18 ms·

Music for Programming (2011)

427 points by notkaiho 7y ago

sbr464 7y ago
I’m a huge fan of the artist NCS. (Noise cancelling silence). I haven’t listened to a song while working in several years, but do wear a pair of the latest Sony cans. I used to listen to similar content, soundtracks, etc, but found silence is where it’s at for me.
joemccall86 7y ago
Works with my media keys too. Nice work!
dexen 7y ago
Be sure to check out the "[Enterprise Mode]" in lower left corner :-)
- Porthos9K 7y ago
  http://datassette.net/content/datashat-businessfunk.mp3 http://datassette.net/content/datashat-businessfunk.mp3 sounds like it ought to be in a 70s porno.
Porthos9K 7y ago
I'm not familiar with any of these musicians, so I'm going to have to check them out. Thanks! I was lucky enough to score a second-hand set of Deutche Grammophon's Complete Beethoven Edition at an estate sale, and I like to crank up the piano sonatas when coding (and save the symphonies for consensual sex and ultraviolence). When I'm not rocking out to the Ludwig van, I've got some other stuff I like to play while coding: * Thank You Scientist: Maps of Non-Existent Places and Terraformer * Starfarer: Voyagers * Marcus Miller: Renaissance * Betamaxx: Plug And Play * Hiromi Uehara with Trio Project: Voice * Hiromi Uehara: Spectrum * Liquid Tension Experiment * Joe Satriani: Surfing with the Alien, The Extremist, Crystal Planet, Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards, Unstoppable Momemtum * Galneryus: The Flag of Punishment, Advance to the Fall, and Beyond the End of Despair * Therion: Vovin, Deggial, Secret of the Runes, Lemuria, Sirius B, Gothic Kabbalah * Judas Priest: Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, Stained Class
- pelliphant 7y ago
  > and save the symphonies for consensual sex... mmkay, thats nice, but what do you listen to for non-consentual sex? /s
  - vyper91 7y ago
    he was making a reference to A Clockwork Orange...bit of the ol' Ludwig Van. referring to how the character murders people or has threesomes in the film to a symphony.
  - Porthos9K 7y ago
    I might be an arsehole, but I'm not a rapist. If the other people aren't into it, then I'm out of there.
Pigo 7y ago
I've been wanting to build something like this since the last time I seen this posted here.
Bootwizard 7y ago
This is cool, but what makes it "music for programming?" I'd say music for programming is whatever your favorite music is. Everyone has different tastes.
- AndrewBissell 7y ago
  Speaking personally, I find somewhat ambient, low key, or atmospheric music without words to be most helpful when I program, which is not necessarily my favorite kind of music in general. This is just a huge library of those kinds of songs. I was a big fan and user of it when I first discovered it in 2013/2014.
- missjellyfish 7y ago
  As someone with a rather annoying tinnitus, silence freaks the shit out of me. To stay productive, I need music. What kind of music I listen to really depends on my mood. It could be dubstep (Excision, Teminite, PsoGnar, to name a few out of my current dub playlist), various forms of metal (anywhere from After Forever to Xandria, In Flames, you name it); some times even Happy Hardcore / Handsup. Generally, if I'm feeling well I prefer high BPM happy sounds, which -- together with some caffeinated drinks -- makes me incredibly productive. The darker my mood, the darker my taste of music gets, with also a few slower sounds. I can't really put numbers on my performance here, as on those days I prefer work that isn't easily evaluated performance-wise.
  - anon_cow1111 7y ago
    Have you ever tried identifying the frequency of your tinnitus and removing that range from your songs(aka notch filtering)? I heard over time it can lessen the effects.
    - missjellyfish 7y ago
      If you play live music as a hobby, you're not exactly getting that. I've made bad decisions in the past; namely playing in an orchestra next to the drums without hearing protection. I can't undo that, and while it wasn't the cause of my tinnitus, it certainly didn't help. Nowadays I wear in-ear monitoring on stage which helps quite a lot, protection-wise. I've recently read about a study (dunno if it was on hn) where they discovered that vibrations behind the ear lessend the volume of the tinnitus. I am so going to try that if I ever get my hands on such a device. I still have a very good hearing overall (especially in the base region), so I should not complain.
dizaime 7y ago
"music for programming" with me is Pink Floyd. Anyone with me?
- robbyt 7y ago
  Yeah but I've listened to all of their stuff so many times. I really enjoy listening to new stuff when I work so it doesn't distract me with memories.
- dsego 7y ago
  For ambient stuff which is not distracting I usually search for "liquid drum and bass" mixes on youtube.
- tsukurimashou 7y ago
  Pink Floyd is for life, it is not restricted to programming.
zergov 7y ago
High BPM music has a huge effect on me. I have seen myself iterating a lot more during a session where I would listen to trance music instead of 2000s punk rock. Is it the smaller amount of lyrics? I don't know, but I'm convinced I have observed a higher productivity when listening to high bpm music in the past 5 years.
- aurelianito 7y ago
  High BPM music is fine for non-thinking tasks. If I have to actually debug a complicated issue it becomes counterproductive.
- WhiskeyVictor 7y ago
  Agreed, though the effects can be detrimental when driving. Have a look at https://www.steadymixes.com https://www.steadymixes.com for 130BPM mixes and mashups to keep your pace moving.
bobloblaw45 7y ago
Paul Oakenfold - Ready Steady Go Great for writing a hydra. A multi-headed worm to break an encryption and then sniff out latent digital footprints throughout an encrypted network.
- MichaelApproved 7y ago
  This is a reference to the ridiculous scene from the 2001 movie Swordfish where Hugh Jackman is writing a program to hack into a bank network. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Ds9CeG-VY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Ds9CeG-VY
  - bobloblaw45 7y ago
    I had to look up the exact line. I just remembered it sounded great.
deleted 7y ago
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dsego 7y ago
cmd.to is also cool.
- pfd1986 7y ago
  Also: https://coderadio.freecodecamp.org/ https://coderadio.freecodecamp.org/ https://9128.live/ https://9128.live/ https://dewtone.com/ https://dewtone.com/
  - zV62drdTw6CM 7y ago
    Thank you for the links. I very much like all of them! I added your playlist to my Gist posted above.
jjuel 7y ago
I found The Social Network soundtrack works decent for me. Of course I also like Retrowave/Synthwave and Eurobeat. They may not be the "best" for concentration and working, but I like them and they seem to help.
- elwell 7y ago
  Yes, The Social Network soundtrack is my favorite to put me in hacker-takes-over-the-world mood. I also like the Tron Legacy soundtrack. If I'm in a lighter but still productive mood, jazz: The Bad Plus, Brad Mehldau, and Eddie Higgins Trio Christmas album.
- philsnow 7y ago
  DOOM soundtrack and Mr Robot soundtrack work really, really well for me.
- erklik 7y ago
  I wonder if there is some sort of placebo-like effect that quite a few programmers tend to like this music that was used in a movie glorifying someone like them.
plibither8 7y ago
Past submissions: 2018-07-20: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17573053 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17573053 2016-11-01: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12844434 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12844434 2012-02-18: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3605957 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3605957 2012-02-03: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3547694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3547694
