

Ask HN: What music do you listen to when coding? - fosk

and makes you get deep into the flow
======
wwortiz
Previously: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1525445>

And from almost there:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=716219>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=167076>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=132026>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=61831>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=769769>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=668138>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1209378>

I kind of like classical music if it is slow paced and without singing,
otherwise none is better.

~~~
thetylerhayes
Ditto on the classical music, though there are types with singing I can allow,
such as Pavarotti's Nessun Dorma, Ridi Pagliacco, or any Ave Maria. Anything
by the St. Olaf Choir is A-OK too.

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PilotPirx
Mostly no music at all.

If I listen to music, then it's mostly classics like sonatas by Bach,
Beethoven, Chopin or Mozart. And it's always music that I know very well, so
that it doesn't draw away my attention. For the same reason it's mostly music
with very few instruments. You can't concentrate on coding and a fully
orchestrated symphony the same time. Jazz is another option. Again: Shouldn't
be too complex. More like solo instrument. Keith Jarret playing piano is a
good example.

Less likely other modern music. Singing I experience as distracting. Unless I
don't know the language, so that I'm not tempted to follow it, Jan Garbarek
playing sax together with the Hilliard Ensemble singing in Latin works great.

Though I listen to a lot of different music when I'm not coding.

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RiderOfGiraffes
From <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=716262> \- one of the many times
this question has come up ..

None - I can't code while music is on. Ditto conversation, and ditto doing
math.

There was something in PeopleWare (I think) about an experiment done with
people listening to music. Those listening to their preferred music performed
about as well as those who preferred silence and got it, and about as well as
those who preferred music, but had silence. The group that preferred silence
but had music performed, unsurprisingly, comparatively badly.

The sting in the tail was this. The task they were given had an "Aha!" insight
buried in it. Namely, the full set of transforms they'd been asked to
implement turned out to be trivial, although the individual components
weren't.

All the programmers who had the "Aha!" moment had silence, regardless of their
preference. No one with music saw the short cut.

I've since tried to find concrete evidence to support this anecdote, either
papers, or first hand accounts, but the recounting in PeopleWare remains the
only reference I have.

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malandrew
I don't know if this is true, but I read somewhere that listening to music
while coding can interfere with coming up with creative solutions when you are
stuck on a coding problem.

The reasoning behind this claim was that music "occupies" your right brain
leaving only your left brain working on the task.

I don't know the validity of this claim as I haven't seen any academic studies
backing it up.

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mechanical_fish
None whatsoever if I can possibly help it. When music is on I listen to music,
pretty much inevitably, and to the detriment of my focus on anything else.

In noisy situations I listen to ambient music. This is, frankly, not music I
listen to at any other time, but it serves its design purpose of filling the
sonic space without overly engaging my attention.

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bobds
Usually no music at all. I work best when it's quiet and peaceful, that's why
I love getting up at 6am.

When I need a bit of noise I usually hit SomaFM. They have lots of great
stations for coding, I recommend Mission Control, Drone Zone or Space Station
Soma.

<http://somafm.com/>

~~~
phatbyte
Awesome radios. Loved it, thanks for the tip

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serverdude
I am a musician (singer) and i can not listen to anything without focusing on
music - so I like silence when I am coding:)

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high5ths
I love listening to Steve Reich while I'm working -- minimalist music but with
sexy harmonies. I'm a musician so I can't put anything too aurally interesting
on, but Reich puts me in the right place. Try it sometime. _Music for 18
Musicians_ is a good place to start.

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osuburger
I don't really know why, but I always listen to some 90's music when I code.
Third Eye Blind, Barenaked Ladies, Goo Goo Dolls, things like that.I just get
in the zone when I have a good 90's playlist going on Pandora.

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RealGeek
Trance / Progressive / House music gets me into the flow.

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victorp
Calipsonian sung by a 80 year old. Don't know why. <http://goo.gl/P14i>

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wittgenstein
Bach (usually played by Glenn Gould), Scarlatti.

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happy4crazy
Ticking pomodoro clock and/or Ke$ha on repeat.

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adityakothadiya
Mornings nature sounds; afternoon trance.

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niico
you guys should listen "Gotan Project" which is a "electronic tango" totally
recommended

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tgriesser
'animals' - pink floyd

~~~
BarkMore
Speaking of PF, I am enjoying the new David Gilmour & The Orb album. There's a
special headphone mix that I listen to when working.

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rsmaniak
Easy money by KC

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AlexMuir
Groove salad.

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ahi
goa-psy on di.fm

------
Omnipresent
sinatara

