I'm trying to gather my thoughts. As expected, the final 24 hours of deprivation almost replicate a drunken night-out; memory is patchy, which was expected when you consider how I was not actively thinking for the majority of the time.
That's another way of explaining the way I felt during it, actually. I would confidently argue that most people are actively thinking about at least one thing pretty much consistently all day. The psychological change crept up on me, but I definitely reached a stage where the mental normalities fade away, and I kind of just become a shell of myself.
Overall, the experience was really good. It probably didn't feel as good at the time, but I recognise that it was never going to be a pleasant experience at the time, and it was more the benefits of doing it in hindsight that matter.
Sleep Deprivation does affect creativity. Thats my take from this. For me its twofold:
1. My internal examiner takes a day-off - All performers/writers know what I'm taking about here. When you play music, there is often a section of your mind that attempts to track your performance in realtime and judge you. Whether it is a mistake-based judgement when performing or simply a taste-judgement when you're writing music, its there, ALL OF THE TIME. In fact, I imagine that some of the best writers out there are the best because they manage to dilute or turn that instinct off, and just let music flow out of them.
I felt much less restricted in the second jam than I did in the first, and even in the first, I felt freer than I do at a morning jam session, while being fresh with the joys of judgement.
2. I was too tired to play 'technically' challenging stuff.
This meant I was all about the simplistic ways to make things cool. I struggled to do that, but it's lush to be not always thinking 'what hard thing can I do here?' - It should always be about adding to the music, whether its technical or not, and in this particular environment, I was forced to be simplistic, which is nearly always a good thing.
Listening to the recordings, me and Andy did some relatively cool things, so I think it was worthwhile. I would do it again. I love the way your cognitive processing falls flat on its arse, leaving to find whatever is left.
A brief insight into the mind of Andy:
Well, it has been over a month since we finished our experiment. Wow.
To clear a few things up:
'How long did it take to recover?' - Genuinely, once I got home, I was able to recover during that day. After a 4 hour nap during the day, I was back to my normal routine.
'Why did you only go for 48 hours as opposed to 72?' - Basically, I am a naive arsehole. Nah, it was just extremely difficult. Although I could of perhaps lasted slightly longer, sleep deprivation demands a sustained level of continuous mental stimulation. I personally believe during the first day/night, we may of slightly out-done ourselves, in the sense that we were in the studios from roughly 8:30am until 4am the next morning, resulting in the remaining time being filled by predominantly blogging and completing minute tasks.
'Would I do it again?' - Goddddddd. I've been questioning this particular comment a number of times. In a sense, I would love to attempt it again, perhaps with a more in-depth, or at least structured plan. During the final hours, particularly the final 30 minutes or so of playing the drums, I really began to feel the effects of being deprived sleep; I would love to see/feel the effects of a longer duration.
Recordings:
Sorry it's taken so long guys, but we've finally completed both the SoundCloud tracks and the YouTube documentary.
When first listening to particularly the second day, I was genuinely shocked at the outcome. Whilst playing, I distinctively felt completely drained, with a severe lack of wanting to carry on performing; however, the tracks don't actually sound too bad.
SoundCloud: The SoundCloud has been edited into two 'album', Night 1 and Night 2, which feature both a mixture of covers and jams.
YouTube: The documentary predominantly features both of us acting like dicks and looking like fucking morons; there is a little bit of footage of us playing...
Track Listings:
Night 1:
LINKS:
Here are both the links to the SoundCloud tracks and the YouTube.
(Night 1 - SoundCloud) https://soundcloud.com/luke-gaul-1/sleep-dep-night-1
(Night 2 - SoundCloud) https://soundcloud.com/luke-gaul-1/sleep-deprivation-night-2
(YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbNtTxqMMBI
We both really appreciate the wonderful feedback for the experiment. Thanks for reading, listening & watching.
2. I was too tired to play 'technically' challenging stuff.
This meant I was all about the simplistic ways to make things cool. I struggled to do that, but it's lush to be not always thinking 'what hard thing can I do here?' - It should always be about adding to the music, whether its technical or not, and in this particular environment, I was forced to be simplistic, which is nearly always a good thing.
Listening to the recordings, me and Andy did some relatively cool things, so I think it was worthwhile. I would do it again. I love the way your cognitive processing falls flat on its arse, leaving to find whatever is left.
A brief insight into the mind of Andy:
Well, it has been over a month since we finished our experiment. Wow.
To clear a few things up:
'How long did it take to recover?' - Genuinely, once I got home, I was able to recover during that day. After a 4 hour nap during the day, I was back to my normal routine.
'Why did you only go for 48 hours as opposed to 72?' - Basically, I am a naive arsehole. Nah, it was just extremely difficult. Although I could of perhaps lasted slightly longer, sleep deprivation demands a sustained level of continuous mental stimulation. I personally believe during the first day/night, we may of slightly out-done ourselves, in the sense that we were in the studios from roughly 8:30am until 4am the next morning, resulting in the remaining time being filled by predominantly blogging and completing minute tasks.
'Would I do it again?' - Goddddddd. I've been questioning this particular comment a number of times. In a sense, I would love to attempt it again, perhaps with a more in-depth, or at least structured plan. During the final hours, particularly the final 30 minutes or so of playing the drums, I really began to feel the effects of being deprived sleep; I would love to see/feel the effects of a longer duration.
Recordings:
Sorry it's taken so long guys, but we've finally completed both the SoundCloud tracks and the YouTube documentary.
When first listening to particularly the second day, I was genuinely shocked at the outcome. Whilst playing, I distinctively felt completely drained, with a severe lack of wanting to carry on performing; however, the tracks don't actually sound too bad.
SoundCloud: The SoundCloud has been edited into two 'album', Night 1 and Night 2, which feature both a mixture of covers and jams.
YouTube: The documentary predominantly features both of us acting like dicks and looking like fucking morons; there is a little bit of footage of us playing...
Track Listings:
Night 1:
00:00 - 7/8, A Major
7:25 - Pentariff, E
19:16 - Sunshine of Your Love (Jimi Hendrix)
25:58 - Harder to Breath (Maroon 5)
28:59 - Bright Idea (Orson)
33:03 - Long Road to Ruin (Foo Fighters)
36:02 - All my Life (Foo Fighters)
40:50 - Vibey Jam
46:50 - Since I've Been Living You (Led Zeppelin)
Night 2:
00:00 - Swelling Jam (segue)
4:18 - Blues regurgitation, ala Dorian
11:25 - Jam in 5
16:00 - Can't Stop (Red Hot Chilli Peppers)
20:35 - bleh
28:30 - bleh 2.0
LINKS:
Here are both the links to the SoundCloud tracks and the YouTube.
(Night 1 - SoundCloud) https://soundcloud.com/luke-gaul-1/sleep-dep-night-1
(Night 2 - SoundCloud) https://soundcloud.com/luke-gaul-1/sleep-deprivation-night-2
(YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbNtTxqMMBI
We both really appreciate the wonderful feedback for the experiment. Thanks for reading, listening & watching.
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