Echoes: How I Became the Music

Last night was interesting, to say the least. I didn't get off work until midnight but I was wide awake and wanting to explore a few things. Lately, I've been finding these lovely minor blues backing tracks on youtube in which I practice my electric guitar soloing over. This is one of my favorite ways to practice. So I did that for a while and as usual, it progressed into me clicking through youtube until I found some live performances of David Gilmour and Pink Floyd. Before I get into the details of the report, I highly recommend listening to these songs:

I started with this acoustic version of Shine On You Crazy Diamond which is such an inspiring piece I hope to be able to play one day.
https://youtu.be/0qjpOLj7WSY

I then moved on to Comfortably Numb for obvious reasons...it has one of the greatest guitar solo(s) ever written, IMO.
https://youtu.be/G_MXLI5hyEc

But things did not start getting incredibly whacky until I started listening to Echoes, the live version.


So to begin, I have never done the "slowly step into hyperspace" approach with changa. I always load up at least 100mg and take it all in one hit. Tonight would be different, in dose and in location. I laid out five 30mg doses and got comfortable in my living room as opposed to my bedroom, which is where most of my journeys take place.

I hardly ever listen to music with DMT as I typically find it distracting but for some reason when I heard the first "PING" sound of Echoes, I knew I had to smoalk during it. I took in the first 30mg and the room changed while I felt a large burst of energy surge through my body. The floor wriggled and patterns began emerging all over everything...

I felt confident and curious rather than nervous or slightly afraid. I loaded up the next 30mg and cleared it again. This time the room stretched into a panoramic sort of view, where my vision was impossibly wide, almost like I could see 360 degrees around me without turning my head. I kept thinking about the movie Jumanji where the evil plant thing starts taking over the house by quickly growing out it's vines and covering everything. This is similar to how the visuals were taking over any and all solid objects in my living room...but the visuals were not vines, they were complex mandala type designs, stretching themselves and intertwining with the fabric of reality...

All the while, I'm about into the second verse of Echoes...I became every note, I felt every single one flow into me, work it's magic, and then leave to make way for the next note(s). The music was my source of immense energy, guiding me in the increasingly weird environment I had placed myself in...

I took the next 30mg and cleared it again and upon doing so I was shot into the next level. I felt as if I was buzzing, vibrating on some alien frequency. I felt like I was floating a few inches off the ground as I sat cross legged on the floor. I was becoming pure energy in a much slower fashion than normal. I had more control over what was happening and was able to move and look around as well as having the ability to take more hits as I saw fit. Definitely something different than my normal routine. Very enjoyable.

At this point I was still in sub breakthrough level, I knew where and who I was but everything just looked "different" or "replaced" and was covered in shapes of all designs imaginable. I looked at my arms and they were covered in strange symbols that looked like a mix between alien writing and reptile skin. Not the first time I have seen that but it never ceases to amaze me. The clarity and sharpness of my surroundings is hard to put into words. It was quite vivid, like a lucid dream. I was practically floating around with the fractals who were dancing to the beat of the music.

I floated back over to the bong and loaded up the 4th 30mg dose and blasted up another level of the DMT elevator. Visuals were getting to the point where it was hard to see anything that wasn't nonsensical. Everything was in my face, still dancing to that beautiful tune. I was also dancing and laughing as the music continued to penetrate my soul. It was pretty indescribable, I tell you what! I was the music somehow. I was the melody. I was the guitar solo. I was all of it. I can't stress that point enough times!

At this point I wanted to go for the full breakthrough so I took the last 30mg and combined it with another 40, thinking that that should be plenty to get there. I ripped it thoroughly and held it for a long time and I laid down on the floor. I was swooped up into the "tunnel" and traveled through it for a minute. As I reached the end of the tunnel, something strange happened. Instead of breaking through into full blown hyperspace, I literally bounced off the mandala design which made a metallic "dong" sound as I simply floated back down. Entry denied. It was so very strange.

