Posted 2015-04-22 1:32 AM (#509145) Subject: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: January 2006 Posts: 1482
Location: Michigan
i remember playing in my younger years and thinking that when i was under the influenece of certain things
( weed ) that our band sounded better to us than we probably were.
i have to laugh at a statement by david crosby
he said ( i never knew how good we actually sounded together until we played sober ) .
does alcohol or other things give you a better feeling when you play out ??? GWB
Posted 2015-04-22 4:35 AM (#509149 - in reply to #509145) Subject: Re: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: April 2015 Posts: 15
This reminds me of the classic song and title track from the album by the late, great Frank Zappa...."Joe's Garage".
"Down in Joe's Garage
We didn't have no dope or LSD
But a coupla quarts a beer
Would fix it so the intonation
Would not offend your ear
And the same old chords goin' over 'n' over
Became a symphony
We would play it again 'n' again 'n' again
'Cause it sounded good to me...
ONE MORE TIME...."
I found in my youth that weed always helped. Not just with playing Music, but most things....I play clarinet and sax for a living and guitar is my serious hobby. I find that very occasionally when as an adult I've played stoned, it does make things "sound better" but tends to reduce critical faculty enormously. A swift beer less so...
Some players (as we know) have gotten themselves s**t-faced before they would even pick up their axes. Hendrix springs to mind in particular. As does Charlie Parker (he used smoke weed, drink and jack up heroin before each gig). The stimulants certainly made them do what they did and removed any critical faculty but their lives were seriously shortened by it.
Stan Getz, when asked how he managed to play drunk said, "I practise drunk".
Posted 2015-04-22 5:18 AM (#509153 - in reply to #509146) Subject: RE: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: May 2011 Posts: 758
Location: Muenster/Germany
muzza - 2015-04-22 10:22 AM
there's a fine balance between calming the nerves and losing coordination.
I never took drugs (simply because I get bad headache of any), and I don´t drink much alcohol, but I always take one shot of fine scotch whisky or something similar before I play. I never saw a musician who could really play good when he was drunk. Making music is art AND adrenaline sport and needs a minimum/maximum of concentration, but if you find this special balance of booze and endorphin then it´s really great joy. Besides that, all those who think to play sober make use of these endorphines, don´t they?
Posted 2015-04-22 5:33 AM (#509154 - in reply to #509149) Subject: Re: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: September 2006 Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR
merlinshepherd - 2015-04-22 2:35 AM
Stan Getz, when asked how he managed to play drunk said, "I practise drunk".
That's the thing.
Back in the day, many people were high every day all day.
You learnt to play when you were high, then you played when you were high.
That is just the normal scheme of things.
Many musicians have discovered that they played Better once they got clean.
Although some people think that some musicians lost their "soul" once the got sober.
Personally, I play guitar instead of getting artificially influenced .
Posted 2015-04-22 5:49 AM (#509156 - in reply to #509145) Subject: Re: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: January 2009 Posts: 4535
Location: Flahdaw
On the rare occasions that I would play in public, I would normally have a slight booze buzz on. The wedding ceremony that I played and sang at I was straight, and a nervous wreck. Definitely could have used a quick shot of something.
I just played and sang at a beach party. Lately my voice has been terrible. But after 5 beers (over 4 hours) I did great, voice was fine.
I agree that it's a fine line, and I never drink enough to get drunk anyway, but I would imagine that it would not go well if I did.
Posted 2015-04-22 6:53 AM (#509157 - in reply to #509145) Subject: Re: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: December 2001 Posts: 7229
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest
Interesting comments so far. I generally don't get nervous onstage UNLESS I have had anything to drink. Then I KNOW I'm not 100% and worrying about everything from that fact that my hearing gets impaired first to worrying about if it sounds as good as I think it does. It really gets me at the occasional party or gathering where I wasn't "planning" on playing, and if I've had anything to drink... I pick up the instrument and it's like a foreign object in my hands or I feel like I'm playing with mittens on.
It's funny cause there are some people that think I don't drink ever. It's the problem with being a perfectionist and knowing the science. I can't be 100% even with 1 beer. No one can, it's the whole point of it, but at the same time, why would I ever not want to be at 100%. Sucks being me sometimes.
Posted 2015-04-22 7:25 AM (#509159 - in reply to #509145) Subject: Re: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: December 2004 Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL
In the days of my youth...
Yeah I always thought I sounded better, the occasional recordings didn't back that up. I think often the substances would make me explore ideas that I may not have when straight. Sometimes the ideas were good, sometimes not.
Posted 2015-04-22 9:41 AM (#509166 - in reply to #509145) Subject: Re: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: March 2008 Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D.
