frazerburns19 wrote:Don't be so sure that you play/sing better when you've been drinking until you've recorded yourself performing in said state. You may feel more relaxed & confident, but sometimes your body has to play catch-up to your brain when you're inebriated
Good point and also moot point. Anyone who has ever recorded themself competely straight and "thinks" they sounded great can be disappointed in how the recording turns out. The opposite is also valid, i.e., recording completely coherent and straight, "I sounded terrible", yet the recording may turn out very (surprisingly so) well.
But if a change of state and significant elapsed time passage has occurred and one still sounds good on a recording, sober or not, and others agreed both "live" and "later" were "really sounding / sounded good", and are trustsworthy opinions, well, what difference does it make?
(What difference?, it may be a matter of life and death.)
There's scores of examples of good, bad, terrible, and even fantastic playing to uphold any take on the subject at hand. Either an altered state or clear mindedness may be intrinsic to the valuation or worthlessness of a performance. It was widely believed before marijuana was widely accepted that it was a sure fire way to improve one's musical performances. The 1960's U.S. of A. Counterculture movement brought hallucinagens and so-called hard drugs into wide usage and acceptance for artists of all types of endeavors. Cocaine breaks during a concert or recording session became vogue (I guess remains for some). Some really terrible concerts and recordings have gone down over the ages. The same could be said to actually have been enhanced from the same. Live, somebody out of their skull drunk or high usually results in poor results, if not that event, over time. Bands break up to this day because of the problems "leaning" on something. Some performers it is stage fright that brings on a lousy deal. Stage fright for some brings out AMAZING performances even while they are terrified at the same time.
Alcohol, for many who do not suffer from the disease (not "problem") of alcoholism (and even those who can manage the disease), can take the edge off the internal distractions and allow for a looser, even more wonderfully lucid transition to a good performance.
A thin line at times. But sober practice, as Stu suggests, in my opinion also, is the best idea around to have a hope in the cope with the dope conundrum(s).
If "it" makes you think you are better, it just may be so. But not necessarily so, and not always the case in either the former or the latter.
Rock ON & Keep the Faith,
Rocket
"He still doesn't charge for mistakes!
"
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