- imglorp 7y ago
  Every time I feel like writing a "pastbot" I start to think it ought to be part of the site, and then I look up top and see the "past" button! :-) Maybe it should be highlighted and blinking if it's a frequent flyer...
  - plibither8 7y ago
    I've also thought about bots on Hacker News - they might be useful for somethings though I can't put a pin on what exactly. I'm pretty sure the community won't really like the idea of bots on HN because of spam issues and such, but what is the official policy on this? Can't find anything about bots anywhere.
    - deusofnull 7y ago
      you could probably figure out some cool insights about tech people's beliefs and opinions in aggregate with some clever NLP and sentiment analysis and some.... ahh, not asking for user's consent to use their data for that! classic.
    - dang 7y ago
      We don't allow bots to post to HN, other than https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=whoishiring https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=whoishiring.
  - colecut 7y ago
    I frequently read HN and this site was new to me. The (2011) in the title lets me know it isn't new content. What do I have to gain by knowing it was posted several times before?
tomcooks 7y ago
Nothing better than Gamelan, the album Degung Sabilulungan vol. 2 in particular[0] The repetitive, gentle sounds put me into a high efficiency mode without putting me to sleep like most ambient. [0]: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nrgTossoB0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nrgTossoB0
- Isamu 7y ago
  I agree, I hope it catches on.
- DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
  I just listened to the video you linked to. It seemed promising, but the lead flute was too much of a distraction for me. Perhaps after more hours of listening it wouldn't be such a problem.
- TheLastMan 7y ago
  Oh wow, I didn't think i'd see someone mentioning Gamelan, but while were on the subject, have you tried Geinoh Yamashirogumi? Check this out! Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRQiaRrNbCY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRQiaRrNbCY
  - tomcooks 7y ago
    Big fan of their Ukranian folk album "Chi no Hibiki Higashi Yuroppu wo Utau", it's a jewel for programming (apart from THAT track). It's precisely via Gamelan, which led me to Akira OST gamelan sounds, that I've discovered Geinoh Yamashirogumi (which then led to Muslimgauze, tangentially) Cheers!
rwnspace 7y ago
Just enough slightly obscure things I both like and recognise to make me confident I'll find great new stuff. Cheers. Restraining myself to join in with just a single recommendation - Jan Jelinek's 'Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records' is the record I always post on these kind of threads and it always seems to land well with this crowd. It is probably my favourite example of the genre, and the production is so textured and the instrumentation has so many subtle aspects, it holds up very well to multiple listens. Alright, two recommendations - the first time I clocked a 14+HR session was when I was listening through Skinshape's discography (comfy, catchy, mellow indie)
- accraze 7y ago
  +1 for Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records. Jan Jelinek's work as Farben is also really great for programming, very organic yet subtle techno.
hour_glass 7y ago
Not a well known artist but I really like programming to FILMMAKER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUau3wleuXc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUau3wleuXc
verytrivial 7y ago
I have been listening to a downloaded copy of freesound.org user "reinsamba"'s 30 minutes of thunder storms for years. Literally one track. Probably half of the "flow" time I've had has been listening to that one track. Hundreds and hundreds of loops. I'm not sure if this is a recommendation of the track or condemnation of my sanity.
- thearrow 7y ago
  https://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/17085/ https://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/17085/ ?
  - verytrivial 7y ago
    Exactly that one, yes. Well, I can't view that URL from here, but that integer is in the MP3's filename. Case closed! There's a lady's / small persons's voice admonishing someone for make noise with what sounds like a screen door part way through. It's not in English that I can tell. Do let me know if you understand what they say. I'm assuming it's just "shut up, recording!"
    - stfwn 7y ago
      There is a Reply All episode about something exactly like what you describe [1]. It's been a while since I've listened to it, but it's something about how making sounds like these is a whole business with resellers upon resellers. They dive into the process and try to track down the person who made a specific recording that also had some background noise that seemed particularly weird. [1]:https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/mehrar https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/mehrar
  - degenerate 7y ago
    You need an account to download; here's some accounts: http://bugmenot.com/view/freesound.org http://bugmenot.com/view/freesound.org
- jacquesm 7y ago
  That's interesting. I use a similar trick, when there are distracting noises I put on white noise just loud enough to mask it. That then turns into the new baseline and I somehow experience it as silence.
feiss 7y ago
favorites of mine: * monolake / momentum * Paul Kalkbrenner/ self
- jpincheira 7y ago
  Paul Kalkbrenner is great! I met him in Toronto in a show and shook hands. Super down to earth guy. It's funny that I ended up living in Germany — he's from Berlin :)
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coreyp_1 7y ago
Am I the only person who can't listen to anything while coding? My attention goes straight to the music, and I can't concentrate on the task at hand! When I was in high school, my math teacher would play Mozart during tests, claiming it would help us. It would drive me crazy, and I doubt that my grades improved as a result of the distraction. For what it's worth, I have a BMus in Piano Performance. I love music... but never as "background noise"!
- wry_discontent 7y ago
  This is interesting to me, because I almost exclusively enjoy music as "background noise." The only time I really listen to music by itself is if I'm at a concert. But I'm a musical illiterate
  - Filligree 7y ago
    There's tons of different kinds. Here's one I've been enjoying lately: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPugYPbO66E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPugYPbO66E Pay attention to the lyrics. Treat it as a story, and try to guess at what's happening. There is a canon answer -- Aviator's albums are in fact all stories -- but try to come up with your own before you look for it. Everyone sees something different in the lyrics.
    - wry_discontent 7y ago
      I can't listen to lyrics because I find it hard to a) parse them at the speed they come out, and b) hearing them through the distortion of them being sung. I also get distracted very quickly. I do not know most of the words to my favorite songs.
      - Filligree 7y ago
        This is, again, situational. Try it~
        7y ago
ArtDev 7y ago
