Psychedelic Playlists - PART TWO: Playlist Curation

Music can make or break a psychedelic experience. My previous article explored the basics of How to Create Playlists. Please check that out first. Here, we will explore in greater detail the specific types of music you may wish to include, and why.

Yes, there is research that has shown the importance of the role of music in psychedelic sessions, and, at the same time, music is highly subjective. This is as true in psychedelic experiences as it is in daily life.

Music that may work excellently and bring about a sense of beauty, catharsis, and release for one person, may be uncomfortable, triggering, or just even annoying for somebody else. 

This begs the question:

What kind of music should you include on the playlist for your next psychedelic experience?

This will be for those medium to high-dose experiences, where there is a clear peak to the experience.

As always, my intention is to support you in setting up psychedelic experiences that facilitate insight, healing, and growth.

Let’s dive in.

There are two different philosophies for musical choices in psychedelic sessions.

The first is open to familiar music being played during the psychedelic sessions.

This is with the belief that these pieces of music can touch more deeply to the inner core and may also have associations with memories that may be personally meaningful and useful in a therapeutic context.

The second philosophy prefers the use of music that is relatively new to the person having the experience.

That means using music that they have never heard before.

I personally retain an openness to both of these approaches and believe both have value in different respects.

In the first phase, we want to create an emotionally safe space and set the stage for a smooth experience. We want to feel supported in handling any anxiety which may creep in.

For this purpose we want music that helps us to slow down, to feel safe and calm.

In general, this might be something like ‘Spa Music’. Something with a slow-flowing smooth feeling.

Overall we are looking for music that makes you feel like ‘I am safe’, and avoid anything that may bring about a feeling of being on edge.

For a lot of people, this is music that would commonly be used for meditation. If you have some good meditation tracks that you use when you’re watching your breath or connecting to sensations in your body, then those are probably good choices. I’d also add that, I believe meditating through the transition from the come-up and into the peak is an approach that helps most people successfully and smoothly navigate that transition of an experience.

Of course, you may find that the types of music I’ve mentioned here don’t make you calm. If this is the case, then I would encourage you to find music that does suit this purpose for you. As always, remember personalisation in your experiences.

When we are aiming for a therapeutic or growth-oriented outcome from a psychedelic experience, we can make musical choices to help guide this process.

To do this, we want to be looking for music that helps to facilitate an emotional release or a catharsis. This most commonly occurs at the peak of an experience, so this is where we will put those musical choices.

For this purpose, we want to make musical choices that will get those emotional juices flowing.

A great starting point when identifying music that would serve this function is to consider:

• What music moves you emotionally?
• What music gives you a tenderness of heart?
• What music helps connect you to your heart center in a grounded and wholesome way?

If you’re like me, it may be the case that you don’t listen to this type of music regularly. That may mean that these are not such easy questions to answer. If this is the case, don’t be afraid to take some time with this. Sources for finding this type of music may be music from movie soundtracks, classical pieces, and indigenous or world music.

Keep It Emotionally Relevant and Resonant

One thing I would say is that it helps to use music that is current for you.

Some musical pieces that may have really moved you ten years ago may not have the same effect today. So I would encourage you to consider music that you know is still emotionally resonant for you. Try listening to it. Does it still stir something up in you?

We’re looking for things that can find a way to help prise open the doors and barriers that we often have around the heart.

After the peak, we want to be brought back down to earth gently. Now though, we may have some material to process and reflect upon. We want musical choices that suit feeling contemplative, reflective, and tired!

When choosing music for this phase, you may consider:

• What music helps you to slow down once more?
• What music puts you in a more contemplative mood?
• What music makes you more reflective?

At the end of this final section, we may also throw in a couple of uplifting pieces to bring a positive vibe to the end of the session. If you are a person who likes to move or dance towards the end of a session, consider adding some more dynamic and danceable tracks.

Now that we've been through the musical choices for the three phases of a psychedelic experience, I’d like to share an approach which prepares music beforehand while still allowing for music selection during the session itself.

This is what I call ‘the music menu’.

The music menu approach is preparing music in various smaller segments, and then making selections as the experience progresses. As it sounds, it is creating a menu of music for the facilitator or the person having the experience to select from during the experience.

For example, you would have two or three different albums or playlists of calming and grounding music ready for the first phase. Then you would have a selection of five or so different playlists or albums of more evocative or emotional music for the peak phase. Finally, you would have between three and five albums or playlists of music for the third and final phase.

Each of these albums or playlists will probably be twenty to sixty minutes in length. This allows a reasonable portion of the session to unfold based on the selection and means that choices don’t need to be made every five minutes.

I recommend having these choices, all of the playlists or albums, ready for quick and easy access during the session. This means having them downloaded and ready on the device that is being used to play the music. 

Using The Menu

You begin by selecting and pressing play on one of the albums or playlists that suits the first phase of the session. This would be at the time of taking the dose. (Or, it may be before if you want to have music in the space beforehand to help set the scene.)

You then let your selection play out. Once it ends, there will be a silence, and this will be a prompt to make the next choice. So, this may be another calming album.

When getting into the peak phase, you may choose one of the relevant albums and playlists designated for that section and continue to make ‘peak’ choices whilst still in that phase.

As the experience unfolds, you can look at your ‘menu’ of prepared music and you can make your selection based on what phase you are in and what feels right at this stage of the experience. When the experience transitions into the comedown, you will most likely choose one of your selections that is prepared for that phase. 

The music menu method allows an element of directing the course of the experience as it unfolds that fully preset playlists do not.

It allows the person having the experience to have some input into the session playlist as it unfolds.

For example, at the end of an experience, some people may want to be still and sit in meditation. A selection of gentle tracks may suit this. Other people may feel the need to get up and move their bodies. Then, more danceable tracks would be more suitable. Having both of these choices ready and up for selection allows for the possibility of both.

Before making our musical choices, we may also want to consider our intention for the psychedelic experience, and our musical preferences. 

When it comes to making choices that support your intention, it can be helpful to consider:

• What is your intention for the experience?

• What is the outcome you are aiming for?

• Is there any type of emotional terrain that you would like to move through?

• What genres of music do you connect with emotionally?
• Are there any styles of music or instruments that you especially love? That speak to you?
• Are there any that you have a particular distaste for? Or that you just don’t seem to connect with or ‘get’?

With your own answers to these sets of questions, you can make informed musical choices. 

So there we have it, our exploration comes to a close. Remember that the creation of your psychedelic playlist is a mix of intention and intuition. The three phases—come up, peak, and come down—offer a structure for our musical choices and playlist creation and can support us in orchestrating moments of calm, catharsis, and reflection.  The music menu can act as a selection of prepared choices, whilst still letting you be the conductor of your experience.

I hope this article has been helpful and will support you in finding musical choices that support you on your path of psychedelic-assisted growth.

Stay safe, journey well.  

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