
Ask HN: What do you listen to when you code? - zaphar
I find that different people use widely different music styles to help get into their coding flow.<p>What do you typically use when you are starting a coding session?<p>For myself I prefer Metal/Rock from bands like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciple_(band)
======
Kliment
Richard Williams (of Roger Rabbit fame)wrote an excellent book about animation
called "The Animator's Survival Kit". In it he describes (illustrated with
beautiful caricature) how he once asked Milt Kahl
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milt_Kahl>)

"Milt, do you ever listen to classical music when you're working?"

Kahl is illustrated as turning back from his work, towering over Williams and
bellowing

"Of all the s-s-s-stupid god-god-god-damned questions I-I-I-I've ever heard!
I-I-I-I-NEVER heard such a-a-a-f-f-f-f-stupid question! Iy-Iy-Iy-Iy-I'm not
smart enough to think of more than one thing at a time!"

The author is then pictured with "Animation is concentration" written across
the back of his shirt.

I tend to agree with this sentiment when it comes to programming. If you can't
have quiet, find a place where you can to start new projects. Music is to be
enjoyed, and I enjoy music most when it's the thing I focus most on. I can
listen to music when cleaning, but not when programming (or cooking).

~~~
pasbesoin
I can relate to the cooking part. :-)

I have a "boom box" (what are those called, these days?) in the kitchen, and
I'll listen to it while doing basic prep work, stirring, etc. But when it
comes to adding spices and testing for taste, I have to mute it. If I leave it
on, it is a mental struggle to relate what I am adding (not just items, but
also hand-measured quantities) to past experience and to fully perceive what I
am tasting (particularly as I am looking to adjust and optimize, and not just
enjoy a finished preparation).

I also need to turn the music way down or off during various parts of cooking.
For example, when I am frying up meat and waiting for the right time to add
onions, either sound from the pan helps me adjust heat, stirring/flipping, and
timing; or silence allows me to better focus my concentration on same. Another
example, when bringing something to a boil, I am using sound and not just
visual appearance to judge progress.

------
michaelcampbell
Pandora.

Sometimes classic Coltrane era Jazz, sometimes 70'-80's-90's rock amalgam,
sometimes acoustic guitar (Kaki King, Doyle Dykes, other non-alliteratively
named artists), sometimes trance/electronica. I like to kid myself I play bass
guitar, so sometimes a custom-built bass guitar heavy station.

As someone else mentioned though, mostly nothing. I find it easier to
concentrate.

------
nfnaaron
Silence. I rarely listen to music when I'm working, because I like music, and
when it's playing I pay attention to it. And then I can't work.

------
gtani
Eno's music for airports, other ambient stuff, Philip glass and Steve Reich.
Mostly, i walk around with my Shure IEM jammed into my ears so i can't hear
anything.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=144666>

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

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=99936>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=367418>

------
ieure
I have a wide array of taste, but when working, I primarily listen to metal.
The key here is something with a fast and steady beat, which really gets me
into the groove.

It's hard to automatically classify this kind of music, so I have a half-dozen
or so hand-made playlists, each around an hour long.

The music is for when I know what needs to be done and just have to sit down
and do it. When I'm thinking about a problem, silence is what I need.

~~~
danielrm26
I have a playlist of similar stuff labeled "Chill Metal". Bands include: Isis,
Arsis, God is an Astronaut, etc. Excellent stuff for coding/studying.

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atiw
Silence. mostly it is easier to grasp new ideas and form new designs this way.

And then, Iron Man Soundtrack or Matrix soundtrack, or Linkin Park. This is
for when I know what I am doing, and it just needs to be coded. Like, doing
tests, fixing bugs, testing new features, pretty much all coding which doesn't
require any help.

------
pkirk
I go with SomaFM.com's Groove Salad, as most of the music is without words, so
no distraction.

