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For many people, cannabis consumption is about more than just getting high. It’s also about enhancing the experience of other activities, like listening to music. Cannabis can affect how we perceive sound, making music sound richer and more complex.
Additionally, cannabis can help us focus on specific parts of a song or appreciate the subtleties of a piece of music that we might have otherwise missed. And all you have to do is choose your favorite consumption method, which DankStop over here can help you with, and play your favorite piece of music. But what makes cannabis and music such an iconic pairing?
Join us as we explore the history of this interesting connection and discuss some of the reasons why cannabis may make your favorite tunes sound even better.
Why Musicians Might Like it
If you have followed any musicians or bands, especially those that played classic rock music and even hip-hop artists, you might have noticed that they were avid consumers of cannabis. Many people seem to associate cannabis with improving a musician’s ability, and this technically isn’t wrong. However, it doesn’t mean that cannabis can turn anyone into a rockstar.
One of the main reasons musicians tend to enjoy consuming cannabis before rocking out is how cannabis affects our ability to perceive time. Studies had shown that people under the influence repeatedly guessed that close to 17 seconds had passed when in fact, only 15 had.
For musicians, it means that because time is perceived to be moving slower, more time can be given to prepare for upcoming melodic changes, leading to improved improvisation. Since cannabis also helps reduce anxiety and helps many people become more carefree, musicians are more likely to try something new while performing or recording.
Time and Music
As mentioned above, cannabis seems to affect our ability to perceive time profoundly. More specifically, we tend to experience time moving more slowly when high. One theory suggests that when sober, listening to music can be a bit of a challenge since a lot is happening at once, and it requires a great deal of focus to perceive everything that one is hearing.
However, when under the influence of cannabis, since time is perceived to be slowed, more attention can be given by the listener to identify and distinguish different sounds while hearing all at once. This theory results from a study whereby participants consumed cannabis and had their brainwaves monitored by an EEG machine.
Another theory posits that the very fact that the perception of time is slower makes all of the difference. This is because when someone is under the influence of cannabis, short-term memory is affected. In terms of listening to music, the listener can clearly remember what was just heard and cannot accurately predict what sounds to expect moving forward.
This, in turn, leaves the listener to be able to experience the music note-for-note, something that is not possible when sober. In other words, the music is perceived to be timeless since the listener’s attention is shifting far too rapidly without the capacity to retain the information received.
Senses and Music
A very interesting theory also suggests that music sounds so great when you are under the influence of cannabis because of the ability of cannabis to blur your sensory perception. Humans have five senses; touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing. When you consume cannabis, your brain’s sensory perception is slightly blurred, which is why food tastes so great, and things have more texture when touching them.
Your perception of sound is also slightly blurred when under the influence of cannabis, so many people describe feeling the music when high. It’s one of the primary reasons people have a profound experience when under the influence of cannabis.
Music and Reward
One of the more popular theories as to why cannabis seems to enhance the experience of creating or listening to music is the effects that both music and cannabis seem to have on the brain. When you listen to music, the activity in the mesolimbic dopamine system is enhanced. In other words, when you listen to music, your reward center releases dopamine which makes the experience a pleasant one.
Interestingly enough, something very similar happens when you consume cannabis, which is why consuming cannabis makes you happy. If you were to combine the experience of listening to music and the experience of consuming cannabis, the effects would be doubled. This means that you are effectively combining two activities that make you extremely happy, resulting in music seeming much better than when sober.
