
Ask HN: What do you listen to when you code? - kreeWall
Individual songs, playlists, artists, all suggestions welcome!
======
Bahamut
Generally power metal here - Nightwish, Blind Guardian, Helloween, Gamma Ray,
Angra, Edguy, HammerFall, Manowar, Kamelot, older Sonata Arctica, Demons &
Wizards, etc.

Sometimes I'll venture into some female-fronted metal bands like Within
Temptation or Delain too.

Regular heavy metal also is always fine - Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, some Dio.

Dream Theater is also quite a great progressive metal band, as well as their
side project Liquid Tension Experiment.

Some solo guitarists make some great stuff - one of my personal favorites is
Kiko Loureiro (Angra, Megadeth).

As far as non-metal artists I'll listen to while coding, one of my favorites
is Gary Moore - he was an extraordinarily prolific artist, one of the most
genre spanning more mainstream artists I listen to. I also like listening to
Kate Bush as well.

I've listened to music of a lot of different genres too outside those whose
artists I have listed - this might not work for everyone though. If I'm
listening to something I like, I'm happy and generally avoid being distracted.

~~~
avenius
Wes? ;)

Also, ditto - Prog and power metal seems to kickstart my brain and has often
helped me out of nonproductive slumps.

------
wristmittens
Digitally Imported has a very wide range of, well, digital music.

They have some free ad supported streams but the annual cost of ad-free $70 is
totally worth it in my opinion.

My current favorite channels are Chillstep, Liquid DnB, Nu Disco, Chill &
Tropical House. Various levels of repetitive bass to keep your leg and fingers
twitching, and differing tempos to either raise or lower your heart rate,
depending on what you need in the moment.

Web Browser Flash or mobile apps. [http://www.di.fm](http://www.di.fm)

~~~
zumu
I haven't been on di since the early 2000's. Glad to see it's still around.

------
RUG3Y
I like synthwave stuff when I'm programming.

favorites:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1s9SmrQRE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1s9SmrQRE)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3NoYyNKSXQ&t=1672s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3NoYyNKSXQ&t=1672s)

------
glasnoster
I mostly listen to these sets:

[https://musicforprogramming.net/](https://musicforprogramming.net/)

I also like these SomaFM stations:

[https://somafm.com/deepspaceone/](https://somafm.com/deepspaceone/)

[https://somafm.com/spacestation/](https://somafm.com/spacestation/)

[https://somafm.com/sf1033/](https://somafm.com/sf1033/)

------
lgunsch
I don't listen to anything when coding. I need the silence, and deep thought.
However, when I'm doing trivial things, I listen to classical music. Usually
"Essential Classical", or something similar, on Google Music.

------
mindcrime
It varies. Sometimes I listen to my "stock" music - hard rock and heavy metal
of all varieties, with a special focus on 80's era glam metal, speed metal,
and thrash metal.

Other times it's various forms of electronic music. House, trance, europop,
Hi-NRG, synthwave/darkwave, etc.

And then sometimes I go with classical music. Bach, Vivaldi, Verdi, Wagner,
Strauss, Orff, etc.

As far as specifics go, here's some stuff I've listened to lately:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8OELzmpgZo&list=PL7F37BB1A6...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8OELzmpgZo&list=PL7F37BB1A67E0238D)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9oTQzwXYXk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9oTQzwXYXk)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hd8Or1RrYs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hd8Or1RrYs)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4oZZhpMXP4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4oZZhpMXP4)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyfL9LC1DC4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyfL9LC1DC4)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajF2NOuYkjk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajF2NOuYkjk)

[https://youtu.be/-7Q61fH-03E](https://youtu.be/-7Q61fH-03E)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGMJ2b-3eCk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGMJ2b-3eCk)

One other thing I'll sometimes do is put on a movie in the background, with
the volume turned down fairly low... just enough that I hear some babble and
noise, but not enough that I get caught up in what's going on. This only works
if I use a movie I've seen / heard many times, so I already know what's
happening and won't get drawn into the story. So, something like The Matrix,
Antitrust, Tron:Legacy, Hackers, Sneakers, The Social Network, etc.

------
vram22
Rarely Heard Ragas by Vilayat Khan (sitar) is very good for listening to while
working, IMO. Similarly other mild melodies on stringed instruments. Relaxes
you while you work.

