
"Do you listen to music while coding?" An analysis. - steveklabnik
http://themoah.posterous.com/music-work
======
chegra
"During the 1960s, researchers at Cornell University conducted a series of
tests on the effects of working with music. They polled a group of computer
science students and divided the students into two groups, those who liked to
have music in the background while they worked (studied) and those who did
not.

Then they put half of each group together in a silent room, and the other half
of each group in a different room equipped with earphones and a musical
selection. Participants in both rooms were given a Fortran programming problem
to work out from specification. To no one's surprise, participants in the two
rooms performed about the same in speed and accuracy of programming. As any
kid who does his arithmetic homework with the music on knows, the part of the
brain required for arithmetic and related logic is unbothered by music—there's
another brain center that listens to the music.

The Cornell experiment, however, contained a hidden wildcard. The
specification required that an output data stream be formed through a series
of manipulations on numbers in the input data stream. For example,
participants had to shift each number two digits to the left and then divide
by one hundred and so on, perhaps completing a dozen operations in total.
Although the specification never said it, the net effect of all the operations
was that each output number was necessarily equal to its input number. Some
people realized this and others did not. Of those who figured it out, the
overwhelming majority came from the quiet room.

Many of the everyday tasks performed by professional workers are done in the
serial processing center of the left brain. Music will not interfere
particularly with this work, since it's the brain's holistic right side that
digests music. But not all of the work is centered in the left brain. There is
that occasional breakthrough that makes you say "Ahah!" and steers you toward
an ingenious bypass that may save months or years of work. The creative leap
involves right-brain function. If the right brain, is busy listening to 1001
Strings on Muzak, the opportunity for a creative leap is lost.

The creativity penalty exacted by the environment is insidious. Since
creativity is a sometime thing anyway, we often don't notice when there is
less of it. People don't have a quota for creative thoughts. The effect of
reduced creativity is cumulative over a long period. The organization is less
effective, people grind out the work without a spark of excitement, and the
best people leave."-Peopleware[[http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-
Projects-Teams-S...](http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-
Teams-Second/dp/0932633439)]

~~~
quanticle
I agree that silence is probably better than any sort of music for
programming. Unfortunately, that's not the choice programmers often have to
deal with. Usually, its a choice between music and the usual office
distractions (other people's conversations, the noise of people moving around,
etc.) In those cases any sort of music to block out background noise is a
godsend. Having headphones on also signals to visitors that one is busy and
that interruptions should be only for important things.

~~~
awolf
Headphones and white noise can serve the same purpose as silence.

------
DevX101
I don't listen to music with words. My brain's language processing unit goes
into action, and disrupts my ability to code.

Instrumentals, electronic music, or classical music are fine.

~~~
jfb
This. 100% this. Although, there are times, particularly when deep-diving into
someone else's trainwreck, where you know that futility and defeat are the
order of the day, when I'll put on Godspeed! You Black Emperor's "Dead Flag
Blues":

    
    
      The car's on fire, there's no driver at the wheel
      and the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides.
    

Sorta sets the mood.

~~~
iuguy
I've found when doing network pentesting there's a very different set of music
that works well for me compared to web app pentesting. For network testing I
tend to start with movie soundtracks before moving up to rock instrumentals
like east Hastings then on to harder and harder rock/metal before hitting
cradle of filth.

On web app tests I normally find plaid or other ambient electronica works
better for me.

For coding I find that swing, jazz and blues works best. I've been listening
to a lot of cab Calloway of late which is mostly instrumental or scat focused.
If theres too much by way of lyrics or if it's too catchy it tends to disrupt
my concentration though.

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JSig
When coding I usually only listen to music if it's an album that I have
listened to at least 5+ times. This works for me in that my brain seems to
know exactly what parts/songs are coming next and they are no
surprises/distractions.

