Drug’s impact on music

sorry.. the question is "What do you think about the artist's using mind-altering drugs to hear wonderful songs in different dimensions and then writing them down?"

Ex: Harmonium's Serge Fiori who reached a high consciousness level and heard his wonderful song "Histoires Sans Paroles" in a dream.

or Pink Floyd's early psychedelic works

even Beethoven was known to have written a few songs from having been in high levels of consciousness and hearing a few nice melodies. but probably through meditation.

 

 

Edited by stebo32

I dont care if an artist uses drugs or not to write songs on, as long as the end result is worth listening to. I think over 60% of Hawkwinds output suffered badly through writing under the influence

I think that using drugs to write music is merely cheating. If one needs to alter his normal perspectives with some kind of stuff he has some problems with creativity and I don't give a damn about what he writes. The problem is: what can the drugs REALLY DO in the process of composing a piece of music? Is that true that they give you the real inspiration or, as someone says, they write the music for you? I have many doubts about that...famous musicians who made use of drugs with consciousness (aka The Beatles) would tell you that it just gives you a different level of perception, then YOU have to use that new perception to write a worthy tune...others just don't seem to cope with music anymore once they're "cleaned up"...so I don't know what to think. Anyway, in every case I don't agree with using drugs as a helping tool for composing, it's really like cheating.

Honestly, it help the music to diversifiate. It help expand the world of music, it help making new kinds, new stuff.

I feel a good musician (a good artist) do not need drugs. He might find a some new possibilities, but not as many as if he was in a normal state of mind.

Sorry, but as a musician and an occasional pot smoker, I would have to to agree that it is beneficial. Most of our fave prog was writen/recorded under the influence. Zappa, Fripp, et al. not with standing; psychedelic drugs are influential in a big way in prog. While I certainly think that  it is not necessary, psychedelics bring an open mind to the table.

I don't think drugs are a good idea to get inspiration, but on the other hand it's true that even some great literary masterpieces owe something to the use of opiates. In any case, I don't really believe it is the drugs that give the inspiration: they may merely enhance what's already there. If the inspiration is really missing, there's nothing in the world that can make it appear from out of nowhere.