
Ask HN: What do you listen to while coding (and how)? - dennybritz
Personally I like to listen to electronic music (vocal trance, chillstep, etc) or chillout. However, I haven&#x27;t been able to find a site that gives a continuous stream of good music. So I usually browse mixes on Youtube or mixcloud.com. It gets quite annoying having to manage music every hour or so though.<p>I&#x27;ve never been happy with Pandora or Spotify, their recommendation algorithms bring up the same music (and artists) over and over again.<p>Any recommendations (also open to other types of music)?
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mkal_tsr
Soma.fm for ambient, drone, chillout, lush, and a few other channels.
Otherwise Spotify for streaming most of my music or what I have locally (which
I usually play in an old winamp version). Lots and lots of youtube related
videos for image-only song videos on youtube.

As far as music content, it's usually metal, psybient, folk metal, chillout,
drone, and classic rock.

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Mandatum
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=716219](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=716219)
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=167076](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=167076)
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=132026](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=132026)
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=61831](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=61831)
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=769769](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=769769)
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=668138](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=668138)
[http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1209378](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1209378)

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jlteran
I like listening to Electronic Dance Music because it gets me pumped and I can
code for longer hours at a time. A good source of the latest EDM is Spinnin'
Sessions on Youtube. They roll out 1 hour sessions every Thursday.
[http://bit.ly/1gX4ge6](http://bit.ly/1gX4ge6)

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sytelus
It takes time to "train" Pandora but I've been at it for 3-4 years now seeding
with all the tracks that are great for coding and thumbing up when I hear
something that promotes going in to zen mode. The results are great and now
this is my favorite music source in _everything else_ I've tried out:
[http://www.pandora.com/station/play/164715539305919382](http://www.pandora.com/station/play/164715539305919382).
The status features mostly vocal-free distraction less music with rhythmic
beats that puts you in the zone and occasional uplifting tracks that keeps you
going.

I've also found this music station to be very anti-procrastinating. If you
feel like procrastating, just press the play button and suddenly you would
want to get back to coding :).

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bichiliad
If it's complex / thought intensive, brown noise on
[http://www.noisli.com/](http://www.noisli.com/)

If it's something I can just crank out, and I've thought about the overall
design, I keep a list of soundcloud favorites
([https://soundcloud.com/basik/likes](https://soundcloud.com/basik/likes) and
[http://thudsandrumbles.com/](http://thudsandrumbles.com/)). I always look for
new things, though. Today, I listened to Christopher O'Riley cover Radiohead.

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leostatic
EDM on [http://8tracks.com](http://8tracks.com) most of the time. If not EDM,
then alternative but it's always on 8tracks. I love that site.

~~~
hansy
Trying this site out now; so far really dope tracks. Great recommendation.

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vijayaggarwal
I listen to Vedic chanting. Even though I understand nothing (I know very
little of Sanskrit language), the music itself is very relaxing and helps
concentrate.

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mppatterson
Surprised no one has mentioned Focus at Will
([https://www.focusatwill.com/](https://www.focusatwill.com/)). I've had huge
productivity boosts while listening, whether it's programming or writing
emails. The free version is nice, but the paid version is really worthwhile
since you get a much wider variety of music (it adds an "intensity" option to
each genre).

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a3n
I'm a big fan of quiet. I find that music determines my mental rhythm, and
what I'm thinking about or constructing doesn't have a regular rhythm. For me
personally, music interferes with thinking about something specific, so I only
listen to music when what I'm doing is Listening To Music, or if I'm OK with
letting my thinking wander.

I realize I'm unusual in this.

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hansy
Classical on Pandora. I used to listen to EDM, but I couldn't concentrate on
my work. I guess I subconsciously associate EDM with going out, having fun,
etc so my mind just wanders.

The Classical station on Pandora (at least my station) isn't just the "stuffy"
Beethoven pieces, but also incorporates really cool string or piano covers for
famous songs. Try it out.

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RollAHardSix
Albums that I've listened to a lot. I prefer fast-singing rock bands (Icon For
Hire, Flyleaf), anything 'quick' and with a fast tempo but it's important I
have the lyrics cemented into my brain. Just pick music that makes you FEEL
good and puts you into an excitable mood.

I am also a big fan of game and movie soundtracks. Big, loud orchestral
pieces.

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wglb
Generally, total silence.

If in busy environment, I put on some headphones/earbuds and maybe a little
Dave Brubeck.

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kumarishan
I dont really listen to music. But sometimes I like to run an action packed
movie in the background. The movie shouldn't be new to me, preferably in other
language too. Maybe I like it because of adrenalin rush. :).

Even those rainy moods are better than music.

Music distracts with an urge to sing with it. And with instrumentals I get
bored soon.

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snarkyturtle
Essential Mixes via bootlegged mp3s are awesome to code with.

I've also been following THUMP on Soundcloud and they've been putting up a
fair amount of awesome mixes:
[https://soundcloud.com/thump](https://soundcloud.com/thump)

~~~
dennybritz
Thanks, I really like these mixes.

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existencebox
Goodness. Just about anything, but I guess of note due to unusuality would be
that when I need "motivation music" I'll code to Moombahton/trap/hip hop; It's
the same sort of mood I get into during a good workout.

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davidddavidson
Downtempo -
[http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Programming+Music/60387099](http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Programming+Music/60387099)

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allanmacgregor
[http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Programming001/95161345](http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Programming001/95161345)

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nastynash
You can try deepmix.ru.

It's an Internet radio station where every song is mixed with the following. I
mean, no dj speech, non-stop chill-ambient music.

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Oculus
I'm actually a huge fan of Tycho. I like the music I listen to to be good when
I pay attention, but not overwhelming while coding.

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dankoss
I listen to a variety of stuff on Spotify now but when I listened to EDM more
exclusively I would hit the di.fm online radio stations.

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freewareuser21
sorry, no stream here - just -uhm, a cd in my ps-one

connected to a old tube amp... listening actualy to

thermostatic-"tonight", some "newer" i-hate-this-

place-songs (muste me some songs of the album with

"spaceinvaders" on it), last weekend there was

ramblin dawgs-you let me down on my turntable, and

next weekend there`s a must for "pöbel & gesocks" -

drinking finest... enjoy

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cl8ton
Depending on time of day

I either listen to Reggae (Banton or Tosh) or Swedish House Mafia (Techno) all
via Youtube Channels

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shoo
i've been listening to albums on youtube lately - it recommended me this the
other day:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1v3NeGtm_Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1v3NeGtm_Y)

it's pretty crazy. i (re)wrote a lot of code to it yesterday.

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noiv
[http://www.deepmix.eu/](http://www.deepmix.eu/)

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kafkaesque
Nobody has a Spotify playlist for this?

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publicprivacy
vaporwave /r/Vaporwave

~~~
pizza
late nite music

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ForHackernews
Bubblegum pop on Pandora.

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rdtsc
somafm.com -- drone zone, space station or groove salad stations

~~~
dennybritz
Thanks, I'm giving this a try right now :)

~~~
rdtsc
You're welcome. Mission control on somafm.com is an odd one too. It is a mix
of historic shuttle missions radio chatter and ambient. Sometimes it really
works out well. Sometimes it is so so. Give it a try see what you think

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MarcScott
BBC Radio 4

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pizza
the velvet underground

