It seems better because it's new. I had a doctor suspect I have trigeminal nerve issues so he gave me carbamazepine. It's not really psychoactive. But it has a hilarious side effect - it makes sounds seem a bit lower in pitch than normal. I literally lol'd a few times when the microwave beeped like it was depressed.
 
Good study there. Proving that people are stupider on drugs and they get less discriminating about what's good or bad. This is why people who smoke pot so readily and happily start doing other drugs too at the blink of an eye. It makes them dumber and the already mentally weak, addiction prone people who have the mental defect that permits addiction get their standards knocked down a little more and find even more awful stuff better.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
Good study there. Proving that people are stupider on drugs and they get less discriminating about what's good or bad. This is why people who smoke pot so readily and happily start doing other drugs too at the blink of an eye. It makes them dumber and the already mentally weak, addiction prone people who have the mental defect that permits addiction get their standards knocked down a little more and find even more awful stuff better.
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You have no idea what you are talking about.
 
Whenever I take my A-typicals I can listen to the Radio with more precision.
 
Brownstone said:
You have no idea what you are talking about.
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I know a lot of people would rather not think about it, but I'm pretty sure that there are specific mental (prolly genetic) defects of the mind that make certain people more likely to get into abusing drugs. Yeah, I guess some of it might be environment too, but extroverts are a lot more mentally weak to that kinda thing since they're easily pressured into doing things to please others and then certain types of extroverts end up in situations with losers who do drugs. That's something that's passed from parent to child and if we can create a breeding program to prohibit those genes from like staying in the gene pool, we can slowly cut out that undesirable defect. The good news about it is that if the research is sound, it's pretty awesome because junkies and weed smokers really don't have to accept responsibility for their own shortcomings as they're like already blaming society about it and screaming for their dirty little secrets to get legalized, it'd sorta work out in the addicts' favor for the science to be accepted as accurate.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
I know a lot of people would rather not think about it, but I'm pretty sure that there are specific mental (prolly genetic) defects of the mind that make certain people more likely to get into abusing drugs. Yeah, I guess some of it might be environment too, but extroverts are a lot more mentally weak to that kinda thing since they're easily pressured into doing things to please others and then certain types of extroverts end up in situations with losers who do drugs. That's something that's passed from parent to child and if we can create a breeding program to prohibit those genes from like staying in the gene pool, we can slowly cut out that undesirable defect. The good news about it is that if the research is sound, it's pretty awesome because junkies and weed smokers really don't have to accept responsibility for their own shortcomings as they're like already blaming society about it and screaming for their dirty little secrets to get legalized, it'd sorta work out in the addicts' favor for the science to be accepted as accurate.
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Doing drugs is as much an exclusive thing to junkies as drinking alcohol to alcoholics... Have you ever ried LSD, weed or any drug?

I can asure you, there are plently of people who ocationally indulge in recreational drug use that pose none of the genetic defects you seem to associate with a drug user. LSD in particular does not make you dumb per se, it is an experience that has to be lived to be understood.

Drug user =/= drug addict
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
I know a lot of people would rather not think about it, but I'm pretty sure that there are specific mental (prolly genetic) defects of the mind that make certain people more likely to get into abusing drugs. Yeah, I guess some of it might be environment too, but extroverts are a lot more mentally weak to that kinda thing since they're easily pressured into doing things to please others and then certain types of extroverts end up in situations with losers who do drugs. That's something that's passed from parent to child and if we can create a breeding program to prohibit those genes from like staying in the gene pool, we can slowly cut out that undesirable defect. The good news about it is that if the research is sound, it's pretty awesome because junkies and weed smokers really don't have to accept responsibility for their own shortcomings as they're like already blaming society about it and screaming for their dirty little secrets to get legalized, it'd sorta work out in the addicts' favor for the science to be accepted as accurate.
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Using is not abusing and introverts do drugs to. CUG, just stop commenting on drug issues, you don't know what you're talking about.
 
Brownstone said:
Doing drugs is as much an exclusive thing to junkies as drinking alcohol to alcoholics... Have you ever ried LSD, weed or any drug?
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Well, anyone who drinks or smokes is also pretty much in the same category as any other drug addict. There's only a tiny bit less disgustingness about it because it's not illegal (though it should be) and I don't do drugs, haven't done drugs, and never will because I'm not that weak minded or defective.

I can asure you, there are plently of people who ocationally indulge in recreational drug use that pose none of the genetic defects you seem to associate with a drug user. LSD in particular does not make you dumb per se, it is an experience that has to be lived to be understood.
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No, the argument, "Go use drugs to understand how smart it is," is as stupid as saying, "Go kill someone because it's not that bad and you have to experience it to know better." That's something someone who is too selfish and addicted to their habit will say to justify that illegal thing they treasure above everything else and not something any other rational person would say. It's pretty easy to see something is stupid by looking at it from afar and seeing the wrecked leftovers of people that it leaves in its wake without becoming one of those societal rejects yourself.

Drug user =/= drug addict
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Sorry, if you take an illegal drug even once, you're willfully throwing aside all that's good and right in the world in order to have some temporary, chemically induced pleasure at the cost of everyone and everything else. You're an addict and don't deserve to be a member of any orderly, civilized society that depends on the efforts of a lot of people in order to accomplish great stuff together. People like that should be shunned and prevented from perpetuating their broken lineage through their children.
 
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