[https://jugad2.blogspot.com/2013/10/music-video-sitar-
vilaya...](https://jugad2.blogspot.com/2013/10/music-video-sitar-vilayat-khan-
rarely.html)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilayat_Khan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilayat_Khan)

Edit(s):

Vivaldi's Four Seasons is another good one for this.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Seasons_(Vivaldi)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Seasons_\(Vivaldi\))

Barclay James Harvest. The story of how they got their name is interesting :)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barclay_James_Harvest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barclay_James_Harvest)

------
quantummkv
I generally listen to heavy metal, classic and hard rock that tends a bit
towards prog with long sections and a bit of classical, epic feel to them.
Something like Dio-era Rainbow, Led Zeppelin and Iron Maiden.

A few favorites:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6CjO0H2j0s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6CjO0H2j0s)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYrW3yONR44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYrW3yONR44)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVid_fLzN5g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVid_fLzN5g)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDwotNLyz10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDwotNLyz10)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J51LPlP-s9o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J51LPlP-s9o)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTqv59JXMUk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTqv59JXMUk)

------
laurencei
I love this Spotify list:
[https://open.spotify.com/user/ruhin94/playlist/0bG1EMQkukEeO...](https://open.spotify.com/user/ruhin94/playlist/0bG1EMQkukEeO7vvcQQQYU)

Over 22 hours of powerful movie, game soundtracks.

Gets updated with new songs all the time.

------
vcanales
Deep house, or other kinds of repetitive electronic music. Even though I'm
usually a rock/jazz person, this music is perfect some times: very chill
parties, dancing alone but surrounded by people, programming. Sometimes
commuting.

It's relaxing, rather dronic but with enough variation to not be boring.

------
neuroticfish
Four Tet, Burial, Aphex Twin, µ-Ziq, etc.

~~~
droidist2
Nice choices! Boards of Canada too?

------
olingern
Pinback has recently helped me write a ton of code.

Tool, A Perfect Circle, Ashes Divide for a mellow, metal mood.

Vitamin String Quartet when I want something familiar, but classical in taste

Nicklecreek, Chris Thile, Old Crow Medicine Show, Punch Brothers for a folk
fix.

Kid Ory when a need a New Orleans Jazz pick-me-up

------
photik
Chill stuff/Wave music

[https://soundcloud.com/dvrksea/youre-in-my-
life](https://soundcloud.com/dvrksea/youre-in-my-life)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4w7vgHnrYA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4w7vgHnrYA)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1yBhxn7H5o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1yBhxn7H5o)

Can't listen if I'm venturing into new territory; learning requires quiet.
Otherwise it's Wave music. eg wave, vaporwave, synthwave, witch house, future
funk, future beats etc

------
jabwork
Music with minimal words (which I find distracting) but often with vocals.
Usually an album at a time e.g.,

Ibiza chill sessions (annual albums) Melody AM The altogether Little dragon
(NPR remix)

a lot of electric guitar - Steve Vai, joe satriani

------
Finnucane
Mostly various forms of jazz--lately I've been on a roll with Pharaoh Sanders
and Sun Ra. But the key thing is I find it distracting to hear voices while
I'm trying to work. So mostly music with no vocals.

~~~
droidist2
I feel the same way about vocals but I also try to avoid jazz with horn solos,
so I stick to piano jazz like Hiromi, Ahmad Jamal, or Chick Corea.

------
peapicker
Autechre. Monolake. Aphex Twin. Boards of Canada. Spahn Ranch. Tycho. μ-Ziq.
Loscil. Plaid. Kangding Ray. Emptyset. Shackleton. The Black Dog.

Also an assortment of Psy-Trance, Coldwave, and Industrial generes.

------
allwein
Anything in a language that I don't personally know. I find that the foreign
language lyrics just pass through my brain freely whereas an English or
Spanish song will sometimes grab my attentions because my brain is picking up
the words. So lately it's been a lot of J-Pop and K-Pop. I used to listen to a
bunch of German industrial music, but I've recently been learning German and
so that's starting to interfere.

------
foobarchu
A little bit of everything...but when I really need to be productive I always
put on the 'Tragic Boogie' album by The Life and Times.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7mReSQ-
CZs&list=PLFNYv0PFOF...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7mReSQ-
CZs&list=PLFNYv0PFOFQqPGhdIJGxryfkrO04l3qk9)

It's been my go-to for 7 or 8 years now. Something about it just triggers the
best of my skills to come out.

~~~
0x54MUR41
When I access that playlist, it shows the video is not available.

~~~
foobarchu
Interesting, it still loads when I try.