I have only been denied full access a couple of times. Now, I did eat 2.5g of mushrooms the day before. I always get conflicting information on whether or not mushrooms have any cross tolerance with DMT. I know people smoke it while on mushrooms, but I am referencing it in relation to a day or two afterwards...? Oh well, I am not really disappointed because my dance in the sub breakthrough realm was absolutely incredible, unlike anything I have ever done before.

Even though I didn't breakthrough, the effects were VERY strong and it took a long time to come down. I lie on the floor and listen to the remaining eerie sounds of echoes until the song ended, all 23 minutes of it. I then laid there in silence for 40 more minutes while coming down and contemplated everything that just happened saying "write it down, man...you can't afford to forget this one!"

So that is what I did. I wrote it down, the main points anyway and now I am sharing it with all of you. All in all, I have never felt that kind of connection with music while on DMT. I did have some experiences with classical music but none of those even compare to the power that Pink Floyd brought with Echoes. I am still in awe today...confused about bouncing off the end of the tunnel. Almost like I didn't have enough firepower to truly breakthrough. I guess I could have kept trying but I had already been tripping for all of Echoes and then some so I decided enough was enough for the night. The picture below looks quite similar to the thing I hit that denied my entry.

Anyway, thank you for reading. Any thoughts are always appreciated! Much to all of you!

Nicely brought as always, thank you very much TGO.
I'm not very surprised that BT got disabled after dipping in gradually.
No disappointment after all

I'm in silence usually.
But there was that group aya session, and it happened in one particular icaro track only, that his song did something very odd on me. I knew that song from before, but then it got chopped up, the rather aggressive dynamic structure of the icaro got fragmented completely in minute tones, and all those pieces got re-arragned and re-fitted so there emerged a new song (at least to me) that was of a calmer nature than the original icaro. It was like the original icaro was only provider of the elements, and the re arranged elements formed the magic real deal message of sorts.

My first (intuitive) thought was like hey I have found access where the shaman is really residing right now, to have found his little secret place, where I was allowed to glimpse in. To hear the true song, the hidden one, completely different from the original icaro that was a camouflaged attention distracter.
I could follow the "second" layer for a few minutes, and then lost track of it, falling back into hearing the original icaro that was still going on.

I felt so privileged and grateful till today for this, and I've never ever experienced such again even with same shaman singing in aya sessions there after. But I don't "need" to desperately. I've respect for being allowed once in "there".

Music

I usually travel in absolute silence as well, I'm not really sure why I felt the calling to travel with music this time around. I can relate to that feeling of being connected with the shaman, except my shaman was David Gilmour for the night!

The music helped with becoming the experience and this was precisely that, but a more grounded form of it since I never actually entered hyperspace completely. And for the record, playing around in the sub breakthrough realm is quite interesting, comparable to a strong shroom trip I'd say.

It is definitely about the right mood and mindset in order for music to mesh with the experience properly, and Pink Floyd definitely has the capability of being a psychedelic "mesh-maker".

Beautiful read, thank you for sharing, love Pink Floyd!
Very strange that you were denied entry friend, it seems like you made the right choice in not trying again though.

This has happened to me on a number of occasions as well where I have become the music. Nowadays I tend not to like to travel with music so I can hear all of the sounds of hyperspace, but I've been in a bit of a rut with hyperspace lately, so maybe it's time to work it back into my life.

But yeah, the first time it happened to me, I wasn't even immediately aware of it. I had become to the music to the extent, that I did not even notice at first, but I soon discovered my essence to be spewing from the direction of the speaker. It is truly a special feeling.

I have also had it happen with Floyd as well. I remember listening to "Any Colour You Like," and that music has these accordioning synth parts, but the visuals were doing the same thing. They were these seething dark purples that were accordioning in and out of each other in sync with the music, but very quickly, my body merged with the music so my very self was accordioning along with everything.

Oh man, "Any Colour You Like" is one of the most beautifully psychedelic songs I've ever listened to, sober or tripping. I always wondered if the back and forth, dueling guitar effect was played on one or two guitars. I've always leaned toward the former because it may just be a panning trick, either way it is awesome. The rippling accordion effects followed by the drums mostly dropping out and moving into the back and forth mentioned above...it is all so epic. Floyd truly knew what they were doing in creating psychedelic soundscapes.

