How does one "Get lost in the music"?

However accomplished, you have to avoid any distractions and
yes really be able to focus to get lost, whether that comes
naturally or more commonly if it requires a lot of effort.
Bottom line is you must FOCUS!

Don't know about any "higher planes" of conscience,
but yoga is a lot about being able to get by everyday
distractions and focus on how you are feeling, both physically
and mentally.

There is one known surefire cure...major upgrade!

Hi everyone, it's been a while. System upgrade completed (could've bought a nice new car instead); everything finally broken-in. Happy beyond expectations with the life-like sound, which often sweeps me away. Hence, it was impossible to resist this thread.

Leicachamp,
To me, forcing myself to listen critically, struggling with my mind and trying to concentrate on getting lost in the music doesn't sound like any fun at all. When I was a budding audiophile, I definitely remember feeling stressed out when listening, as Douglas mentioned in this thread. My heart would actually start racing as I listened –– quite the opposite of a meditative state. Now, after 30 years of daily shock therapy, I only listen when I feel like it, when the music calls me –– which seems natural and sustainable. And since my living room is also my listening room (successful WAF negotiation), whenever I have the house to myself I have a 8-minute ritual that converts the space into the Man-Cave. This transformation further heightens anticipation of my session, making it more of a special event.

ManCave protocols include moving the couch back, removing the coffee table, positioning the listening chair in the sweet spot, leaning the big pillows against the walls at the point of first reflections, folding over the area rug to reveal the speaker positioning marks and pulling the Thiel 3.7s away from the wall (they have outrigger spikes resting in Herbie's Brass/Teflon Gliders) and aligning them perfectly with those marks. If I'm really going for it, I'll turn all the Home Theater 5.1 speakers (which are completely separate from my 2 channel gear, but alas, are still in the same room) away from the listening triangle and put a thick folded towel over the HT's center channel to silence any rouge vibrations. Then, I turn off the fridge (yup), grab the VAC remote, get a glass of water, pick a ultra-sonically cleaned album, flick on the turntable light, kill the room lights, drop the stylus in the lead groove, then plant my butt in my chair, turn up the volume to "venue transportation level," take a deep breath and most importantly, close my eyes! Above all, if you want to get lost in the music, the most important element is closing your eyes the whole time. If you do this already, you know how surreal and odd it feels to have the music end, open your eyes and realize where you actually are.

I don't think this getting lost in music thing is an ability or skill for me it's listening to music I love that is superbly recorded (for me, on vinyl) on a system at whatever price point that hangs together well enough to transport you to the recording venue and involve you emotionally in the experience.

Alonski,
Well said!I undergo a similar ritual,and it is indeed surreal,eyes closed and the room as dark as possible.Just me and the musicians.

There are no rules (yet) regarding the right or wrong way to listen. Hopefully we never come to that.

It's a hobby. Hobbies are for fun! That's the only requirement. Nothing else really matters.

I am a techie so I enjoy the technical aspects of what goes into good listening. Its a very synergistic pair of interests since technology is the thing that enables us to listen to recorded music.

In situations where one wnts to be able to enjoy something but finds they cannot, my best advice is to keep it as simple as possible. Audiophiles tend to do the opposite over time, always making things more complex than perhaps they need to be? Avoid that trap. Keep it simple. Once you have something simple that works for you, then maybe try to make it better, but beware the traps that come along with any form of excessive compulsive behavior.