Questions for guys who trip alone

[Eskilon]

I'm just curious to know your perspectives, to see if it is similar or different from mine.

Do you trip with music or in complete silence?

Also, what are the differences and challenges in your experience using each one?

Edited June 1 by Eskilon

[RendHeaven]

Complete silence (literally use ear plugs)

Always alone. Usually in my room, though lately I've been more adventurous and out in nature

[Eskilon]

5 minutes ago, RendHeaven said:

Complete silence (literally use ear plugs)

Always alone. Usually in my room, though lately I've been more adventurous and out in nature

I see, why not use music? Is it because for you it's a distraction, or maybe something else?

[RendHeaven]

We generally listen to music to be soothed, comforted, or pleased - i.e. feeling good. Even deeper, it becomes an anchor of sorts and keeps you tethered to the familiar

I'm not interested in that when peeling back the layers of consciousness. I want to step into spaces where I usually dare not go.

besides, there are plenty of ways to feel good without drugs (and plenty of drugs exclusively for feeling good, if you're into that lol)

when it comes to psychedelics, we're here for direct confrontation. Of course, that doesn't preclude music - but if you're doing it right, then the music becomes secondary and auxiliary anyway. 

the same logic applies for trip sitters. they become an umbilical chord and you never discover real freedom and independence:

https://www.actualized.org/insights/no-trip-sitters

[Eskilon]

27 minutes ago, RendHeaven said:

We generally listen to music to be soothed, comforted, or pleased - i.e. feeling good. Even deeper, it becomes an anchor of sorts and keeps you tethered to the familiar

I'm not interested in that when peeling back the layers of consciousness. I want to step into spaces where I usually dare not go.

besides, there are plenty of ways to feel good without drugs (and plenty of drugs exclusively for feeling good, if you're into that lol)

when it comes to psychedelics, we're here for direct confrontation. Of course, that doesn't preclude music - but if you're doing it right, then the music becomes secondary and auxiliary anyway. 

the same logic applies for trip sitters. they become an umbilical chord and you never discover real freedom and independence:

https://www.actualized.org/insights/no-trip-sitters

Interesting. I generally agree with you, though I don't exclude music for insights. Maybe because I connect with music in a deep way even when sober. It is it's on psychedelic. Some insights I only had with music while others without music.

I think there's value in both, in silence and with music. One is not necessarily deeper than the other in my view. But that's me anyway lol.

[RendHeaven]

11 minutes ago, Eskilon said:

Interesting. I generally agree with you, though I don't exclude music for insights. Maybe because I connect with music in a deep way even when sober. It is it's on psychedelic. Some insights I only had with music while others without music.

I think there's value in both, in silence and with music. One is not necessarily deeper than the other in my view. But that's me anyway lol.

I am a lifelong musician and music appreciator as well. Music is one of the few things that make me consistently cry.

But that's precisely why I leave it out of my trips. For me, there's a lot of identity/comfort/familiarity/attachment involved with music. Not that that's a bad thing, but that I have the specific goal of transcendence and sovereignty while tripping

[Leo Gura]

2 hours ago, Eskilon said:

Do you trip with music or in complete silence?

Both. Depends on mood and aims.

Often I start a trip with music to put me in a good mood, then at the peak of the trip when it gets metaphysically serious I go as silent as possible, then music is used again during the come down, once the heavy work has been done.

When the heaviest work is being done music is often an interference.

There is also different kinds of music. Ambient background music is more acceptable for heavy work than actual songs. You should have a playlist of music without lyrics. Lyrics are not good for tripping music.

Edited June 1 by Leo Gura

[Eskilon]

16 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Often I start a trip with music to put me in a good mood, then at the peak of the trip when it gets metaphysically serious I go as silent as possible, then music is used again during the come down, once the heavy work has been done.

This is a good strategy. A somewhat hybrid approach. I've done that too. Even though I connect really deep with music, there are times that I felt that it was proper to turn it off.

17 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

There is also different kinds of music. Ambient background music is more acceptable for heavy work than actual songs. You should have a playlist of music without lyrics. Lyrics are not good for tripping music.

