Why does music sound better after a beer?

Alcohol can make you feel more relaxed... doesn't work for me, just sends me to sleep..

I remember reading, back in the 80s, that the best upgrade to your systen was a bottle of good wine.  I don't drink win but I get the point,  a few beers and you are relaxed and into the music rather than listening to the system.

IMO, any more than a couple of drinks dulls the hearing, and the emotions. More likely to dull the response to all that PraT we've paid our hard earned cash for, than make it more enjoyable. If you need a drink to enjoy the music, maybe the gear isn't up to it, or maybe you just need a drink?

Klyde posted:

IMO, any more than a couple of drinks dulls the hearing, and the emotions. More likely to dull the response to all that PraT we've paid our hard earned cash for, than make it more enjoyable. If you need a drink to enjoy the music, maybe the gear isn't up to it, or maybe you just need a drink?

Eh?

Klyde posted:

IMO, any more than a couple of drinks dulls the hearing, and the emotions. More likely to dull the response to all that PraT we've paid our hard earned cash for, than make it more enjoyable. If you need a drink to enjoy the music, maybe the gear isn't up to it, or maybe you just need a drink?

I'm not talking about getting hammered, just a beer or glass of wine.

System sounds great drink or not, I think it's about the ability to relax and get carried away by the music as dayjay said.

When I've got time to have a sit down and listen, I can distract myself with thoughts of what else I should/could be doing with the time. Sometimes having a little drink by my side focuses me to sit and relax for a while, that is until I have to get up for another one.

Sounds even better still after a joint 

You're drinking the wrong beer.

After two or three bottles of Westmalle Triple it definitely won't sound better. But you wont care.

Pev posted:

Sounds even better still after a joint 

Too much alcohol and eventually any music will be a blurry mess, and you won't know what sounds good, or care.  Too many joints and you'll be up until five in the morning mesmerised by The Doors.  .....so I'm told.

After a couple of cases anything sounds better. Even U2 although some people never snapped out of it afterwards!

SongStream posted:

Pev posted:

Sounds even better still after a joint 

Too much alcohol and eventually any music will be a blurry mess, and you won't know what sounds good, or care.  Too many joints and you'll be up until five in the morning mesmerised by The Doors.  .....so I'm told.

Perceptive.

G

GraemeH posted:

SongStream posted:

Pev posted:

Sounds even better still after a joint 

Too much alcohol and eventually any music will be a blurry mess, and you won't know what sounds good, or care.  Too many joints and you'll be up until five in the morning mesmerised by The Doors.  .....so I'm told.

Perceptive.

G

Purely social observation, of course.  

I have heard that after a few magic mushrooms you don't even have to have any music playing for it to sound better

TOBYJUG posted:

I have heard that after a few magic mushrooms you don't even have to have any music playing for it to sound better

I wouldn't recommend it, back in the 80s a mate of mine was chased home for two miles by a lamp post after taking some in tea.  He did say his blaster sounded brilliant though

dayjay posted:

TOBYJUG posted:

I have heard that after a few magic mushrooms you don't even have to have any music playing for it to sound better

I wouldn't recommend it, back in the 80s a mate of mine was chased home for two miles by a lamp post after taking some in tea.  He did say his blaster sounded brilliant though

They can be very fast those lamp posts ....

I've read non-scientific evidence suggesting that patrons in pubs tend to drink at a rate relative to the beat of the music being played. Same for food consumption. While there was no indication of whether the music "sounded better" with increased consumption, this may help explain the dearth of pubs that feature classical music.

Its the Peter Belt idea. Listening to music involves a system comprising the kit and the listener. To get better results you have to modify one or the other. The beer/Belt idea is to modify the listener.

And then there are the hops. Also quite effective in produce a relaxing effect, amongst others (depending on hop variety).

In a few words:

Hops are added to the beer to give it a characteristic bitter taste and many fragrant compounds. Hops have floral fragrances such as linalool, geraniol and 1-octen-3-ol. Higher alcohols such as myrcenol and humulenol from myrcene and humulene in hops are produced during the boiling of sweet wort, the extract of the mixture of malt and hops.

Fragrant compounds have psychological effects, stimulating the limbic system and triggering memories, a phenomenon known as the “Proust effect”. Proust vividly described how a tea-soaked madeleine brought back powerful childhood memories (Chu & Downes, 2000). Smell is usually perceived together with visual, auditory or tactile stimulation. These sensory systems work synergistically to affect the mental and physical state of humans. For physical and mental health, it is essential to balance the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in the autonomic nervous system, since this balance is closely related to the endocrine and immune systems. Beverages can be used to balance these systems. Some fragrances in beverages play an important role in enhancing the parasympathetic nervous system and inducing physical and mental relaxation, while others enhance the sympathetic nervous system and induce mental arousal. Moreover, most fragrant compounds in beverages potentiate the response of GABAA receptors, which induces a tranquilizing effect on the human mind. Thus, the fragrant compounds in beverages affect the homeostasis of mental and physical conditions together with active components such as caffeine and ethanol. 

source : Benefits of Fragrances in Beverages on Human Health (http://library.umac.mo/ebooks/b28355507.pdf#page=129)

In 1000 words:

Hops have a mysterious smell when fresh on its growth stem. Wild hops if ever encountered should be approached with wonderment imo. They usually have a rubbery garlic smell that seems antiquated and old earthy.  Most real ales I have found that closely resemble this natural smell are usually young, very low alcohol and seem to bring all round health benefits on the digestive system.

Aside from imbibing beverages, Jan-Erik's post above may explain why many of us enjoy tea with music. An after-dinner ginger kombucha while I listen has become routine with me followed later by hot herbal/floral blends featuring chamomile. Delicate bouquets and a perfect precursor to the Land of Nod.

joerand posted:

I've read non-scientific evidence suggesting that patrons in pubs tend to drink at a rate relative to the beat of the music being played. Same for food consumption. While there was no indication of whether the music "sounded better" with increased consumption, this may help explain the dearth of pubs that feature classical music.

Around where I live pubs tend to play no music at all, unless there is a band invited in or open mic night... perhaps the drinking rate is  in inversely proportional to the amount of talking and directly proportional to the amount of hilarity.

I was talking to the head brewman at one of my local breweries a little while back, and indeed he explained much of the actual taste of a type beer comes from the specific yeast culture used, and this is carefully controlled for consistency, and the 'fragrance' or smell is largely influenced by the type or mix of hops used. When we appreciate and recognise a beer we use input from both our taste and smell senses. Smell is indeed an evocative sense.

Well whatever they do and use at Samuel Smith tasted pretty good to me. At the time of posting I was enjoying one of their organic largers that I got as a gift.

Dozey posted:

Its the Peter Belt idea. Listening to music involves a system comprising the kit and the listener. To get better results you have to modify one or the other. The beer/Belt idea is to modify the listener.

Although more Quique suggestive than real.

I don't know what quique means. Suggestive is as real as anything else, and is I believe measurable!