Of course, you aren't going to listen to The Peacemaker when doing this... I've found that, naturally, more intimate scores are the ones that accomplish this state of mind. Stuff like Newman's Meet Joe Black or the dramatic parts of American Beauty; another great example is "Strawberry Fields" from Snow Falling on Cedars... Some stuff on Shearmur's recent K-Pax also does the trick...

The other night I was listening to Newman's Meet Joe Black in fact... Once the last track hit, though (the best track on the CD I might add), it didn't do much for me... The large, swelling orchestral pieces generally aren't the best I find for what I'm going for here. Gotta have something like "Pinta, Nina, Santa Maria" from Vangelis' 1492!

Anyhow, I wanted to post this because I was wondering if anyone could relate, and if so, what music they listen to while trying to accomplish this amazing state...

It's like pot for free!!! (I do drugs, hence my coolness)

On various occasions, hearing particular tracks whilst lying in bed, semi-dazed, and trying to figure out where I was, proved to be a much better listening experience than the normal, fully-conscious one.

There have been scores which I didn't use to hear much, until I once used them as an alarm - and therefore found some hidden-gem track.

There was also the one time I fell asleep listening to Elfman's Night Breed. It resulted in a rather odd and disturbing nightmare in which I was a ghost strapped to a possessed stretcher driving itself wildly and aimlessly through the halls of some sort of demented hospital run by skinless madmen.

Sleeping with music (or other noise) results in sleep which is less deep, and therefore you are usually less refreshed in the morning.

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Originally posted by Camillu:
Just thought I'd chime in with the medical facto....

Sleeping with music (or other noise) results in sleep which is less deep, and therefore you are usually less refreshed in the morning.

Tada!!!

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Not true, I can sleep through very loud scores, and only wake up when the CD ends.

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Originally posted by TimT:
Not true, I can sleep through very loud scores, and only wake up when the CD ends.

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Mark didn't say sleep wasn't possible. He did say, however, that deep sleep is most likely not. Tim, the mere fact that you wake up when the CD stops, is proof that the sleep you recieve is light, and that you are aware of the music while "unconcious." I only put unconcious in quotations because unconciousness implies that you most likely aren't aware of what's going on around you (like music playing). Right Mark? Or am I a dufus?

LOL, how wonderfully non-medical I am. I'm a filmmaker, not a doctor!

Jeron

JAMES, thanks for the warning - I like Elfman's NIGHTBREED very much, but after reading your story I wouldn't dare to listen to it while sleeping..!

James - you're right. Hearing music for the first 30 mins isn't going to affect that much. However, as far as I know, going to sleep in noisy surroundings also affects the quality of sleep.

Ken S - aren't headphones uncomfortable in bed?

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Originally posted by Camillu:
James - you're right. Hearing music for the first 30 mins isn't going to affect that much. However, as far as I know, going to sleep in noisy surroundings also affects the quality of sleep.

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No kidding. I was thrust into waking when those skinless doctors tried to cut me open.

Headphones can be uncomfortable, depending on A) the type of headphones, and B) the position in which you normally lay while sleeping. If you're one of those people who can fall asleep on your back and wake up without having turned, headphones are no trouble no matter what the shape. For people like me who toss and turn for an hour (regardless of whether I'm listening to music) before sleep finally arrives, then you require earphones that actually rest inside your ears like standard-size hearing aids. Unfortunately, those kind have a generally lower quality of sound.

That's why I have to shoo them off time to time.

Have you ever COMPOSED music in that wonderful twilight of the 24-hour cycle? I know you must have, so let's hear it! I've got zero music ability, but sometimes, just occasionally, I'll be lying there midway between the land of nod and waking up and there's a massive big complex symphony going on in my head,and I'm actually conscious of directing the twists and turns of the music, but not completely. Then I wake up, have the themes and textures still swirling around a bit, and then reality intrudes and it all gets displaced because of the impossibly difficult task of opening the box of Corn Flakes.