Mixes and things like last.fm are no good because I always have to stop to see
what is playing.

~~~
DannoHung
I listen to one particular song that I've found very mellow and repetitive
(the album cut of DJ Shadow - What Does Your Soul Look Like [Part 4]). It
helps remove outside noise and get me in the zone quicker.

I just stick it on repeat. It segues in and out to itself nicely too.

I was thinking about getting some other ambient music, but it can be hard to
set up a good playlist.

------
tomstuart
I find it very hard to concentrate while listening to music, but even harder
while overhearing other people's conversations, so occasionally the headphones
must go on.

Of course, headphones also mildly discourage others from interrupting, but
that's no way to live your life.

~~~
InclinedPlane
For the life of me I don't understand why cubicles are the norm for developer
offices. There have been numerous studies showing the productivity effects of
open offices vs individual offices. And many more studies on the importance of
concentration and the destructive power of interruptions.

Do people value programmer productivity so little that they're willing to
throw so much of it away to save a few dollars in real estate costs?

~~~
eftpotrm
I've tried having this conversation so many times at my current place! We
don't just have an open plan office, we have a _huge_ open plan office with a
mix of developers, client facing staff, managers, secretaries, phones going
off, people wandering through to the kitchen or toilets, small meetings going
on around tables.... It's a terrible work environment for actually getting to
focus on what you're doing, yet any suggestion that we might do better with
more secluded, private space is met with ridicule.

A new head honcho is not long in post, and has decided to make his mark by
moving the entire department into newly refurbished offices at a cost I
understand that's about equal to 3 months salary per head. The plan is for
long rows of desks so we'll have even higher density and less private space.
I'm not optimistic for its effects on the department.

~~~
docgnome
I work in an open plan office as well... And it is a mix of client facing
staff and developers. For them it works really well. Not so much for us devs.
Sennheiser CX300-B's are a real life saver. I tend to listen to Daft Punk or
other music that I know really well (with the general exception of classical).
I have found that brown noise also works very well.

~~~
eftpotrm
I've got the music and some reasonable headphones, but I still find it pretty
poor. Partly because an iPod on shuffle really isn't very good for filtration
unless you set up a lot of enormously long and specific playlists and that
takes forever!

For someone else who asked about HH's desk location - yes, he actually moved
from his precessor's private office into the bearpit. However he spends so
long in meetings that he's very rarely at his desk. Which also helps to
explain the new 'clear desk' policy that will leave the office looking
immaculately tidy overnight for the cleaners, security and any burglars ;-)

------
JangoSteve
I'm surprised hip hop isn't on the chart at all. Am I the only one who listens
to it while coding? I switch between that and hard rock.

I've never really had any problems with words in music being a distraction. I
read somewhere that singing and talking/writing are two completely separate
parts of the brain, which is why some stroke or brain damage are able to sing
before they can talk.

Also, I prefer speakers to headphones, which is one of the reasons I opted for
an actual office instead of working out of a coworking space.

~~~
jat850
I echo your tastes, probably. I bounce around from The Prodigy to Nine Inch
Nails to A Tribe Called Quest, to Tool or Rage Against the Machine.

And I find listening to music of any kind helps me fall into zone-coding a lot
faster.

------
blhack
I actually listen to television while coding, almost always Futurama or It's
Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I've gone through all of the seasons of Futurama
3-4 times in the last couple of months (at least it seems that way), and gone
through the latest season of "Sunny" about the same.

Something about Futurama especially is just the right (I don't have a property
to describe this...) color to keep my brain right in the sweet spot.

I actually feel a bit bad for netflix because of this. I'm almost constantly
streaming futurama in my house, it wouldn't surprise me if they were losing
money on me as a customer.

------
Tycho
I now listen to white noise while coding. I have an mp3 called 'Lost In Space'
from a CD called 'White Noise Therapy,' which I play on repeat. It's the sort
of sound effect they use in sci fi films when a big space freighter drifts
onto screen. It helps because I can turn it up to shut out other sounds, but
there's nothing there to follow or analyse whatsoever. I get a nice clear head
with that.