My requirements for programming music is what got me first into electro-swing. Since thing I have expanded from there. Lots of stuff from RJD2, C2C, Bonobo. Here is my playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6yHQaBX599OnGlojw5aDTB?si=YU7UMJHWTLqb_PqRPyimgA https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6yHQaBX599OnGlojw5aDTB?si=... It's good for driving long distances too. But otherwise, my musical taste is totally different.
nvirDoomed 7y ago
Only thing I can really listen to is drone or ambient. Mostly stuff from cryo chamber that is on the dark side of ambient/score type music. Classical and electronic music has a lot of nuances that draw me away from it.
jpincheira 7y ago
Currently listening to this great Piano Chill playlist [1] https://music.apple.com/de/playlist/piano-chill/pl.cb4d1c09a2df4230a78d0395fe1f8fde?l=en https://music.apple.com/de/playlist/piano-chill/pl.cb4d1c09a...
crikli 7y ago
Potato potahto. When I need to GSD it's thrash metal (Slayer, etc) or RATM.
ryeguy_24 7y ago
This is great, nice job. I tend to like Dark Ambient for programming. Espeically Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Social Network soundtrack) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yydZbVoCbn0&t=1016s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yydZbVoCbn0&t=1016s
geff82 7y ago
That website brought me ambient music. I listen to that style about everytime I have to think deeply. It became like a ritual.
Vaslo 7y ago
I use this almost everyday (doing finance work, not coding). Really great tool to give an add mind a little more focused.
wildpeaks 7y ago
If you like this, Xra_ always has great ambient music on while coding Memory of a Broken Dimension on stream (that's even how I discovered a lot of artists, such as Kammarheit): https://www.twitch.tv/xra_/videos?filter=archives&sort=time https://www.twitch.tv/xra_/videos?filter=archives&sort=time
apples_oranges 7y ago
To inspire others who were kids in the 80s/90s: My current favourite programming music is old Commodore Amiga game and demoscene music. (Lots and lots of tunes can be found on Youtube of course.)
- vesinisa 7y ago
  Hey! That's absolutely awesome. My current favorite coding music is something similar, a style called "Synthwave / Retrowave" that draws heavily from 80s/90s chiptune music, but made with a bit more modern instruments and techniques. There's tons of hour+ mixes on YouTube. Just a random one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk1nnAHI1mI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk1nnAHI1mI
  - apples_oranges 7y ago
    Yes, I know Synthwave, and you're right, it's close and also, for me at least, super compatible with programming. Thanks for the link, will check it out. :)
  - scns 7y ago
    My favourite album from that genre is Lazerhawk - Redline. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDn4-Na5co https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDn4-Na5co
slothtrop 7y ago
Notwithstanding the music I find laying out a web page like this sexy
rpastuszak 7y ago
Brain.fm works quite well in my case. It's not distracting and it doesn't sound like pure white noise either. The app is a bit clunky though.
- jason_slack 7y ago
  I use Brain.fm daily. I love it. I also switch to Soma.fm and Di.fm when needed.
- electrotype 7y ago
  Brain.fm owner is a crook. He lured me into buying an annual subscription with the promise that he would convert it to a lifetime subscription (which was available at some point). So I bough the annual subscription and from that moment I never had any more replies from him... I sent a dummy question from another email address to see if he was simply ignoring me and I received a reply immediately. So I downloaded the music I liked there (it's almost always repeating anyway), using a video/music grabber, and then cancelled my account.
  - brainfmsteve 7y ago
    Hey, sorry about that, don't know how or why that happened but I'll fix it. My email's in my profile, I'll make sure it gets taken care of.
730salt 7y ago
clouddead, 0PN, Tim Hecker? These playlists are no joke.
- qcom 7y ago
  Seriously. I'm stunned to see 0pn deep cuts like Heart Of A Champion. Speaking of which happy new release day!
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rukenshia 7y ago
surprised nobody has mentioned the freecodecamp radio yet, I really like listening to this on a very low volume. Mostly Lo-Fi music that doesn't take your attention away. https://coderadio.freecodecamp.org/ https://coderadio.freecodecamp.org/
stebann 7y ago
This is really subjective. Classics of Rock like Pink Floyd works for me, but I'm not sure that it works for my mate who asked me to "stop the music". Lofi is a good option too.
vyper91 7y ago
There's a guy who makes a playlist on Spotify called Programming with a coffee emoji, I listen to it so often I even found his Twitter or something and reached out to him to show appreciation. Turns out listening to Scandinavian Rock (melodic and lyrics I can't follow) is really good for productivity lol
- rickdmer 7y ago
  Link for anyone interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mtlhuFVOFMn6Ho3JmrLc2?si=RDu-N5zARq23DNmKYu8wLA https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mtlhuFVOFMn6Ho3JmrLc2?si=...
  - erklik 7y ago
    Thankyou
aasasd 7y ago
This also links to Datashat's own Businessfunk compilations, which are excellent on another level from your regular ambient: http://datassette.net/businessfunk/ http://datassette.net/businessfunk/ And btw, there's also a fourth mix for the Near Mint web radio: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/near-mint-8th-march-2016-datashat-business-funk-special/ https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/near-mint-8th-march-2016-... But as heavy-artillery concentration music, I recommend TechnoLiveSets. It's the ‘accidentally done all work in one day’ grade material: https://www.techno-livesets.com/ https://www.techno-livesets.com/ P.S. I'm also gonna gripe about lack of volume controls on the site, which for some reason a bunch of sites consider acceptable. All volume levels on my machine are carefully tuned—and then this site comes along for which I have to fiddle with the master volume. While listening to this explicitly background music, I'll likely come across some videos that I'll want to watch for ten seconds—and then I'll have to either crank the video volume, or scramble to stop the music each time. Don't do this. On top of that, site authors' ideas of proper volume pretty much never matches mine: Bandcamp and Soundcloud both have to be cranked down a lot: Soundcloud's embedded clips make me lower the system volume to 1/4th of a notch on my Mac, which is about 1/32nd the normal volume for me.
- klondike_klive 7y ago
  Holy shit! Businessfunk 4! And on Resonance FM, no less. How was I not aware of this? You've just made my 2019. I love Businessfunk to the extent that I am prepared to name it as my favourite genre of music.
  - aasasd 7y ago
    You can find a lot of it on Youtube and elsewhere: it's all library music from KPM and such. E.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2uAw_SOshE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2uAw_SOshE Datassette has tracklists on Soundcloud (iirc), and Andy Clark, Keith Mansfield and James Asher seem to dominate his mixes (though Asher is apparently more into tribal music). Alas my favorite bit from Businessfunk 2 at 34:25 is unidentified.
dv35z 7y ago
I have found several “brown noise” tracks which I find great for getting into the zone. Right now, my absolute favorite is “cockpit” brown noise (the sound of muffled airline jet noise). For example, you could set this track to repeat endlessly: https://open.spotify.com/track/01Kk9an41cyVj7oIXd2Fsj?si=NnCsHAo_ReWTqDHdwoOc1Q https://open.spotify.com/track/01Kk9an41cyVj7oIXd2Fsj?si=NnC... For whatever reason, it gives me the feeling of “fast” (jet), important (I’m the pilot of this important thing?), and cozy (strapped in tight in the cockpit), and I never get the distracted (hmmm! What is this song?) feeling that I usually get from programming to music. FYI: Difference between “white”, “pink”, & “brown” noise: https://www.soundofsleep.com/2017/07/18/white-pink-brown-noise-whats-difference/ https://www.soundofsleep.com/2017/07/18/white-pink-brown-noi...
