The Science of Playlist Curation for Enhanced Psilocybin Experiences
By: Kelsey Kryger
Tags: Music, Science, Mental Health, Drugs, Psychedelics

The Science of Playlist Curation for Enhanced Psilocybin Experiences

Photo by pawel szvmanski on Unsplash

As I sit here typing out this story, I’m not listening to the lo-fi beats that serve as typical background music for my workdays. No, I’m listening to a carefully crafted playlist by Bill Richards, Ph.D., a psychologist in the Psychiatry Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and an experienced psychedelic researcher, trainer, and consultant.

But, it’s not just any playlist. It’s a playlist that Richards created specifically for psilocybin trips.

When people think of “tripping playlists,” the songs that come to mind range from heavy electronic jams to Pink Floyd’s album, Dark Side of the Moon. Richards’ playlist doesn’t rep these common trippy tunes. Rather, it features songs by Vivaldi and Mozart, with the big finishes of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” and The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun”.

In preparation for a psychedelic trip, there are two denominators that greatly influence the experience and level of enjoyability: set and setting. Set is your mindset going into the experience, and setting is the environment in which you’re tripping, and who — if anyone — you’re with.

Richards asserts that the music one listens to during a psilocybin trip plays a huge role in the vital denominator of ones’ setting. He values the music as a way to support a person’s tripping experience, as they tend to be quite personal and introspective — according to his interview with Inverse.

So, why does this psychedelic researcher with over 57 years of experience lean towards orchestral music from centuries past for his studies? I’ll give you a hint: the melodies have the power to unlock elevated states of consciousness.

Who is Bill Richards?

If you haven’t heard of Bill Richards prior to this article, he’s basically a psychedelic-researching pioneer and genius.

But seriously. Richards is arguably one of the most prominent names in the world of psilocybin research. Like I mentioned earlier, he holds a Ph.D. and his impressive resume doesn’t stop there — according to his profile on the John Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research website:

Richards’ graduate degrees include M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, S.T.M. from Andover-Newton Theological School, and a Ph.D. from Catholic University

He is a psychologist in the Psychiatry Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bayview Medical Center

He is a teacher in the Program of Psychedelic Therapy and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies

…and last but not least, he’s a clinician in private practice in Baltimore

Is there anything this man can’t do? He’s been involved with psilocybin research since 1963 and studied psychotherapy extensively in the late 60s-70s. His research experiments include protocols that investigate the promise of psychedelic substances in the treatment of alcoholism, depression, narcotic addiction and the psychological distress associated with terminal cancer.

Needless to say, he’s somewhat of a psychedelic pioneer — having early experiences with these substances and their powerful impact at a time which they were shielded from the world.

Psilocybin Research: John Hopkins, Sacred Knowledge

A.K.A., the name of the playlist that Richards put together. The playlist dates back to 1967, just 4 years after he began dipping his toes in the deep psychedelic pool.

Personally, I never would have thought of tripping to songs that were strummed at symphonies back in Beethoven’s day. But, the playlist’s unique variety of classical music, Spanish guitar strums, and oldies like Louis Armstrong are there to complement the emotions a person tripping will go through over their nearly six-hour session — according to Insider.

“The music chromatically develops, and it goes up and reaches this exquisite climax and then comes back down.” -Bill Richards

So essentially, the music steadily paces through the trip with the participant.

Dude, Where’s My Pink Floyd?

Between Reddit forums on psychedelics and antectodal tripping recounts from friends, there’s one universal agreement:

Everybody understands the insane power of music during a trip.

Now, we all have different preferences as far as what appeals to the ears in elevated states of consciousness. For example, one of my best friends insisted that I listen to Pink Floyd’s famous Dark Side of the Moon during my first shroom trip. Yet, I found that the beats came onto my senses a bit strong — almost inciting a bad trip. You can read more about my first experience with shrooms here.

Other Reddit forums suggest listening to bands like Shpongle. Yet, my playlist went against all these rules and instead included soothing feel-good melodies, like Harry Styles and ODESZA.

