Caffeine and Music

Is it so common?

There’s a stereotype out there that musicians love their caffeine. I can neither confirm nor deny this. All I’ll say is, “give me my 5 shots of espresso in that drink!” Seriously. Not kidding. But that’s just me. Well, and my co-writer in the band Le Mec. Make that 6 shots.

Working in music in the modern day can ask for a lot of concentration for long periods of time, which can be hard to maintain without some help. Especially some of the more mundane but common tasks like writing out music can really fry the brain. I would think computer programmers and musicians would have some in common here. Did I bring a caffeine habit to programming back when I did that? Or was staring at thousands of lines of code to blame? I like to think I’m the same person regardless of circumstance. It’s not true.

So is it good or bad?

I think it’s clear by now that I have only love for caffeine in all its forms. Preferably the more potent forms. There are some definite drawbacks to it, though. For singers it is especially negative.

Let’s run through a couple examples from my own experience:

1. A few months back, with the band Long After Midnight, we had a Saturday rehearsal for a live playthrough video and a Sunday shoot. Saturday went great. I was grooving and feeling it and nailing the changes and transitions, even when no instruments were keeping time for an extended period. Come Sunday I thought to fuel myself up with a good bit of coffee. The whole video shoot I struggled with rushing. My experience and interpretation of time was on a faster track than everything else. Not great. One song we had to redo many times only because of me. The day before we nailed that same song on the first go.
2. Any stimulant adds a waver to the voice. For singing that isn’t ideal, for obvious reasons. I mean, I sure hope the reasons are obvious. Caffeine has the added benefit of dehydrating the body. Benefit? Not when singing. You want your vocal chords properly moist and relaxed, not tensed up and dry. Now, it’s not the end of the world, but it does make a difference. I’ve noticed this plenty well on recorded takes. Not only by the quality of the end result, but the recording process itself. I can make much greater progess while stimulant free as it’s easier to get those solid takes. In these situations I’m better off taking a short nap if I start dragging.

Naps are good.

My conclusion is that caffeine and music go together fine, but it’s a tool, like anything else. In the right circumstance it can be a benefit and help you get through a workload. Other times it’s probably better to get good sleep, some exercise, keep the blood flowing, be alert naturally. I certainly wouldn’t want to be jacked during a recording session these days. It may not affect my timing so much that it ruins takes, but it gives my playing a different feel. Or, better said, it takes away some of my control over the feel I play with.