
Ask HN: What music helps you code better? - wizardofmysore
Techno? House? Classical Piano? Pop? No music? What helps you code better?
======
whak
Mostly music with no lyrics. That’s key.

I’m currently enjoying brain.fm set to 30 minutes and synced with a 30 minute
pomodoro timer. I enjoyed the trial enough to purchase a lifetime membership
(using a discount code) as I feel much more productive, especially when
combined with some Bose noise-cancelling headphones. I’ve spent more money on
less productive things so I figured “why the hell not?”. It may just pay for
itself.

If not brain.fm, then I’d prefer to listen to movie soundtracks, such as
Another Earth, I Origins, Manglehorn, or The Wilderness.

Some artists I’ve enjoyed while coding:

Piano: Ludovico Einaudi, Dirk Maassen, Johann Johannssen, Olafur Arnolds, Joep
Beving

Electronic: Tricky, Moderat (particularly the instrumental album).

Heavy Rock: Earthless, Russian Circles

Post Rock: Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, This Will Destroy You

~~~
ConcernedCoder
I agree about 'no lyrics', at least in my experience, being the key to coding
productively while listening to music.

What I'm wondering is, what is it about music WITH lyrics, which interferes
with coding? ... is it the language processing side of the brain being
overloaded or just distracted from the task at hand ( which would be
translation...right? ) i.e. coding == actively translating tasks and concepts
into a machine's language.

~~~
vk23
For me it works well to listen to music with lyrics that I know so well that I
dont even really listen to the lyrics anymore.

In general I feel like music works better if I know it well.

I like to listen to more distracting music though when doing a "boring" task
that does not require that much brain processing itself.

~~~
whak
Good point! A boring task would definitely free up some of that brain
processing.

My coworker watches tv shows on his second monitor and listens to murder-
mystery podcasts all day since his job mostly entails cranking out web banners
and print ads of various sizes. He could pretty much do it with his eyes
closed, as he’s been doing it for so long. Not to mention he’s just damn good
at his job.

I guess it all depends on how much of your personal processor you can spare
for your current task.

------
lupin3ken
I listen to New Retro Wave and outrunner almost exclusively.

I have also found that video game soundtrack remixes can help to preserve
focus as well.

------
lgessler
For me, the only genre that reliably works is "minimal" music, like stuff by
Steve Reich[1] or Gas[2]. My definition of this genre would be music with no
lyrics that has highly repetitive structures (differentiating it from
"ambient" music, which I find too sleepy to be invigorating).

[1]: Music for 18 Musicians
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXJWO2FQ16c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXJWO2FQ16c)

[2]: Koenigsforst
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehNGoyMf9kU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehNGoyMf9kU)

------
joezydeco
I did an entire project listening to the Steely Dan box set in constant
repeat. Something about the precision and clarity of the studio work does it
for me. I’ll still fire it up when I need to slam something out.

------
poiuytqwer
John Cage's 4'33 on repeat.

------
scorphus
Mostly ProgMetal/Djent. Some artists inspire me a lot while coding:

    
    
      - Plini
      - Intervals
      - David Maxim Micic
      - Arch Echo
      - Animals as Leaders
      - Polyphia
      - Scale the Summit
      - Angel Vivaldi
      - ... etc – a.k.a. their related artists
    

There's also this album I used to listen to while reading Blood Meridian and
nowadays while coding:

    
    
      - Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method by Earth
    

Hope they inspire you too ;-)

~~~
neilsimp1
You and I have similar tastes. I'd also like to through in some names for this
genre... \- Cloudkicker \- Pomegranate Tiger \- The Helix Nebula

Outside of this, I really like video game music while coding. Anything from
the Playstation 1 era, namely the Final Fantasy 6-10 soundtracks, both OST and
orchestra versions. Nobuo Uematsu is incredible.

~~~
scorphus
Nice additions! Your taste is good, sharp! And WOW, Nobuo Uematsu is really
incredible. Thanks for the recommendations!

------
itake
Posted in HN a few weeks ago [0], Someone wrote a pretty good article on the
tricks they use to be more productive developers. At the end, they cover music
genres.

From personal experience, I agree with everything he says. Music with less or
no lyrics keeps me focused more on coding. When a song starts playing with
lyrics that I enjoy, it distracts me from what I am working on. I particularly
enjoy Lo-Fi Hip Hop[1], because there typically are not very many lyrics in
the music and it typically has white noise in the background to help reduce
distracting noises.

[0] - [https://raddevon.com/articles/focus-for-better-work-life-
bal...](https://raddevon.com/articles/focus-for-better-work-life-balance-as-a-
web-developer/)

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

------
polyterative
Ambient, lo-fi, chillstep and garage is the best. I love these so much that I
produce music for coding myself. These are my best playslists
[https://open.spotify.com/user/1167646885/playlist/0adabJ0Yu4...](https://open.spotify.com/user/1167646885/playlist/0adabJ0Yu4hRQ50cakvNNg?si=Jq1ls_FDR3GeNY9uoIpi1Q)
[https://open.spotify.com/user/1167646885/playlist/04uAJE4hhK...](https://open.spotify.com/user/1167646885/playlist/04uAJE4hhKVupggI29x2xy?si=1e3UgpPHSS6zuR61cA0Z3g)

And my own EP
[https://open.spotify.com/album/40Td5u6cbC8iApy1VMopCu?si=uqv...](https://open.spotify.com/album/40Td5u6cbC8iApy1VMopCu?si=uqvnTZvwTp2rtMotXKHOiw)

~~~
trakout
thanks for sharing!