This is something that I developed a taste for: music without lyrics. When listening to it on a trip, I don't even feel that is music - it's something totally abstract that I can't put into words. And that is a good thing

[cjoseph90]

@Leo Gura Could you explain what is exactly meant by the  ´´heaviest work ´´?.

I assume comtemplation also?.

[Breathe]

On 6/1/2025 at 6:27 PM, RendHeaven said:

We generally listen to music to be soothed, comforted, or pleased - i.e. feeling good

Feeling good isn't a bad thing. Certain pleasant qualities actually pull you deeper into silence.

If you don't practice in the Buddhist tradition this may not make sense, but the Buddhists explicitly cultivate certain factors as a vehicle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Factors_of_Awakening

[royce]

On 6/1/2025 at 9:27 PM, RendHeaven said:

We generally listen to music to be soothed, comforted, or pleased - i.e. feeling good. Even deeper, it becomes an anchor of sorts and keeps you tethered to the familiar

I'm not interested in that when peeling back the layers of consciousness. I want to step into spaces where I usually dare not go.

besides, there are plenty of ways to feel good without drugs (and plenty of drugs exclusively for feeling good, if you're into that lol)

when it comes to psychedelics, we're here for direct confrontation. Of course, that doesn't preclude music - but if you're doing it right, then the music becomes secondary and auxiliary anyway. 

the same logic applies for trip sitters. they become an umbilical chord and you never discover real freedom and independence:

https://www.actualized.org/insights/no-trip-sitters

this is so good )

[Schizophonia]

For me psychedelics turn music either boring/unpleasant and/or changes the "affective" meaning of music.

[kavaris]

im never-not scared of music and everything, and so i just put a pile of blue colored things near me and stare into that for awhile, and if they have polkadots thats better somehow. but everything else, like scary psychedelic pictures (that arent really representative of anything psychedelic, since a million shades of colors that dont match - isnt the same as colors changing to various solid colors) and tv's and computers are also like, giant amalgamations of things that dont really match or make sense. id prolly do that, a lazy, less scared version of everything - staring at nothing, listening to nothing (unless its like salvia where u need music to help you through it)

p.s. at high doses ive hallucinated sounds, and so without the presence of music or not—either way, there will be sounds present imo, plus, what you see ends up feeling very loud like u heard it, and that whole mess of things, so things are very busy. you can taste what you hear.

Edited June 11 by kavaris

[eggopm3]

Music is very important for my trips. The momentum of the music helps the wheels get spinning for me to start the flow of thoughts. And I find music helps to amplify the tripping effects more than silence. What kind of music really depends on many factors.

As a broad recommendation I'd suggest William Basinski's Disintegration Loops, the slow gradual transformation of the music over long periods of time is perfect for contemplation. Other music can be good for guiding the atmosphere of the experience, for example, music with natural soundscapes can give you visions of things those sounds correspond to. very calm music can help you relax, energizing music can boost you up ect. Lyrical music can be ok in some cases, but you have to be prepared for the likelihood that the words will distract you from your own train of thought, or you might relate all the lyrics to your life in some way. If you are prepared for that you could choose lyrical music with positive messages or that helps inspire you or whatever.

Edited June 11 by eggopm3

[Eskilon]

15 hours ago, eggopm3 said:

Music is very important for my trips. The momentum of the music helps the wheels get spinning for me to start the flow of thoughts. And I find music helps to amplify the tripping effects more than silence. What kind of music really depends on many factors.

As a broad recommendation I'd suggest William Basinski's Disintegration Loops, the slow gradual transformation of the music over long periods of time is perfect for contemplation. Other music can be good for guiding the atmosphere of the experience, for example, music with natural soundscapes can give you visions of things those sounds correspond to. very calm music can help you relax, energizing music can boost you up ect. Lyrical music can be ok in some cases, but you have to be prepared for the likelihood that the words will distract you from your own train of thought, or you might relate all the lyrics to your life in some way. If you are prepared for that you could choose lyrical music with positive messages or that helps inspire you or whatever.

Yes music is like this for me also, it can color your experience -- for better or worse lol.