Sometimes though if my concentration is more robust for whatever reason then I
can afford to listen to some music - usually instrumental jazz or classical.

~~~
wazoox
Do you know <http://www.simplynoise.com/> ?

------
atldev
I was never able to listen to music while coding until someone here on HN
suggested creating an Abakus channel on Pandora. Now it's Pavlovian, and I
find I'm able to get into flow sooner. Even if it's psychological, I'll take
it.

~~~
elblanco
You're welcome! :D

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1525865>

(may have been me)

~~~
atldev
Yep- that's the one. Thanks!

------
brianmwang
I'm a huge metal head, but unfortunately most of that music easily distracts,
whether it's the vocals, some killer riff, a favorite solo, etc. I think a big
reason I've been adding some post-rock (Sigur Ros), trip-hop (Massive Attack)
and dubstep (Burial) to my playlist is because they're moody yet rarely
depressing. The vocals are minimal, the beats slow paced, and the samples
interesting but not distracting. A new favorite of mine these days is the Lush
channel on Soma FM.

------
baddox
I love music, but I've never been able to work while listening to music. If
it's music I enjoy, it consumes my attention (see quote below), especially if
I'm familiar with the specific songs. I don't like listening to music on
"broadcast," so I'll almost never enjoy a Pandora station even of a genre I
generally enjoy.

 _"Music is the pleasure the human soul experiences from counting without
being aware that it is counting."_ -Gottfried Leibniz

------
steveklabnik
Personally, my friends and I have started listing to Dubstep. Just few enough
vocals to be distracting, but still interesting.

~~~
krakensden
Personal collections or something like glitch.fm?

~~~
steveklabnik
Either by typing "dubstep" into Pandora, or <http://dubstep.fm/>

I'll check out glitch, though, thanks!

------
yesno
Music or not I'm guessing the problem that most people (programmers, in this
case) have is the inability to focus/concentrate for a certain period of time
and what they do is to find something to cling on.

What if maybe the way we work as a developer can be improved? What if we
should think outside the box and be a problem solver not just in coding, but
also in real-life?

How about breaking a big task into smaller chunks of 5 minutes tasks? I've
seen plenty software developers who just put their head down and start coding
immediately without some planning. I've seen developers to take on complex
problems with no plan or strategy.

What if the problem can be solved within 5 minutes, the developer should grab
a few other developers and start brainstorming? Make a decision tree. List
options.

I mean... it's not that all of us need to solve Google type of problems. Even
a Math exam question can be done (and should be done) within 5-15 minutes.

------
kgutteridge
regular listener to the following online radio stations, falling in that 22%
who listen to electronic

Sense.fm (trance), chilltrax, Trance clubber

I think the main reason is when in the office environment other peoples
conversations is more distracting than music, so a good pair of headphones
really helps

------
Keyframe
When i studied traditional animation (drawing), I was always reminded not to
listen to music while working... I picked up the habit even while coding and
doing anything basically. I also had a problem of concentrating or being in
the zone while listening to music while working... however, as of recently,
I've tried experimenting with listening to music while working, again. I found
that I have no problems with concentration anymore, and I find it quite
enjoyable working along with music - BUT, I found out that I do less work
while listening to music as opposed to sans music. Not by a large margin, but
I think I'll listen to music from now on, since it's more enjoyable
experience.

------
briancurtin
I usually end up listening to bands like Sunn or Om. Super slow, heavy, and
they don't take over what I'm doing.

When I put on faster paced metal of any variety I find myself tapping my feet
with the bass drums and then tapping with my fingers, then I'm hooked.

------
blocke
I think oomwriter (<http://www.ommwriter.com/en/>) is a good demonstration of
ambient music and typing sounds. Sadly the editor sucks for coding and I deal
with three platforms, not just Mac.

I freaking love this little music track from oomwriter:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbwNmPK9kGA>

I've been trying to assemble a collection of similar ambient music and haven't
yet figured out the magic words to feed Google.

Edit: Oh hey, the youtube vid mentions the composer put together an album.
Must buy.

~~~
davidchua
I've been trying to find out music like this on shoutcast! If you know of any
streams that play this type of music, do share.

