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Re: Pot Smoking Loopers
I have jammed solo and with others on everything except heroin and
ecstasy,
as I've
never taken these.
The drugs increased a perception of cohesion amongs the players, probably
induced
by the agreement to partake in the ingestion; the rituals of sharing,
passing; and finally the slow, unstoppable chemical shift.
I have recordings of "boring" sessions sans substances, and sessions with.
The
material without was, even reluctantly admitted when I was a stoner,
better
in the sense of being cleaner, clearer, more focused, less wandering. The
material while on
would take very strange turns. Some of it was musical, but it tended to
drift
aimlessly, become creepy sometimes. There were moments when a theme was
explored and was successful, but it would rarely involve a key change. Or
at
least not
a smooth one. Some remarkable pieces while on LSD needed lots of tweaking
later in Digital Performer in order to sound better. And as I listen now,
it's
still not as
remarkable as it sounded with the residue still making love to my
dendrites,
axons, and swirling in the bloodstream.
I found that if I learned and practiced while sober, and then smoked (or
whatever), my
playing would become very different, while still utilizing the skills I
honed clear of the chemical shift. I also noticed that my memory would not
serve
as reliably, that I'd rediscover the wheel while playing, so to speak, and
became fascinated with my
own sounds rather than the band's. We would become ball-hogs who shared
the
ball
rather than a team with a goal in mind.
I would also buy and sell equipment impulsively. I regret the loss of a
nice
PRS, a The Strat, and a vibro champ.
Some can get by with the memories. Others should never try them as they
will
be hurt. Shamans in the amazon will give westerners the ayahuasca root,
but
warn that they may die. Don Juan warns against the allies a user may
conjure.
But that was fiction...right? I am not for recreational use.
We were a band capable of playing and recording while high. We were aired
on
various
public radio programs. I listen to the music now and I'm not as hyped
about
it as I was
then. This still happens, though, even without chemicals. But there is a
difference,
both in composition and mood. The stuff I create today I would not trade
for
a moment of success while on drugs. Plus, it's more fun. I enjoy having my
body to myself as I
was born with, not dabbling with postnatal chemical recreations.
The memories instilled by the experiences serve just fine to ease me into
a
place of heightened performances. If drugs did anything, it was transitory
and
certainly nothing that I would want to rely on in order to perform. I have
therefore had to train myself to relearn the instrument and all that it
entails:
that desire to continue
playing, the pleasure, the accuracy, creativity, exploration... I would
not
repeat my
earlier experiences. They were neither good nor bad and that is my
personal
danger.
Normal consciousness is boring, mundane, routine. Altered consciousness is
life-
affirming. It's like breathing cool air on a clear midnight and seeing the
"stars" and knowing that they are more than words in the mind, but real,
mystically suspended, beautiful, unfathomably distant and unknowable
objects... The
challenge for me is a recognition (re-cognition) of this wonder without
any
further outside assistance than the stars themselves.
DMT may be able to awaken the kundalini, but so can....
This is what I meant to say.