To many, one glance at Richards’ playlist may be a turn-off. I don’t know about you, but for me — listening to music while tripping allows me to immerse myself into the song that’s playing. I feel like I’m able to hear aspects of the melodies that I usually can’t when I’m sober, and that’s most enjoyable with the songs that I know and love. Heck, I haven’t listened to Vivaldi since the Music Appreciation class I took in middle school.

But, there are several reasons that Richard outlines for the articulate handpicking of the songs featured on the Sacred Knowledge playlist. And the songs aren’t meant to bore you to tears, rather — they were picked to enhance the overall experience of the trip.

Less Room for Distraction

There’s increasing research coming out showing that psilocybin, the psychedelic substance in magic mushrooms, has some serious healing powers. From helping cancer patients combat depression to aiding in tobacco addicts quitting the smokes for good, it’s no secret that shrooms can help us access elevated levels of consciousness.

The thing is, you’ve got roughly 5–7 hours until the psilocybin’s magical effects wear off. So, you’d better be making the most of your trip!

There are people who have experienced magic mushrooms recreationally at a music festival, yet have never had life-altering experiences. So why is it that the patients in Richards’ experiments, while listening to the Sacred Knowledge playlist, have experienced life-changing results?

“Orchestral music is less distracting and less likely to give room for a person to fall back on normal patterns of thinking,” Richards says.

He further explains the necessity of avoiding songs with words, minus the final phases of the trip. The lack of words in the volunteer’s native language discourages the rational mind from following the content of the words. Psilocybin can cause a person to get deep in a spiral of thoughts.

By eliminating songs with words from the trip, a person is more likely to focus on the rising subconscious thoughts they’re working to conquer rather than their favorite artists’ lyrics.

Offers Support in Setting

Earlier, I mentioned the importance of trip setting — the environment in which you’re spending your psychedelic time.

There are a lot of different variables that play into setting. But at the end of the day, it’s one of the key denominators in having a good experience. If you’re tripping in the comfort of your own home, you may do an extra deep clean before facilitating the experience to make sure nothing brings up unnecessary anxiety, for example.

Experiences with psilocybin can be extremely overwhelming, and unfortunately, a bad trip can surface easily — whether it’s being around the wrong people, drawing paranoia from unwarranted noises in the house, or falling into a loop of negative thoughts. That’s exactly why creating a safe, sound setting is critical.

Music plays a key role when it comes to setting. In fact, Richards has described the music one listens to as a powerful force that forms a psychological space in which a person can trip comfortably and safely:

“I think of it as a nonverbal support system, sort of like the net for a trapeze artist. If all is going well, you’re not even aware that the net is there — you don’t even hear the music — but if you start getting anxious, or if you need it, it’s immediately there to provide structure.”

So you can think of a playlist as the bra of a shroom trip: it’s not completely necessary, but it’s there to provide extra support.

Unlocks Elevated States of Consciousness

A key piece in Richards’ curation of the Sacred Knowledge playlist is order. He’s described the order of songs being crucial to a guided trip because the playlist should build with the participants’ trip. And that’s exactly what his Sacred Knowledge playlist does.

During psychedelic trips, there are phases that participants will experience; notably referred to as the onset, peak, and post-peak. So between the assortment of sounds and cautious ordering, Richards’ playlist is designed to complement the emotions a person tripping will go through over their approximate six-hour session.

Richards further explains what experiences the songs need to bring up during the different phases of a trip. For example, during the onset, the songs need to be experienced as supportive and forward-moving. On the other hand, during a trip’s peak, a participant may not even register music — so the songs need to be slow, providing a solid sense of stability. You know, the safety net.

And then, of course, the familiar melodies of Here Comes the Sun and What a Wonderful World welcome the psychedelic explorer back to reality at the end of the trip.

In the end, careful curation offers greater support for a participant to reach elevated states of consciousness that promote healing.