------
endtime
I guess I'm in the 22% that listens to either rock or hard rock...but it has
to be my own music collection. If a song I've never heard before comes on, I'm
liable to get distracted.

------
jakerocheleau
It may seem cliche fancy but I can go for hours with smooth jazz sax in the
background. no lyrics help me focus on the task at hand while my mind can be
in a relaxing/stimulating environment.

By this I mean most jazz music is slow-tempered and chill-out while also
offering impressive musical talent for lead instruments (sax solos, piano,
strings...). This is just what works for me - a buddy of mine swears on the
Kingdom Hearts soundtrack.

------
tempest67
I wonder if being able to code while listening to music has anything to do
with gender; I am a female developer, and can't listen to any kind of music at
all while programming -- I find it as distracting as if a cat were jumping on
the keyboard. Perhaps because female brains tend to have more connections
across the halves? (...or perhaps because I'm a musician myself, and process
music differently?)

~~~
TheSOB88
I'm a dude who's also a musician and can't think while while listening to
music. However, some coding tasks don't really need music, so I'll listen to
it from time to time.

------
awolf
I use to work in a noisy office environment where silence wasn't really an
option. The best solution was noise canceling headphones and a white noise
generator. I now prefer this over silence any day.

Here's a great native Mac OS app for that (source available):

<http://code.google.com/p/noisier/>

I has White, Pink, and Brown noise with an adjustable filter.

------
joshfinnie
Give me some Synth Pop anytime when I am working. I don't mind the words for
two reasons: 1) usually they are distorted enough for me not to really
understand them or 2) I know the song so much singing along is a nice break.

Try out some Hot Chip next time you are in the coding zone and tell me you are
not in love ;-)

------
davidcuddeback
I was hoping this was going to be an analysis of how listening habits
correlate with productivity. I'm sure it comes down to personal preference and
a host of other factors, but it'd still be interesting to see if there's a
statistical difference between different genres or no music at all.

------
sterwill
I have an office with a door that closes, but I usually leave it open and play
Soma FM's Drone Zone quietly in the background. No vocals, little to no
rhythm, and helps to put my mind in a slightly far-away place where it's just
me and the problem I'm working on.

------
grammr
I listen to music about half the time I'm coding, but I almost always have my
Bose QC 15's on. Wearing them with no music playing blocks a ton of
distracting noise out. While expensive, they're one of the best investments
I've ever made.

------
robryan
A problem I have is repetition, a song can be really good but it quickly loses
appeal if I listen to it multiple times without other songs in between.

Like others here lyrics don't really bother me because I'm listening to stuff
I have heard before.

------
ScottBurson
Interesting. I find the only kind of music I can listen to that doesn't seem
(as far as I can tell, at least) to interfere with my ability to do hard
creative work is deep ambient: Steve Roach, Robert Rich, that kind of thing.

------
indrekj
I can't stand total silence. There must be some music, people or I'll go
crazy.

------
motters
I can confirm the experience of others in that I have no particular problem
listening to music while coding, but music with distinguishable lyrics is more
disruptive to concentration.

------
contextfree
It really depends on the situation. If I have a clear direction to go in music
can help keep me in the zone, especially jazz. If I'm unsure, it can just be
distracting.

------
karl11
Pandora > Create New Station > "Ratatat".

------
axod
I watch movies and TV comedies while I code often. If not, I usually have
music TV on. Working from home rocks.

------
sjs
I listen to any or all of those depending on my mood (including silence,
excluding white noise).

------
lbrdn
I've been using nature sounds recently. No words, no song changes, and
relaxing.

------
StanDarsh
AOL Radio 00's and 90's Alternative channel, sucka!!!!

------
Andrewski
Ugh. E-Branding.

On topic, music without lyrics is the way to go.

------
CopyrightTroll
Every time you code and listen to music, should you be paying the musician for
the performance? I say yes.

~~~
jwhitney
Only if I get paid every time someone runs the code.