Gilmour's liquid solos in Echoes are what resonated with me the most in this particular journey. I think that is mostly because of how much emotion that man can put into one bending note. His work isn't even, technically speaking, all that difficult to play, but the feelings put behind it are indescribable. Rick Wright and David Gilmour had quite the connection from a musician to musician point of view...I could go on forever about how much I dig their music...

Whenever I take mushrooms, acid, or mescaline I always have the discography of Pink Floyd and David Gilmour's solo work at the ready. I highly recommend the lesser known album, "Obscured By Clouds" as it has a number of brilliant songs within. Anywho...

@JD

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed the report! I can never seem to put my finger on why exactly I get denied entry but oh well, I try to take every experience for what it is, no matter what happens.

That is an Avalokiteshwara (Chenrezig) mandala (palace)? Was that the exact same one you bounced off with a dong?? We visited the place in Mundgod (near Hubali, India, where they made that sand manadala).

Thanks for that acoustic Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Gilmour is amazing.

I find myself often putting music on when doing the DMT precisely because I might get shut out, in which case I can always enjoy the music. If I have a breakthrough the music isn't part of it anyhow, and plus it serves as a reminder of who and where I am when the experience is over. Breakthroughs, shut-outs, whatever--it's all good. I find it best to approach the DMT with no expectations.

Great report. I have always, except once listened to music when smoalking spice. Over 90% of the time Pink Floyed. Turning the Inside out is by far my favorite tune for hyperspace. The guitar sound so organic and beautiful. The sound is really, really strached out, like I can hear every single note by itself. But I have had times, when as soon as I exhaled, the music stopped, I could not hear any music and upon regaining conciousness the music sloly faded back in... These where mainly experiences when I ended up in a total void, or lost total memory of what happened.....
I have not dared to start a session without music playing since the very first time that smoalked..... Maybe it's time to try again?

Not sure if it was exactly this mandala design, but it sure was close. I am beginning to think that my personal body chemistry doesn't allow me to eat mushrooms and then smoke DMT a few days later as I have been blocked out of hyperspace for a second time now and the only interaction I can think of is because I ate 4g golden teachers a couple nights ago. I only smoke DMT about once a month if that so I know it can't be from overuse...interesting and frustrating at the same time...

@Glossolalia and Hawaiigold: Thanks for the input guys! I am an advocate of silence generally when it comes to DMT, which is strange because with other psychedelics, I love blasting music. Something called me to do this, and I am still trying to figure out why and what...I only danced in the sub breakthrough realm, but it was fun and enjoyable. With powerful experiences, all Earthly sounds cease to exist for me as well, but for whatever reason, it was important for me to have this experience, and I am grateful...

This is one beautiful write up, TGO!!!

Echoes is just a classic. That whole album, for that matter (Meddle).

There is definitely something powerful going on, I think, when we listen to music, drugs or not. I loved your description of becoming each note. In such a receptive state as the psychedelic one, I have always felt that we very deeply absorb the energy that went into the song. Things like tempo, timbre, chords and what not really have very defined "personalities" to me, and these personalities are transferred to us when we listen to music.

Have you ever been kind of bummed, lazing around, and then a song comes on that literally makes you spring to your feet and begin dancing?

I like to think of myself as a puppet that the music makes dance and sing.

hehe, yep, I am also a puppet for the music for sure. What I find exciting is when writing music, I often don't know where it is coming from. Obviously you can set it up in such a fashion like, " an A minor chord sounds nice when followed by a D major chord." In fact, it is one of the most commonly used chord sequences (or part of one). But creating the depth and structure behind those chords is where it truly becomes unique. I could sit down and write 10 different songs using those chords and all of them would sound different, yet related. Sometimes I use those ideas to create concept albums where each song flows to the next because they are in the same key or in a closely related key (as in, each major key has a relative minor key).

Anyway, not trying to stray too far off topic! I just love music so much it is ridiculous! And as Jees put it: DMT + Music =