Ask HN: What music do you code to? - odomojuli
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spdebbarma
I cannot believe no one mentioned Music for Programming[0].

[0] [https://musicforprogramming.net](https://musicforprogramming.net)

\--------------------------------------------------------

From their about page :

Through years of trial and error - skipping around internet radio stations,
playing our entire music collections on shuffle, or just hammering single
albums on repeat, we have found that the most effective music to aid prolonged
periods of intense concentration tends to have a mixture of the following
qualities:

\- Drones

\- Noise

\- Fuzz

\- Field recordings

\- Vagueness (Hypnagogia)

\- Textures without rhythm

\- Minor complex chords

\- Early music (Baroque, lute, harpsichord)

\- Very few drums or vocals

\- Synth arpeggios

\- Awesome / daunting / foreboding

\- Walls of reverb

Music possessing these qualities can often provide just the right amount of
interest to occupy the parts of your brain that would otherwise be left free
to wander and lead to distraction during your work.

~~~
partisan
I’ve spent a heck of a lot of time listening to Music for Programming.

Recently, I stumbled upon the following as well and like them maybe a bit
more:

\- A strange, isolated place (ASIP)

\- Headphone Commute

This is pretty much all I listen to nowadays while programming or commuting.

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newsbinator
I made a 25-hour Spotify playlist for myself of soundtracks, mostly from
films:

[https://open.spotify.com/user/22p7kffssooevmhucglnnz6ci/play...](https://open.spotify.com/user/22p7kffssooevmhucglnnz6ci/playlist/31buZEaVGW9f5Y4cEcKtbt?si=DCebatc9RtmwsupGFHMXEQ)

(e.g. John Williams, Tyler Bates, Hanz Zimmer, James Horner, Alan Silvestri,
Danny Elfman, Alexandre Desplat, etc).

There is a smattering of video game soundtracks in there (by far my favorite
composer is Christopher Tin), but the key is avoiding any 8-bit or classic
"beep beep" songs. Those would break my coding flow.

Ironically, as uninspired as modern Marvel movie soundtracks are, they're
perfect for concentrating on code, with a random uplifting nudge or a drop
into quiet here and there.

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MarkoPapic
Mostly music from: [https://www.di.fm/](https://www.di.fm/)

Most often this: [https://www.di.fm/goapsy](https://www.di.fm/goapsy)

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thedevindevops
At home: nothing. At work: "We didn't start the fire" \- Billy Joel (it feels
appropriate)

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cbanek
I go on youtube and try out some of the "epic music mixes," which have a lot
of soundtrack type music on them. Also, I have to give a tip of my hat to
Ambient Worlds, who have made some great long "rainy mood" mixes that are
great for backgrounds.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30b7_S0paCQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30b7_S0paCQ)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N-
IREy7C9s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N-IREy7C9s)

~~~
AKhoo
Yes! I've told people about this before and people either hate it or love it:
"Holy Shit - An Incredibly Epic Playlist" |
[https://open.spotify.com/user/ruhin94/playlist/0bG1EMQkukEeO...](https://open.spotify.com/user/ruhin94/playlist/0bG1EMQkukEeO7vvcQQQYU)

------
mindcrime
Usually one or the other of some kind of metal, classical of some sort, or
some kind of electronic music, probably synthwave/darkwave/retrowave or
something of that ilk.

Occasionally hip-hop, pop, or "other".

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Someone1234
"Soundtracks."

That isn't a genre, but each soundtrack offers has its own themes and style.
Depending on mood you can have techno (Hackers/Matrix), fantasy
(LOTRs/Interstellar), Pop (Greatest Showman/Guardians of the Galaxy), Regional
Styles (Last Samurai/Moana), or even just calming/relaxing (Sims 3: Pets).

PS - Try not to dismiss soundtracks just because you never liked the
movie/game. I never played the Sims 3, let alone the "Pets" expansion, but the
soundtrack remains me of SimCity's sound.

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nilskidoo
Too often I get stuck reading/writing/editing for days on end to nix
deadlines, with nothing but coffee and pot because those are free and free is
all I can afford. I've been hypnotized by this edit quite a lot lately:

[https://youtu.be/DmQmepDPg6I](https://youtu.be/DmQmepDPg6I)

I'm frankly not in the best setup for this kind of work but music like this
makes me feel like I _am_ the calm eye of a hurricane, letting me do what I
need.

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beatgammit
Eh, I usually don't. But when I need to bang out a bunch of repetitive code,
I'll throw on something intense and fast-paced.

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maceurt
Classical piano music is stellar to code to, specifically composers in early
classic and baroque eras like Bach and early Mozart. Music like that is great,
because it does not usually have a large range of dynamics and does not have
super exciting contrasting parts which can be distracting.

Jazz is good also, but that can sometimes get annoying after awhile or can be
too exciting and distracting.

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fithisux
ItaloDisco / Eurobeat

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nvirDoomed
Gabber, noise, and grindcore

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diehunde
Even though I don't like it, I normally just start one of those "focus"
playlists from Spotify. It's harder for me to concentrate if I listen to
something I actually like I guess.

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burfog
My playlist:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_silent_musical_composi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_silent_musical_compositions)

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greenyouse
SomaFM groove salad is great! I feel like since I only listen to it while
doing work it snaps me into work mode. It's easy to zero in and forget that
the music is playing.

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mjmj
Odesza, Nombe, Ben Murray Smith, Volvo, SG Lewis. Electronic recommendations
under ‘Discover’ in Spotify.

Or brain.fm if I really want no lyrics and to focus.

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andrei_says_
Music without words and too much emotion. Currently tabla concerts fit the
bill — complex irregular repetitive rhythms.

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potta_coffee
Dan Terminus is my favorite for coding.

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redhale
Lemon Jelly, Ratatat

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vkaku
Nothing in particular. It could be any music I am comfortable with.

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lukaszkups
Punk rock, dubstep, electronic, drum and bass.

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mirimir
I listen to dance music, with no words. Mostly trance and acid.

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elliekelly
The "radio" soundtrack from the Sims

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vhodges
Psy Trance mostly. Sometimes classical.

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mapster
Trance. Today: Stoneface & Terminal

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raptorraver
I prefer techno. Darker the better.

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pepper_sauce
Aphex Twin. Anything with drones.

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thorin1
Amon Amarth

Or similar.

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archenemy
lastly: vaporwave. anything from Vektroid is fine.

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cyrilbenson47
Welshly Arms

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backedrum
Lacrimosa

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jckbb
eurobeat

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paulbishop
metal