- paulintrognon 7y ago
  I can't hear anything. Is it normal? Does it only works with headphones?
- klodolph 7y ago
  I would summarize the differences between noise types this way: White noise: equal energy per Hz (flat) Pink noise: equal energy per octave (-3dB/octave) Brown noise: spectrum of Brownian motion (-6dB/octave) White and brown are easy to create mathematically.
- aasasd 7y ago
  My favorite among the ‘busy background sounds’ tracks is the relaxing military skirmish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGgKdDCJx5o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGgKdDCJx5o
- zV62drdTw6CM 7y ago
  Thank you for the playlist! I added it to my Gist posted below. On a side note, I find it interesting how we buy noise cancellation headphones against airplane nose but also create playlist with these sounds.
vnorilo 7y ago
I don't like listening to music while doing routine tasks where thing A needs to be plumbed to thing B and mistakes should be avoided. However, when I need by subconscious to scan a vast non-verbal solution space, nothing is quite as good as energetic, information-dense jazz. It helps silence my inner verbal dialogue that just gets in the way. Some or my mental wires may or may not have been repatched by my conservatory degree.
tnorthcutt 7y ago
I've also found some of the selections on https://generative.fm/ https://generative.fm/ to be very nice background music for working. The author's introduction to generative music article (https://medium.com/@metalex9/introduction-to-generative-music-91e00e4dba11 https://medium.com/@metalex9/introduction-to-generative-musi...) is also very interesting.
opminion 7y ago
This has helped me write code as a sole developer in an open plan office of managers. Unfortunately the corporate filter only lets the last few ones through.
pier25 7y ago
Would be great if there were also Spotify playlists. This way you could play/pause from the keyboard, find albums, related artists, skip tracks, etc.
- asaddhamani 7y ago
  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7w33zSxzXN5blasm8mk6cc https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7w33zSxzXN5blasm8mk6cc
- erklik 7y ago
  If you like using your keyboard to browse the web, I'd like to introduce you to Tridactyl ( https://github.com/tridactyl/tridactyl https://github.com/tridactyl/tridactyl ).
bsg75 7y ago
I find I need energetic music, ambient styles tend to make me sleepy and drift. Currently Insomnium is on rotation - ironic name given the above statement.
awalton 7y ago
Is there a mix among these that isn't so... dark? I tend to go for lighter tone colors/airier ambient works when I want to really engage.
- whitepoplar 7y ago
  I love this IDM playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6t93D5kmpPfeGwAm7VMej8 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6t93D5kmpPfeGwAm7VMej8 Not mixes, but I like BT's "These Hopeful Machines" and Oceanlab's "Sirens of the Sea" albums, too.
  - awalton 7y ago
    BT and Above and Beyond are my #1 and #2 favorite artists... BT's new ambient album has been a fun listen while coding, but I'm always out for more music since I tend to listen constantly. Thanks for the link!
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asaddhamani 7y ago
I've found that all these instrumental tracks don't work for me. They're too -- boring? But I find it quite distracting if I don't have music on while coding, and I prefer music with lyrics, EDM/Pop/Rock types. Rarely, when I've got to think a lot and basically hold huge complex flows in my head, I've found brain.fm to be the best.
gbuk2013 7y ago
I have a subscription to Focus@Will and listen to either their “Focus Spa” or “Ambient” channels and don’t like the others. But for me it really does help me focus on a day when my head’s all over the place.
paulcarroty 7y ago
Seeburg 1000 - http://74.82.59.197:8351/stream http://74.82.59.197:8351/stream Super useful as background music.
chvid 7y ago
Eye of the Tiger. On repeat.
- downerending 7y ago
  Can't tell whether troll or not. (the best kind)
  - jacquesm 7y ago
    I can't speak for the OP but I'm a bit weird in that I can play songs on repeat for days on end until I've totally memorized them. Current one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpwjEBtoDRQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpwjEBtoDRQ
random_kris 7y ago
I can get into such deep focus when listetning to postrock. I found this genre a year ago and it is soo good. I recommend this youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-wdveKCDbbjK0_rzR2XhVA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-wdveKCDbbjK0_rzR2XhVA
dkdbejwi383 7y ago
I prefer speedcore
snvzz 7y ago
Whatever works. For me, it's The iDOLM@STER in general. If I am already in the zone, metal works best.
iscrewyou 7y ago
Reading these comments, I’m fascinated by how people listen to things and what makes them focus or lose focus. Us humans are a strange creature. I’ll give my input. This is my go to focus sound: http://youtube.com/watch?v=dWjKZbkcYdA http://youtube.com/watch?v=dWjKZbkcYdA
franky47 7y ago
I found my favourite style for coding without thinking [1] is progressive rock/metal. My favourite bands of the moment are Haken, Devin Townsend, Liquid Tension Experiment, Steven Wilson (et al). Also aptly named is French band The Algorithm. Want more extreme ? Try Pryapisme. More Jazz/fusion-y ? Nova Collective. [1] as opposed to thinking without coding, which usually comes first and requires complete silence, paper and pen.
deusofnull 7y ago
Does anyone happen to know if there's a name for the "theme" that this site seems to be emulating in its terminal-esque design? It looks sorta like Monokai but with a really nice dark teal background.
- corndoge 7y ago
  solarized dark perhaps
- actionscripted 7y ago
  https://ethanschoonover.com/solarized/ https://ethanschoonover.com/solarized/
nlh 7y ago
Since we're all sharing coding playlists here, happy to share mine as well: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2hLUvezSiJ2TpmSQq27IQI?si=r2Gr_kyrT1mNDgw3I1AMWw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2hLUvezSiJ2TpmSQq27IQI?si=... This is a ~21hr mix I use basically daily when getting into flow - I love it. It's mostly high-energy electronic, some electro-swing, and I'm sure a whole bunch of other genres I'm not equipped to describe (not a music nerd). Almost all of the music has been discovered through using Spotify Radio, Pandora, etc. and saving the songs I really liked / helped me keep the groove going. It might or might not work for you, but always happy to share. Also - feedback welcome! If you like this and there's some other stuff I'm missing out on, lmk :)
landonxjames 7y ago
Hainbach, whose website is linked to so he might have created this, has a really cool youtube channel where he repurposes old engineering equipment to make music. Heres one of my favorites https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19KbrTpgiEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19KbrTpgiEM
dep_b 7y ago
I don’t listen to music anymore during work since silence is really rare nowadays. Some good stuff I play(ed): - Terrence Dixon - from the far future - Omar S and Shadow Ray - OASIS COLLABORATING - Aphex Twin - Ambient - Brian Eno ambient albums - Musik von Harmonia
