Sleep Music
 

I personally prefer to fall asleep listening to music, and I assume many others do as well. What do you guys generally listen to when you sleep?

Lately I've been listening ambient/minimal techno (mostly The Field and Gas) when I go to sleep. The subtle rhythms make the music easy to get lost in. "Hospice" by The Antlers is an album I frequently fall asleep to as well. Oddly enough, I find Deftones fairly relaxing to listen to.

I've always enjoyed drifting off to Sigur Rós, though lately I've been listening to Arab Strap. It really makes me appreciate the music on a deeper level; hearing all of the different components in that semi-conscious state before falling asleep makes it a really personal experience.

I like to do ambient/downtempo music such as Bluetech, Ooze, Ott, etc. or space rock like Oresund Space Collective, Sula Bassana, Interkosmos, Hidria Spacefolk, Quantum Fantay, etc., but last night, for example, I fell asleep to Chimp Spanner - technical metal guitar infused with downtempo/chill sections. It doesn't have to be chill for me to fall asleep to it.

A good rule of thumb for me is to pick some instrumental music. It can be heavy or mellow, but without a vocalist, I can drift off to sleep easily and happily. I can fall asleep to music with vocals, but not as readily.

I used to put on music to fall asleep to, but several things turned me off from it:

1) Earbuds/phones hurt your ears
2) It almost always means staying awake longer than I would have if I'd just went to sleep without music

http://www.stonesthrow.com/uploads/i...e-unseen-6.jpg

can't remember falling asleep to much besides this growing up. unlike many of us here at mb i have a hard time listening to music and doing anything else at the same time, including fall asleep. it's too engaging and captivates my attention no matter what is going on or what i want to get done, but this is such a sick album. it relaxed me and put me in a tranquil state so that i could clear my head and pass out.

I'm sure I'm in the minority with this but I like to fall asleep to some drone doom on repeat. Waking up slowly to some Khanate or Slomo really makes you appreciate their work a lot more.

I did this regularly earlier this year but got out of the habit. I got a kick out of hearing how fast music sounded as my brain function slowed down.

Brian Eno's ambient records in general work well if all you want is enrich your environment with some nice sounds.

I rarely ever fall asleep to music, but when I do, I would choose anything in the post-rock genre. Stuff like:



pg.lost especially considering I have fallen asleep to this song before.

Massive Attack has joined me in the good fight against insomnia, many a time...

Warren Ellis' SPEKTRMODULE podcasts get used for that purpose a lot lately too.

I've never really had any trouble whatsoever going to sleep, so when I put on music to sleep, it was literally what I felt like listening to in the ten minutes max I had before I dropped off - this led to situations where I was listening to heavy metal or bouncy pop when I was going to sleep, which seems in hindsight rather counter-productive.

These days, my gf has enough trouble getting to sleep as it is, so no music at bedtime! She tends to listen to Storybooks - they help her sleep and they give her something to listen to if she can't. For me, I've had to fine-tune the art of blocking out things I don't want to hear, as voices are pretty much the only thing that can keep me awake!

It is possible to use sound as a sleep aid, although music may not be the best option. In a quiet room, the mind gets very alert and so intrusive sounds coming from outside the room like a car driving past, a neighbor slamming a door and so on will be perceived as relatively loud in a quiet environment. If you have some sort of background noise going on, that will help "dampen" intrusive sounds. The background sound itself won't be noticeable after a little while because the brain will become habituated and filter it out. The sound of a fan f.ex in a bedroom may actually help the room sound more peaceful.

This is the reason some businesses have started using white noise generators, for example in office landscapes. Instead of fans or white noise generators, one can use ambient nature sounds like waves crashing on a beach or the sound of a rainstorm perhaps. It's good to use the same sounds so you don't have to get used to (habituate yourself to) new ones all the time.

^ Where I used to work graveyard shift and slept all day I've gotten quite used to the white noise while sleeping angle. The constant hum blocked out the majority of noises and sounds from the other tenants in the building going about their business.

As for music specifically. There are 3 albums that I've relied on almost exclusively over the years, since the last time I formatted my iPod / reinstalled iTunes the album counts are up to...

Boards of Canada - Geogaddi - 62+
Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right to Children - 51+
Bowery Electric - Beat - 41+

I say ##+ because I don't always get to hear the full album before the charge in my battery runs out on certain evenings, the top track on Geogaddi actually has 75 plays at the moment. Oddly enough it's one of my least favourite tracks on the disc hahaha (Beware the Friendly Stranger).

Sometimes I listen to Lullabye rock renditions :laughing:

if i have insomnia, i usually put on Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms, and skip "Money for Nothing" and "Walk of Life" - i'll sleep like a baby

i have fallen asleep numerous times to the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo, even when i don't intend to - it's just so pastoral

i have also fallen asleep a few times to death metal but that's just because i was dead tired

I used to always listen to Azure Ray when drifting off to sleep...



All of their songs are so soft and dreamy.

Seeing you, Lateralus, reminded me that I used to love falling asleep to Tool. Throw on No Quarter follow by Pu**** Live and I'd be out. I'd cushion it with instrumental tracks like Disposition, Intolerance, etc. just in case, but they soothe me awake or asleep.

Indeed I've found Tool to be a fantastic band to drift off to. Surprisingly, I think that Keiji Haino's I Said, This is the Son of Nihilism is another great sleep album, it really strikes me as odd since it's predominately noise, but then again I am soothed by offsetting music.

The live version of Pushit is one of my favourite things ever.

And yeah, drifting off to Disposition... very soothing.