------
fogus
I listen to music without words since with them I tend to try and listen too
closely. However, music with indecipherable words or repetitive phrases are
OK. Right now I'm listening to mostly:

Grouper, Burial, Ricardo Villalobos, Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans, some classical
sprinkled in, Ben Frost, Julianna Barwick, Black to Comm, Eno's Ambient stuff,
Stars of the Lid, Magma, Boards of Canada, Gas, Leyland Kirby, Rachmininov,
Zelienople, Belbury Poly, Mt. Vernon Arts Lab, Basic Channel, Eno-Moebius-
Roedelius, Fursaxa, Jannick Top, Philip Glass, Wouter Veldhuis, and Montauk

~~~
zaphar
Sometimes I think thats why Meta/Heavy rock works so well for me. It's easy to
ignore the lyrics in the song and the vocals seem more like just another
instrument.

------
TrevorBurnham
If it's something I need to focus on and think all the way through, either
silence or light classical.

If it's a trivial but time-consuming let's-wire-A-to-B-to-C kind of task, then
I'll put on an interview podcast (e.g. NPR's Fresh Air or something techy like
The Changelog). Those don't require the same level of attention as an
audiobook or an information-dense podcast like Radiolab.

------
fierarul
Whatever the Coffee-shop or Lounge I'm into has, usually some form of lounge
or ambient music.

When at home I don't have a particular style. If it's quiet, I'm OK with that.

When it's noisy (usually some neighbor's dogs or own music) I just pick the
album I'm currently into and loop that. Nowadays, for some reason, I'm
listening to the the Twin Peaks sound track by Angelo Badalamenti.

------
Sukotto
I load up all of DJ River's Ambient Chillout mixes and his Colored room series
(Blue room, Green room, etc) and hit "random".

He was an excellent mixer and I feel sad that he (apparently) has quit. He
recently let his site djriver.com lapse but you can still get his stuff
through iTunes or torrent.

------
Rust
Metal and Jazz, sometimes Country. Metallica to Cat Powers to Django Reinhardt
to Travis Tritt to Sepultura to Ida Maria to Godsmack to Opeth to Jennifer
Holliday to Jeff Buckley to Rise Against to Jesse Dee to Pantera to Stone Sour
to Paul Brandt to Hank Mobley, etc., etc., etc.

------
ashleyw
BBC Radio 1/2/4, set at a lowish volume. I used to listen to podcasts, but I
never actually listened to them, I'd not even realise they'd ended, it was
just background noise. I now save the podcasts for design sessions, where I
don't tend to zone out as much.

------
proexploit
Dub Step from <http://soundcloud.com/>. I can't imagine it might work for many
people but that's what really gets me moving.

~~~
jb55
Dubstep here as well. Ambient dub is the best music I've ever coded to; Dirty
dubstep for when that gets boring :)

------
wlk
Mostly classical music, definitely with no lyrics - this helps me to stay
concentrated. But sometimes I prefer much stronger music: metal, rock.

------
mping
Checkout Shpongle. It's great chillout. I hear anything that goes in the mood,
from Heavy Metal like Gojira to Pop/Rock like K's Choice.

------
froo
Thanks for this thread, I was just thinking about this myself and was going to
ask HN... figured I'd check the ASK section first.

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zellux
I don't feel like listening to music when I'm coding, especially songs, it may
disturb my thoughts.

------
greglu
I listen to post-rock (instrumental) most of the time, and Dragonforce when I
really need a boost.

------
zpoley
<http://di.fm> usually the trance channel

------
damontal
nature stuff for the space. i like listening to recordings of thunderstorms.

------
dmly
Bach bay (or Batch!)

------
Gertm
www.bassdrive.com

Works great for me.

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dnsworks
Mostly I listen to a lot of reggae, ska, and punk .. Operation Ivy being a
favorite that seems to help motivate me.

As easily distractible as I am, a great set of noise-canceling headphones is a
must. They help me control my adhd and block external interference. I really
recommend the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7's. I pretty much already have them on
when I code. <http://bit.ly/9FCd5e> talks about them a bit more.

------
J3L2404
Pandora QuickMix of Sound Dimensions, Ratatat and Menahan Street Band, at very
low volume.