tabtab 7y ago
I like the idea of such ASCII GUI's for prototypes and internal IT oriented apps. It has a fun retro feel. Does anyone know of a JavaScript library for building such?
- erklik 7y ago
  https://terminal.jcubic.pl/ https://terminal.jcubic.pl/ is fairly good, but somewhat older and out of fashion.
- thristian 7y ago
  You may be interested in https://kristopolous.github.io/BOOTSTRA.386/ https://kristopolous.github.io/BOOTSTRA.386/
clickhead 7y ago
I kinda like the music but it's so damn ominous that it takes me out of my focus sometimes and makes me question why I am listening to such depressing music. I'm not sure this beats simple upbeat lofi for me.
zpallin 7y ago
I think everyone has different tastes and making a catered list is neat, but probably only going to work for some people. And people have some pretty weird tastes. For example, I've been listening to the original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis soundtrack on Spotify. Something about 90s survival horror video game themes made for a 16 bit, 24 channel sound chip really gets my fingers typing!
slowmovintarget 7y ago
Rock and Roll while coding: yes! Electronica, synth, chill, film soundtrack: yes! Bach? No! Bach stops me in my tracks and I'm forced to devote my attention. Mozart? I'm apparently allergic to bad performances because unless the performance is perfect, the music... fails. Beethoven? Yes! Not sure why, though.
timwaagh 7y ago
Although I like some Bach or similar while coding, I don't listen to music or even bring headphones anymore when at work as the temptation to listen to more distractive music is just too big. If it's too noisy at work I pull out party plugs and recently I ordered a 3M construction earcap.
mfrye0 7y ago
I've been listening to binaural beats lately at the recommendation of a few friends. It seems to work pretty well to drown out the office noise without distracting me.
keithnz 7y ago
I tend to listen to psytrance, a while back on another music related programming thread on HN, someone posted this great guide to psytrance http://psytranceguide.com/ http://psytranceguide.com/
Tade0 7y ago
I've found that the best music for programming is the one you listened to when you were younger and could focus much better. For me that would be anything that I listened to during the all-nighters I pulled throughout college and the background noise in Star Trek TNG. As a side note if you're working remotely and having trouble focusing on long calls, I recommend Tibetan signing bowls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujyu7tkyxtw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujyu7tkyxtw They nicely fill in the gaps in the conversation.
catchmeifyoucan 7y ago
When I'm doing items such as math or programming - I listen to upbeat pop music that can get me moving. It's as if my fingers are dancing or writing away to the beat. When I used to take math exams, all I could remember in my head as I took the exam was the songs that were playing as I was practicing and I might even hum along. In fact, it might even be the case that I have one song just stuck in my head on repeat. However, when I need all of my mental energy to think architecture, understand or formulate a plan of action, music is distracting.
edem 7y ago
Kinda anecdotal, but what works for me is a mix of dark ambient and drone. Anything more intense gets me out of the flow. Relevant playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62CD3gc39cVrOkUGelCRrZ?si=o_6hFZv8S5COIEP88zEj6w https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62CD3gc39cVrOkUGelCRrZ?si=...
- zV62drdTw6CM 7y ago
  Great selection! I added your playlist to my Gist posted above.
tenken 7y ago
I suggest working on ones weaknesses such as concentration. I like to work with quite but share an open workspace. Learn to tune out distractions by focusing. Key example last week had a staff retreat to a bowling alley. I don't much like bowling so fired up Lichess on my phone. Tons of noise, talking and pins falling all around me but I'd rather focus on the game at hand and tune out distractions. I suspect decades of karate training has helped build my ability to focus myself as needed.
zV62drdTw6CM 7y ago
I shared this Gist with radio stations, playlists, collections, albums, … before: https://gist.github.com/z3to/3ad6458674afb2e308e1bbf881669879 https://gist.github.com/z3to/3ad6458674afb2e308e1bbf88166987... Mostly ambient, drone, (neo-)classical, dub, minimal techno, deep house, micro house, downtempo, slo-mo house, ketapop, schneckno, jetlagdisco, post-rock, lowfi hip hop…
Voltage 7y ago
If you haven't coded to Infected Mushroom, then you haven't lived. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLWXSsYJoWY&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=PL78CF8B9E79AD7FBA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLWXSsYJoWY&feature=list_rela...
- sytelus 7y ago
  Too distracting, unnecessary high energy prevents to get in the zen mode.
xwowsersx 7y ago
I, like many others in this thread, have a difficult time listening to music while writing code or reading. One app that has worked wonders for me and boosts my focus is brain.fm. The rhythms and beats are steady and I've had some of my most productive sessions while listening to it.
sytelus 7y ago
I have been fine-tuning my "Code Time" music for over a decade that is conducive of getting and staying in the flow. An eclectic mix of ambient, tango, jazz, techno, progressive with a hint of trans. Pandora: https://pandora.app.link/nKUbxNb4m2 https://pandora.app.link/nKUbxNb4m2. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71xXPTrKmQ72TpLZSV1DAU https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71xXPTrKmQ72TpLZSV1DAU Google Music: https://play.google.com/music/playlist/AMaBXynw1A1Qs30Ii8AKRa1cpGSwO1cNj1rBN_vh61pz2CSg5Yu1OsNfGoMcHBVP7gBomGO_542lT1iY6Cglo81KoaDFoOhFiQ%3D%3D https://play.google.com/music/playlist/AMaBXynw1A1Qs30Ii8AKR...
Dowwie 7y ago
Soundcloud has an endless supply of great music to listen to while working. There's a podcast from the Netherlands known as "Deep Electronics" that has gotten my attention recently. Give the latest episode, #257, a try: https://soundcloud.com/deep_electronic https://soundcloud.com/deep_electronic
proc0 7y ago
I compiled my own. I'm not sure what this genre of music is but it's amazing. It's like downtempo ambience with no audible base. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KmEKavq5Ux0IxY2d5VfyI?si=0QLJavB8Rpmzwtms8BwI5g https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KmEKavq5Ux0IxY2d5VfyI?si=...
29athrowaway 7y ago
Try this: dark room so you can only see your screen, tiny bit of alcohol, tiny bit of coffee, instrumental music.
lendinggroup 7y ago
I turn to a vampire any time i want to. i become a vampire because of how people treat me, this world is a wicked world and not fair to any body. at the snack of my finger things are made happened. am now a powerful woman and no one step on me without an apology goes free. i turn to human being also at any time i want to. and am one of the most dreaded woman in my country. i become a vampire through the help of my friend who introduce me into a vampire kingdom by given me their number. if you want to become a powerful vampire kindly contact the vampire kingdom whatsApp at +1 4313007649 on their email worldofvampir@hotmail.com
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
electrotype 7y ago
Fuck you
prabhjos 7y ago
I listen to this while programming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBVxMvATaFU&list=PLxSOsUnHsfLvFvc6SmW8V4loIDzg5z8E9&index=4&t=3275s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBVxMvATaFU&list=PLxSOsUnHsf...

