Music Therapy Today - World Federation of Music Therapy

Fachner, J. (2006) ‘Set and setting’ in an electrophysiological research paradigm on music perception under the influence of cannabis
and correlated brain function. Music Therapy Today (Online) Vol.VII (2) 333-374. available at http://musictherapyworld.net
drug habits and found a significantly higher tendency to consume can-
nabis in musicians compared to other artists. In answer to the question
what inspired the Beatles’ music, or what it expressed, at the time when
the album ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ was published, Paul
McCartney said:
“Experience with drugs, mostly. But remember that in 1967 our
drug habits followed a long-established tradition among musicians.
We knew about Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and
Count Basie that they had always taken drugs. Now it was time
for our musical scene to make the experience. Drugs found their
way into everything we did. They coloured our perspective of
things. I believe we realized that there were fewer limitations than
we had expected. And we understood that we were able to break
through barriers.” (Davis & Pieper, 1993, p.7)
Cannabis effect on auditory perception and musicians’ creativity has
been a crucial issue since the early days of jazz (Behrendt, 1956; Fach-
ner, 2002a, 2003; Mezzrow, 1946; Sloman, 1998). However, there has
been little research accomplished on cannabis and music perception.
Webster discussed one reason. Research is part of the social life-world
and researchers are social beings with more or less reflected societal atti-
tudes, values or prejudices. Research on stigmatized cultural lifestyle
issues, consciousness and drugs is surely not a theme to open doors to a
serious scientific reputation. Research should be a neutral way to the
‘truth of the story’, but researchers are most often part of an institution
with certain goals and politics. Doing research on cannabis and music
perception was not the “big theme” for a good reputation, and so,
research in aesthetics and culture of cannabis consumption was aban-
doned for a long time (Webster, 2001).
However, one of the most prominent cannabis effects seemed to be that
on auditory perception. For Lindsay Buckingham cannabis seems to
work like a refreshing of his listening abilities and a break-down of pre-
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