------
jongold
Check out [http://www.focusatwill.com](http://www.focusatwill.com) \- music
designed / curated by neuroscientists for focus

------
chairmanmow
It depends on the day, but for some reason when I really got to get stuff
done, I listen to the theme for Ghostbusters II on repeat all day, Bobby
Brown's "Control." I wonder if my coworkers hear me listening to the theme
from Ghostbusters II all day on repeat and think I'm weird, but I get so much
done with Ghostbusters II theme song. I get too hot to handle, too cold to
hold.

------
FollowSteph3
Anything with a decent tempo (except for Dance Music - too much thoomp thoomp)
that is decent but that I don't know the words to. The important part is not
knowing the words. If you know the words it can pull you out of the zone
without you realizing. As for type I have no specific type, I'm all over the
place, just as long as it follows the above criteria.

~~~
qqn
Haha, that "thoomp thoomp" genre is called "unsa unsa" in some ex-Yugoslav
counties.

------
frobozz
The Dwarf Fortress background music.

Game music (mostly) is designed for a related purpose - setting a mood whilst
also encouraging you to focus on the task at hand (whether it's shooting
aliens or squashing bugs). Film scores are similar.

------
hbcondo714
For coding, it’s usually classic music (no lyrics) but while researching, I’ll
put on techno. No matter the genre though, I will use MusicChoice which is the
streaming service that comes with my cable tv subscription.

------
machtesh
The Social Network Soundtrack
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yydZbVoCbn0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yydZbVoCbn0)

------
AkshayD08
Any music that blocks me from external noise but at the same time doesn't
distract me. Anything without lyrics is best but I have found Classical Piano
works the best for me.

------
axelerator
[https://www.mixcloud.com/prototype202/](https://www.mixcloud.com/prototype202/)

------
HoppyHaus
Depends on the situation, but I've found that hard rock has helped on many
occasion (AC/DC, Steppenwolf)

------
johnsonjo
I’ve been listening to Animals as Leaders recently it’s instrumental and is
kind of Jazzy, and Heavy Metal.

------
blackflame7000
House / Tropical House when typing away, no music when designing

------
gargravarr
I used to write university assignments under the influence of Rush.

------
kirubakaran
Swedish death metal

~~~
bernardino
Gilfoyle?

------
FelipeCortez
musicforprogramming.net is pretty good

------
softwarefounder
down-tempo.

If I'm not doing architecture, emails, or thought provoking tasks, I can get
away with lyrical music.

------
srirangr
"The Dark Knight" OST

------
synaesthesisx
Downtempo (Tycho etc)

------
helsinki
SomaFM Groove Salad

------
machinemob
Nordic Death Metal

------
8bitsrule
Hardcore Gabber.

------
mabynogy
Synthwave.

------
imron
Silence.

------
eurticket
beatbasement / somafm

[http://serv1.beatbasement.com:9622/](http://serv1.beatbasement.com:9622/)

[http://ice1.somafm.com/secretagent-128-mp3](http://ice1.somafm.com/secretagent-128-mp3)

[http://ice1.somafm.com/defcon-256-mp3](http://ice1.somafm.com/defcon-256-mp3)

[http://ice1.somafm.com/deepspaceone-128-mp3](http://ice1.somafm.com/deepspaceone-128-mp3)

[http://ice1.somafm.com/thetrip-128-mp3](http://ice1.somafm.com/thetrip-128-mp3)

[http://ice1.somafm.com/cliqhop-256-mp3](http://ice1.somafm.com/cliqhop-256-mp3)

[http://ice1.somafm.com/earwaves-128-mp3](http://ice1.somafm.com/earwaves-128-mp3)

-

sleepbot

[http://sc13.shoutcaststreaming.us:8194](http://sc13.shoutcaststreaming.us:8194)

[http://sc7.shoutcaststreaming.us:8044](http://sc7.shoutcaststreaming.us:8044)

-

bbc radio
[http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio2_mf_p](http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio2_mf_p)

(bbc radio one)
[http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio1_mf_p](http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio1_mf_p)

(bbc radio fourfm)
[http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio4fm_mf_p](http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio4fm_mf_p)

(bbc radio five live)
[http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio5live_mf_p](http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio5live_mf_p)

(bbc 6music)
[http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_6music_mf_p](http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_6music_mf_p)

(bbc 1xtra)
[http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio1xtra_mf_p](http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio1xtra_mf_p)

(bbc radio four extra)
[http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio4extra_mf_](http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio4extra_mf_)

(bbc world service) [http://bbcwssc.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcwssc_mp1_ws-
eieuk](http://bbcwssc.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcwssc_mp1_ws-eieuk)

------
qop
I listen to old french house classics. It's an odd choice and occasionally the
lyrics or samples distract me, but I figure the potential for distraction is
always there and I'd rather be yanked from concentration into my most pleasant
memories.

I also like some trance music or instrumental movie scores if they're chill
enough.

But it kinda depends on what kind of code im writing. If I'm knee deep in the
guts of some poor program with disassembly and an exploit and pointers
floating in my head, I have a pair of those bose noise canceling that I can
wear for complete silence.

I don't think music is necessarily a good frame for productive coding. At
least not on its own. When I sit down with an intention, I'm just hearing
ambient office noise until something a bit more interesting catches my
attention, I kinda feel that urge to put my seatbelt on, Spotify is just a
reflex, and I'll get to debugging or whatever I'm doing.

I know some guys who have like playlists or whatever queued up for work, but
that's not really how I work. Hell, I know another guy in my department who
wears noise canceling headphones all day every day. That's just how he likes
it.

------
Vanzi
Mostly soft music without lyrics.

\- Luv letter / Flower Dance \- Sakuya2/3 \- REBORN -Dr.ミンチに会いましょ \- 失, 焚梦 |A
Chinese musician 十指流玉 \- A Little Story (etc...)

some Japanese Team Shanghai Alice soft musics