427 points by notkaiho 7y ago

I’m a huge fan of the artist NCS. (Noise cancelling silence). I haven’t listened to a song while working in several years, but do wear a pair of the latest Sony cans. I used to listen to similar content, soundtracks, etc, but found silence is where it’s at for me.

joemccall86 7y ago

Works with my media keys too. Nice work!

dexen 7y ago

Be sure to check out the "[Enterprise Mode]" in lower left corner :-)

Porthos9K 7y ago
http://datassette.net/content/datashat-businessfunk.mp3 http://datassette.net/content/datashat-businessfunk.mp3 sounds like it ought to be in a 70s porno.

Porthos9K 7y ago

I'm not familiar with any of these musicians, so I'm going to have to check them out. Thanks! I was lucky enough to score a second-hand set of Deutche Grammophon's Complete Beethoven Edition at an estate sale, and I like to crank up the piano sonatas when coding (and save the symphonies for consensual sex and ultraviolence). When I'm not rocking out to the Ludwig van, I've got some other stuff I like to play while coding: * Thank You Scientist: Maps of Non-Existent Places and Terraformer * Starfarer: Voyagers * Marcus Miller: Renaissance * Betamaxx: Plug And Play * Hiromi Uehara with Trio Project: Voice * Hiromi Uehara: Spectrum * Liquid Tension Experiment * Joe Satriani: Surfing with the Alien, The Extremist, Crystal Planet, Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards, Unstoppable Momemtum * Galneryus: The Flag of Punishment, Advance to the Fall, and Beyond the End of Despair * Therion: Vovin, Deggial, Secret of the Runes, Lemuria, Sirius B, Gothic Kabbalah * Judas Priest: Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, Stained Class

pelliphant 7y ago
> and save the symphonies for consensual sex... mmkay, thats nice, but what do you listen to for non-consentual sex? /s
- vyper91 7y ago
  he was making a reference to A Clockwork Orange...bit of the ol' Ludwig Van. referring to how the character murders people or has threesomes in the film to a symphony.
- Porthos9K 7y ago
  I might be an arsehole, but I'm not a rapist. If the other people aren't into it, then I'm out of there.