This is what I do. I have an app on my iPhone I use called Naturescape. I love it. They make you feel immersed in the sounds, and it's also not just 30 second-1 minute loops. Sometimes I used other apps and could tell it was doing the same thing over and over again, which for some reason made me concentrate on it.

Also, the infamous I-Doser app has a track or whatever called Insomnia, which is meant to help put you to sleep. It's rather obvious to see how when you listen to it. The tone or frequency or whatever plays for awhile, and then drops down, plays for awhile, drops down again, etc.

A couple albums come to mind.

Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports comes to mind. This has to be some of the most subtle music I've ever heard.

Gateful Dead's Reckoning is arguabally there most laid back live material. You hear a Dead that is fully matured. This album play surprisingly good background music.

I could not fall asleep listening to music, but if I did it would have to be something with a slow tempo and quiet.

Pretty much everything. I've fallen asleep listening to Metallica, Pantera, Manchester Orchestra, Sigur Ros, Dvorak, Tallest Man On Earth. Probably the best is Sigur Ros though, perfect for calming down.

My number one sleep aid is this 8 album set called Healing Therapy Music. Each one is named for its overall atmosphere.

Healing Therapy Music

If you listen and like it let me know I can find a dl link and send it your way. I cant seem to find who recorded all of it but it is without a doubt the most relaxing group of music I have ever played. Many a nights have I fallen asleep to all 8 albums.

Boards of Canada - Campfire Headphase usually helps me fall asleep just fine. Damn, I love that album...

I started putting music on to go to sleep on a night, or during the day for a nap, turning the lights out, lying down and closing my eyes, first when I had insomnia and was sleeping, roughly, on average of 2 to 3 hours a night.

I still sometimes put it on to go to sleep, and frequently do this during the day when I have nowhere to be. I have looked into a lot of music that I can use for this over the years. I can fall asleep to pretty much anything, even doom and black metal can have enough of a drone or a solid wall of noise that can be relaxing regardless of the volume or intensity. However i tend to prefer something minimal, something gentle, something peaceful that can almost put you into a trance - whether I'm looking to sleep, nap, or just to reflect.

I would say that two albums stand head and shoulders above the rest. I use these two to relax and sleep more than I do anything else.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FuKy9n4jex...043615_350.jpg
Low - I Could Live in Hope
Simply one of the most beautiful albums I have ever heard. Incredible vocal harmonies, two voices that really are perfectly balanced by one another, gentle instrumentation and in my opinion, the best album to send you to sleep - in a good way.



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ut_Leaving.jpg
Carissas Wierd - Songs About Leaving
Another slowcore staple and the bands swansong, full of emotion, sadness and an overall peacefulness that helped temporarily aid my insomnia. Definitely worth a listen.


there's banging on the wall
it's 5 am i've no sleep at all
just thoughts of how i might
struggle through tomorow
too much time in one day
too much time to occupy
with boring thoughts
boring moods
boring bedtimes
won't tell a single soul
that my soul's gone
it's hard to write this song
it's all a joke
it's all been wrote down by
someone thats probably dead

So beautiful < 3

I'm glad you like it. Rarely does an album hit me instantly with as much sudden impact as that one did. It's come to mean a lot to me over time. Stunning stuff.

Actually, this has been used, by the military to relax people:


Esp if you have MediaMonkey, or even Audacity to fade it for you.
The ONLY thing that works for me, sometimes...


Look him up, 'Chuck Wild'. Awards for this.
I'm telling ya though, if you fade it out, across say an hour, you will relax...


Robert Rich did some good stuff you can fade 'Seascape'.
Um, Steve Roach, 'Immersion series'...etc. Very nice.


Only a few minutes for me, but....

A friend claims to only fall asleep listening to power metal or Metallica. He's banned from these forums, by the way.

The first side of This Mortal Coil's It'll End in Tears album sends me away into a perfect sleep. Sadly, the second half has the Power Pop of "Not Me" that could break the spell although it is a good song in itself.

If you wanna sleep, listen to Gilles Diederichs : Dodo dans tes bras (sleep in your arms)
Listen to it just ten seconds and you'll really feel slow down, like if the gravity begins to be more intense. You start yowning after one minute even if you're fully awake. :p

Radiohead. That stuff's relaxing as hell.
I can fall asleep to pretty much any type of music though.

I don't usually listen to music when I fall asleep, I prefer to read.

But when I do listen to music, it is usually Keith Jarrett's solo piano improvisations, like the hour long Bremen performance (obviously, I don't listen to the entire thing).

OR something like this.

I used to fall asleep listening to music up to a few years ago but it's something I've started doing again due to my insomnia creeping back. I find that listening to music while falling asleep helps me feel more relaxed and leads to a better nights sleep, instead of sleeping for only 3 hours or so.

As much as a cliche it might seem, it's usually ambient music or gentle acoustic music. The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid has been my album of choice lately. A couple of tracks each night is all I need to send me off to sleep (in the best way).

my go to sleep album:

http://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/9/6/4/29644.jpg

Die Festung by Paysage D'hiver

best paysage album too imo

Dead Can Dance: Aion

Normally I like silence for sleeping but I can deal with this

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CTE19X6RL.jpg

I used to listen to music every night whilst sleeping, but having a roomate has kind of stifled this. When he's not crashing here I like to put on music while I sleep, and I'll go right to sleep and stay as such until sunrise. Any music that I like will do, but I generally listen to drone music like Keiji Haino, Sunn O))), or La Monte Young when I sleep to music.