They say that Merle Travis was often so drunk he had to be carried out to the stage and set on the floor of the stage so he wouldn't fall off a chair. But then again, he was Merle Travis.
I play darts better when I've had a few drinks but I have never, ever played on stage unless I was totally sober.
Posted 2015-04-22 10:18 AM (#509170 - in reply to #509145) Subject: Re: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: December 2006 Posts: 6995
Location: Jet City
Depends...
Am I playing a show with a setlist and having my specific notes and chords that must be played a certain way? Well I might need to keep my wits a bit more.
Am I in a creative mode, trying to get that feeling... a impromptu jam with friends with no real direction but to lose ourselves in whatever it is we're doing??? Bust out the water pipe.
Posted 2015-04-22 10:58 AM (#509177 - in reply to #509145) Subject: RE: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: January 2006 Posts: 1482
Location: Michigan
Back in the day, many people were high every day all day.
You learnt to play when you were high, then you played when you were high.
That is just the normal scheme of things.
you are so right o.m.a. , i think that a great example of someone who probably has never played straight in his long life would be willie nelson he seems to of beat all of the odds of staying stoned all of his life and still attracting an audience who will pay to see him.
i doubt that he would be very entertaining if he was not stoned . GWB
Posted 2015-04-22 11:07 AM (#509182 - in reply to #509145) Subject: RE: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: February 2005 Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret
"I'd announced that I was going to sing and all our guests would make a ring around the piano. But somehow I'd manage to fight my way through that ring and sing anyway."
Posted 2015-04-22 2:35 PM (#509193 - in reply to #509145) Subject: Re: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: December 2001 Posts: 10583
Location: NJ
I played a ton of gigs where "free beer" was included for the band and we took full advantage of it.
I'm sure we did not perform at our peak.
now that I do mostly solo or duo stuff, and I have to remember the words I can barely have a drink maybe one but save the rest for after the performance.. maybe I'm just getting out of tolerance....
Posted 2015-04-22 4:24 PM (#509208 - in reply to #509145) Subject: Re: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: April 2004 Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066
Playing gigs now I will have a beer or a shot before/during the first set but I also have a big glass of water at the ready. Middle sets I usually stick with water and last set I might have another beer.
Of course, when someone sends a shot or drink to the stage I do feel obligated.
Posted 2015-04-24 7:25 AM (#509312 - in reply to #509145) Subject: RE: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: November 2011 Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX
I have a pertinent reply for this. Following my last hospitalization lasting six months with surgical complications from 18th surgery I was in industrial duty pain management for five years. A few months back the pain spontaneously resolved. During these years I realized a goal of becoming adept at fingerstyle. I'm proud of my accomplishment. Very. I put myself through a rigorous taper getting off the meds three months sooner than the doctor suggested. When I play now it's a struggle. It all has to do with the science of myelin formation in the brain. I formed myelin while under the influence of narcotics. I guess I have to get new neural pathways coated with it. Google it. Fascinating stuff.
Posted 2015-04-26 7:36 PM (#509419 - in reply to #509145) Subject: Re: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: November 2005 Posts: 4832
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia
Don't think there's one solid answer for this question that is perfectly correct under all circumstances.
I've known very uptight musicians who play better with 2-6 beer ( over the course of the evening) and others who shouldn't drink for 12 hours before playing.
I myself suck 'under-the-influence' but my standards are pretty flexible. I'm good if I stick to 1 beer per set....coupla tokes (not much interest in that anymore anyway) and I embarrass myself. (And that's actually pretty hard to do....ask mark ;-)
My fav story on myself in that light is a country band I was in once where the drummer and I took turns threatening to quit after the first set every gig. One would take the other out to the parking lot and,um, 'induce a calming experience'.
This night it was my turn to quit. I over-inhaled repeatedly cos I was just that fed up with the band..... Went back in feeling great and grooving. Played the next tune with gusto. I was so good (on bass) the dance floor was packed and the whole band was looking at me.
I knew we were really feeling it so I was grinning and playing like this was the best moment of my life, which it was at that particular moment.
Then I looked at my hands.
I'd been playing one note the whole song. The RIGHT note ( we were in A) but just that one. The rhythm was right, nothing grated.....but still. It was country, not RnB.
Posted 2015-05-07 12:16 AM (#509911 - in reply to #509145) Subject: RE: do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
Joined: January 2006 Posts: 1482
Location: Michigan
damon67 , looks to me like you guys have a ball jamming together. playing electric and having a full backup of musicians seems really fantastic . hell i can't even find a place where i can turn the volume of an amp up past 2 without being told to turn it down . i am dying to be able to participate in a jam session like that , beer drinking and loud rocking , keep up the good work . GWB
do you play / sound better under the influence of ???
GWB