Pigo 7y ago

I've been wanting to build something like this since the last time I seen this posted here.

Bootwizard 7y ago

This is cool, but what makes it "music for programming?" I'd say music for programming is whatever your favorite music is. Everyone has different tastes.

AndrewBissell 7y ago
Speaking personally, I find somewhat ambient, low key, or atmospheric music without words to be most helpful when I program, which is not necessarily my favorite kind of music in general. This is just a huge library of those kinds of songs. I was a big fan and user of it when I first discovered it in 2013/2014.
missjellyfish 7y ago
As someone with a rather annoying tinnitus, silence freaks the shit out of me. To stay productive, I need music. What kind of music I listen to really depends on my mood. It could be dubstep (Excision, Teminite, PsoGnar, to name a few out of my current dub playlist), various forms of metal (anywhere from After Forever to Xandria, In Flames, you name it); some times even Happy Hardcore / Handsup. Generally, if I'm feeling well I prefer high BPM happy sounds, which -- together with some caffeinated drinks -- makes me incredibly productive. The darker my mood, the darker my taste of music gets, with also a few slower sounds. I can't really put numbers on my performance here, as on those days I prefer work that isn't easily evaluated performance-wise.
- anon_cow1111 7y ago
  Have you ever tried identifying the frequency of your tinnitus and removing that range from your songs(aka notch filtering)? I heard over time it can lessen the effects.
  - missjellyfish 7y ago
    If you play live music as a hobby, you're not exactly getting that. I've made bad decisions in the past; namely playing in an orchestra next to the drums without hearing protection. I can't undo that, and while it wasn't the cause of my tinnitus, it certainly didn't help. Nowadays I wear in-ear monitoring on stage which helps quite a lot, protection-wise. I've recently read about a study (dunno if it was on hn) where they discovered that vibrations behind the ear lessend the volume of the tinnitus. I am so going to try that if I ever get my hands on such a device. I still have a very good hearing overall (especially in the base region), so I should not complain.

dizaime 7y ago

"music for programming" with me is Pink Floyd. Anyone with me?

robbyt 7y ago
Yeah but I've listened to all of their stuff so many times. I really enjoy listening to new stuff when I work so it doesn't distract me with memories.
dsego 7y ago
For ambient stuff which is not distracting I usually search for "liquid drum and bass" mixes on youtube.
tsukurimashou 7y ago
Pink Floyd is for life, it is not restricted to programming.

zergov 7y ago

High BPM music has a huge effect on me. I have seen myself iterating a lot more during a session where I would listen to trance music instead of 2000s punk rock. Is it the smaller amount of lyrics? I don't know, but I'm convinced I have observed a higher productivity when listening to high bpm music in the past 5 years.

aurelianito 7y ago
High BPM music is fine for non-thinking tasks. If I have to actually debug a complicated issue it becomes counterproductive.
WhiskeyVictor 7y ago
Agreed, though the effects can be detrimental when driving. Have a look at https://www.steadymixes.com https://www.steadymixes.com for 130BPM mixes and mashups to keep your pace moving.

bobloblaw45 7y ago

Paul Oakenfold - Ready Steady Go Great for writing a hydra. A multi-headed worm to break an encryption and then sniff out latent digital footprints throughout an encrypted network.

MichaelApproved 7y ago
This is a reference to the ridiculous scene from the 2001 movie Swordfish where Hugh Jackman is writing a program to hack into a bank network. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Ds9CeG-VY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Ds9CeG-VY
- bobloblaw45 7y ago
  I had to look up the exact line. I just remembered it sounded great.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

dsego 7y ago

cmd.to is also cool.

pfd1986 7y ago
Also: https://coderadio.freecodecamp.org/ https://coderadio.freecodecamp.org/ https://9128.live/ https://9128.live/ https://dewtone.com/ https://dewtone.com/
- zV62drdTw6CM 7y ago
  Thank you for the links. I very much like all of them! I added your playlist to my Gist posted above.

jjuel 7y ago

I found The Social Network soundtrack works decent for me. Of course I also like Retrowave/Synthwave and Eurobeat. They may not be the "best" for concentration and working, but I like them and they seem to help.

elwell 7y ago
Yes, The Social Network soundtrack is my favorite to put me in hacker-takes-over-the-world mood. I also like the Tron Legacy soundtrack. If I'm in a lighter but still productive mood, jazz: The Bad Plus, Brad Mehldau, and Eddie Higgins Trio Christmas album.
philsnow 7y ago
DOOM soundtrack and Mr Robot soundtrack work really, really well for me.
erklik 7y ago
I wonder if there is some sort of placebo-like effect that quite a few programmers tend to like this music that was used in a movie glorifying someone like them.

plibither8 7y ago

Past submissions: 2018-07-20: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17573053 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17573053 2016-11-01: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12844434 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12844434 2012-02-18: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3605957 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3605957 2012-02-03: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3547694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3547694

imglorp 7y ago
Every time I feel like writing a "pastbot" I start to think it ought to be part of the site, and then I look up top and see the "past" button! :-) Maybe it should be highlighted and blinking if it's a frequent flyer...
- plibither8 7y ago
  I've also thought about bots on Hacker News - they might be useful for somethings though I can't put a pin on what exactly. I'm pretty sure the community won't really like the idea of bots on HN because of spam issues and such, but what is the official policy on this? Can't find anything about bots anywhere.
  - deusofnull 7y ago
    you could probably figure out some cool insights about tech people's beliefs and opinions in aggregate with some clever NLP and sentiment analysis and some.... ahh, not asking for user's consent to use their data for that! classic.
  - dang 7y ago
    We don't allow bots to post to HN, other than https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=whoishiring https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=whoishiring.
- colecut 7y ago
  I frequently read HN and this site was new to me. The (2011) in the title lets me know it isn't new content. What do I have to gain by knowing it was posted several times before?

tomcooks 7y ago

Nothing better than Gamelan, the album Degung Sabilulungan vol. 2 in particular[0] The repetitive, gentle sounds put me into a high efficiency mode without putting me to sleep like most ambient. [0]: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nrgTossoB0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nrgTossoB0