It's on bandcamp as well, though:
[https://thelifeandtimes.bandcamp.com/album/tragic-
boogie](https://thelifeandtimes.bandcamp.com/album/tragic-boogie)

------
b3b0p
Depends on what I'm coding.

Sometimes I will put on old episodes of Retronauts
([https://retronauts.com](https://retronauts.com)). Otherwise I will usually
listen to OCRemix Radio / Rainwave
([https://rainwave.cc](https://rainwave.cc)), a SiriusXM station, or an album
I'm familiar with.

------
dubya
I have this weird memory of Tom Hudson, former Atari developer who I think
ended up at Autocad, listening to the Rambo II soundtrack while developing.
Not sure why this memory stuck.
[http://www.atarimagazines.com/startv3n3/programunderpres.htm...](http://www.atarimagazines.com/startv3n3/programunderpres.html)

------
mtmail
Chicago's 911.
[http://youarelistening.to/chicago](http://youarelistening.to/chicago) For
some reason and in my timezone difference to Chicago it puts my brain into
coding mode, sometimes hours. I doubt anybody else around me would enjoy that.

------
lodestone6
[http://musicforprogramming.net/](http://musicforprogramming.net/)

[https://soundcloud.com/hex-ane/sets/sojourn-ep](https://soundcloud.com/hex-
ane/sets/sojourn-ep)

------
dmach
It used to have more but there is still a lot of choice.
[http://mikesradioworld.com/](http://mikesradioworld.com/) Cycle through BBC
and Irish stations. Saving regular ones in Rhythmbox or VLC on my phone.

------
kagx
When I want to be super productive I'm listening to The Lord of The Rings
Soundtrack. It feels like I'm doing some epic coding things. Just imagine when
you are doing git push while there is Themes Of The Rohirrim playing.

------
faizmokhtar
Daft Punk - Tron Legacy Reconfigured

Spotify Link:
[https://open.spotify.com/album/6yT9Q73eTMfx1aDWJiCVIt](https://open.spotify.com/album/6yT9Q73eTMfx1aDWJiCVIt)

Never fails to get me in the mood.

Edit: Add link to album

------
randack
Anamanaguchi or "Pogo"
([https://www.youtube.com/user/Fagottron/](https://www.youtube.com/user/Fagottron/))
station on Pandora

------
jerrylives
Grateful Dead shows on the Internet Archive.

They're free. They're long so you don't need to be interrupted to change a
track. The really spacey jams put you in a creative mindspace.

Plus, one of the songwriters founded the EFF!

------
MrDosu
An orchestra of fellow developer fingers dancing on mechanical keyboards!

------
TheAlchemist
This one works really well for me, when working (discovered thanks to HN !):
[https://www.brain.fm](https://www.brain.fm)

~~~
joshmn
Seconded. Love it.

------
sotojuan
Classical chamber music, white noise, YouTube videos of people playing video
games, the customer service people on the phone sitting 5 feet away from me.

------
mattbgates
Muchado in the Classic Rock and Techno/Trance genres, and 80s music, but
sometimes outside of it too.

From Moby, Pink Floyd, Lindsey Stirling, Disturbed, and M83 are common.

------
scottwernervt
Podcasts in the morning and [http://www.di.fm/](http://www.di.fm/) in the
afternoon.

------
MithrilTuxedo
cat /dev/urandom | sox -traw -r44100 -b16 -e unsigned-integer - -tcoreaudio
synth pinknoise band -n 1400 200 tremolo 40 .1 gain 8

~~~
8draco8
I wanted to check it out. Installed sox on Ubuntu 17.04 and it's not working

    
    
        sox FAIL formats: no handler for given file type `coreaudio'

~~~
grover_hartmann
You need to replace coreaudio with pulseaudio, try this instead:

    
    
        cat /dev/urandom | sox -traw -r44100 -b16 -e unsigned-integer - -tpulseaudio synth pinknoise band -n 1400 200 tremolo 40 .1 gain 8

------
BooneJS
Anything without lyrics. Classical music is my normal target, but some of
Reznor's electronic soundtracks for movies works well too.

------
wreath
Any sound my colleagues make.

------
zumu
Techno and deep house are my go tos. Generally, listening via soundcloud.

------
SirLJ
Sports Radio - you have to know everything about your favorite teams :-)

------
cm2012
Songs similar to the soundtrack from RWBY

------
junke
My inner voice.

------
mrnaught
Hans zimmer instrumental.

------
Fjolsvith
Tangerine Dream, Vangelis

