5 ms·

I tend to avoid music with lyrics, while programming. Surprisingly, it distracts me. I also frequently listen the same track for few hours, so I stop "hearing"

by maurycy 19y ago

I tend to avoid music with lyrics, while programming. Surprisingly, it distracts me. I also frequently listen the same track for few hours, so I stop "hearing" it and becomes the background.

VinzO 19y ago
I like to listen to movies soundtrack, because most of the times it has no lyrics. I listen specially a lot "The Lord Of The Rings soundtrack. Also Pink Floyd which is a lot instrumental.
aswanson 19y ago
I thought I was the only one who had a problem with lyrics. Parsing language must interfere with the same part of the brain that programming requires.
- mdemare 19y ago
  Strangely, even though I'm nearly fluent in English, I can tune out English lyrics effortlessly, but not Dutch ones (my native language).
  - Hexstream 19y ago
    Similarly for me, I can understand spoken english almost perfectly easily but I'm having a hard time understanding even a couple words from an english song even if I try hard. (native language: french)
- DaniFong 19y ago
  Strangely, I only have a problem with lyrics when I'm not singing them. That, of course, doesn't take into account to possibility that while singing, others might have a problem with me. ;-)
- AndyKelley 19y ago
  This must be true. However, once I've heard a song 20-30 times, it no longer causes distractions. Then again, when I work on a problem that takes 100% of my thinking power and concentration, I have to press pause, shut the door, and close my eyes.
- randallsquared 19y ago
  I'm beginning to think I'm the only one who doesn't. Songs with lyrics are better for me than pure instrumental songs... I code best to europop and hip hop. [edit: and by "hip hop" I mean gangsta rap, not stuff like Digable Planets.]
mtts 19y ago
For some reason lyrics don't bother me that much. It's probably part of the same mechanism that makes it impossible for me to remember lyrics, whether they're in my native language or English. To my ears the human voice is just another instrument, I guess.
planck 19y ago
That's funny, I do the opposite - I choose songs that I can sing along to (lots of Jonathan Coulton). Keeps me calm and productive.
zapnap 19y ago
Same here. Or muffled, fuzzy, unintelligible lyrics are OK too. Mogwai, Pelican, Explosions in the Sky, Pinback, Castor, Elliott, National Skyline, Isis, My Bloody Valentine, Jesu, Portishead, The Mars Volta, Low Frequency in Stereo... Lately, Japancakes' Loveless cover album has been in non-stop rotation. Good stuff.
abstractbill 19y ago
I also frequently listen the same track for few hours, so I stop "hearing" it and becomes the background. I do this too, often using the same track for several days in a row. When I do this without headphones my wife complains for some reason ;-)
tlrobinson 19y ago
Agreed. However, it's surprising because normally I don't even pay attention to lyrics when I'm listening to music. I couldn't tell you the lyrics of some of my favorite songs. I tend to listen to some of the electronic / trace channels in iTunes radio: ETN.fm, SENSE.FM, XTC Radio, AH.FM, DI.fm, Philosomatika ... it really doesn't matter what the actual music is as long as I like it and it's not distracting.
akkartik 19y ago
"I stop 'hearing' it and becomes the background." Like what snoopy does in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_wOXkZ6OSw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_wOXkZ6OSw :)

by maurycy 19y ago

I tend to avoid music with lyrics, while programming. Surprisingly, it distracts me. I also frequently listen the same track for few hours, so I stop "hearing" it and becomes the background.

VinzO 19y ago

I like to listen to movies soundtrack, because most of the times it has no lyrics. I listen specially a lot "The Lord Of The Rings soundtrack. Also Pink Floyd which is a lot instrumental.

aswanson 19y ago

I thought I was the only one who had a problem with lyrics. Parsing language must interfere with the same part of the brain that programming requires.

mdemare 19y ago
Strangely, even though I'm nearly fluent in English, I can tune out English lyrics effortlessly, but not Dutch ones (my native language).
- Hexstream 19y ago
  Similarly for me, I can understand spoken english almost perfectly easily but I'm having a hard time understanding even a couple words from an english song even if I try hard. (native language: french)
DaniFong 19y ago
Strangely, I only have a problem with lyrics when I'm not singing them. That, of course, doesn't take into account to possibility that while singing, others might have a problem with me. ;-)
AndyKelley 19y ago
This must be true. However, once I've heard a song 20-30 times, it no longer causes distractions. Then again, when I work on a problem that takes 100% of my thinking power and concentration, I have to press pause, shut the door, and close my eyes.
randallsquared 19y ago
I'm beginning to think I'm the only one who doesn't. Songs with lyrics are better for me than pure instrumental songs... I code best to europop and hip hop. [edit: and by "hip hop" I mean gangsta rap, not stuff like Digable Planets.]

mtts 19y ago

For some reason lyrics don't bother me that much. It's probably part of the same mechanism that makes it impossible for me to remember lyrics, whether they're in my native language or English. To my ears the human voice is just another instrument, I guess.

planck 19y ago

That's funny, I do the opposite - I choose songs that I can sing along to (lots of Jonathan Coulton). Keeps me calm and productive.

zapnap 19y ago

Same here. Or muffled, fuzzy, unintelligible lyrics are OK too. Mogwai, Pelican, Explosions in the Sky, Pinback, Castor, Elliott, National Skyline, Isis, My Bloody Valentine, Jesu, Portishead, The Mars Volta, Low Frequency in Stereo... Lately, Japancakes' Loveless cover album has been in non-stop rotation. Good stuff.

abstractbill 19y ago

I also frequently listen the same track for few hours, so I stop "hearing" it and becomes the background. I do this too, often using the same track for several days in a row. When I do this without headphones my wife complains for some reason ;-)

tlrobinson 19y ago

Agreed. However, it's surprising because normally I don't even pay attention to lyrics when I'm listening to music. I couldn't tell you the lyrics of some of my favorite songs. I tend to listen to some of the electronic / trace channels in iTunes radio: ETN.fm, SENSE.FM, XTC Radio, AH.FM, DI.fm, Philosomatika ... it really doesn't matter what the actual music is as long as I like it and it's not distracting.

akkartik 19y ago

"I stop 'hearing' it and becomes the background." Like what snoopy does in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_wOXkZ6OSw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_wOXkZ6OSw :)