Isamu 7y ago
I agree, I hope it catches on.
DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
I just listened to the video you linked to. It seemed promising, but the lead flute was too much of a distraction for me. Perhaps after more hours of listening it wouldn't be such a problem.
TheLastMan 7y ago
Oh wow, I didn't think i'd see someone mentioning Gamelan, but while were on the subject, have you tried Geinoh Yamashirogumi? Check this out! Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRQiaRrNbCY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRQiaRrNbCY
- tomcooks 7y ago
  Big fan of their Ukranian folk album "Chi no Hibiki Higashi Yuroppu wo Utau", it's a jewel for programming (apart from THAT track). It's precisely via Gamelan, which led me to Akira OST gamelan sounds, that I've discovered Geinoh Yamashirogumi (which then led to Muslimgauze, tangentially) Cheers!

rwnspace 7y ago

Just enough slightly obscure things I both like and recognise to make me confident I'll find great new stuff. Cheers. Restraining myself to join in with just a single recommendation - Jan Jelinek's 'Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records' is the record I always post on these kind of threads and it always seems to land well with this crowd. It is probably my favourite example of the genre, and the production is so textured and the instrumentation has so many subtle aspects, it holds up very well to multiple listens. Alright, two recommendations - the first time I clocked a 14+HR session was when I was listening through Skinshape's discography (comfy, catchy, mellow indie)

accraze 7y ago
+1 for Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records. Jan Jelinek's work as Farben is also really great for programming, very organic yet subtle techno.

hour_glass 7y ago

Not a well known artist but I really like programming to FILMMAKER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUau3wleuXc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUau3wleuXc

verytrivial 7y ago

I have been listening to a downloaded copy of freesound.org user "reinsamba"'s 30 minutes of thunder storms for years. Literally one track. Probably half of the "flow" time I've had has been listening to that one track. Hundreds and hundreds of loops. I'm not sure if this is a recommendation of the track or condemnation of my sanity.

thearrow 7y ago
https://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/17085/ https://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/17085/ ?
- verytrivial 7y ago
  Exactly that one, yes. Well, I can't view that URL from here, but that integer is in the MP3's filename. Case closed! There's a lady's / small persons's voice admonishing someone for make noise with what sounds like a screen door part way through. It's not in English that I can tell. Do let me know if you understand what they say. I'm assuming it's just "shut up, recording!"
  - stfwn 7y ago
    There is a Reply All episode about something exactly like what you describe [1]. It's been a while since I've listened to it, but it's something about how making sounds like these is a whole business with resellers upon resellers. They dive into the process and try to track down the person who made a specific recording that also had some background noise that seemed particularly weird. [1]:https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/mehrar https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/mehrar
- degenerate 7y ago
  You need an account to download; here's some accounts: http://bugmenot.com/view/freesound.org http://bugmenot.com/view/freesound.org
jacquesm 7y ago
That's interesting. I use a similar trick, when there are distracting noises I put on white noise just loud enough to mask it. That then turns into the new baseline and I somehow experience it as silence.

feiss 7y ago

favorites of mine: * monolake / momentum * Paul Kalkbrenner/ self

jpincheira 7y ago
Paul Kalkbrenner is great! I met him in Toronto in a show and shook hands. Super down to earth guy. It's funny that I ended up living in Germany — he's from Berlin :)

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

coreyp_1 7y ago

Am I the only person who can't listen to anything while coding? My attention goes straight to the music, and I can't concentrate on the task at hand! When I was in high school, my math teacher would play Mozart during tests, claiming it would help us. It would drive me crazy, and I doubt that my grades improved as a result of the distraction. For what it's worth, I have a BMus in Piano Performance. I love music... but never as "background noise"!

wry_discontent 7y ago
This is interesting to me, because I almost exclusively enjoy music as "background noise." The only time I really listen to music by itself is if I'm at a concert. But I'm a musical illiterate
- Filligree 7y ago
  There's tons of different kinds. Here's one I've been enjoying lately: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPugYPbO66E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPugYPbO66E Pay attention to the lyrics. Treat it as a story, and try to guess at what's happening. There is a canon answer -- Aviator's albums are in fact all stories -- but try to come up with your own before you look for it. Everyone sees something different in the lyrics.
  - wry_discontent 7y ago
    I can't listen to lyrics because I find it hard to a) parse them at the speed they come out, and b) hearing them through the distortion of them being sung. I also get distracted very quickly. I do not know most of the words to my favorite songs.
    - Filligree 7y ago
      This is, again, situational. Try it~
      - 7y ago

ArtDev 7y ago

My requirements for programming music is what got me first into electro-swing. Since thing I have expanded from there. Lots of stuff from RJD2, C2C, Bonobo. Here is my playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6yHQaBX599OnGlojw5aDTB?si=YU7UMJHWTLqb_PqRPyimgA https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6yHQaBX599OnGlojw5aDTB?si=... It's good for driving long distances too. But otherwise, my musical taste is totally different.

nvirDoomed 7y ago

Only thing I can really listen to is drone or ambient. Mostly stuff from cryo chamber that is on the dark side of ambient/score type music. Classical and electronic music has a lot of nuances that draw me away from it.

jpincheira 7y ago

Currently listening to this great Piano Chill playlist [1] https://music.apple.com/de/playlist/piano-chill/pl.cb4d1c09a2df4230a78d0395fe1f8fde?l=en https://music.apple.com/de/playlist/piano-chill/pl.cb4d1c09a...

crikli 7y ago

Potato potahto. When I need to GSD it's thrash metal (Slayer, etc) or RATM.

ryeguy_24 7y ago

This is great, nice job. I tend to like Dark Ambient for programming. Espeically Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Social Network soundtrack) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yydZbVoCbn0&t=1016s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yydZbVoCbn0&t=1016s

geff82 7y ago

That website brought me ambient music. I listen to that style about everytime I have to think deeply. It became like a ritual.

Vaslo 7y ago

I use this almost everyday (doing finance work, not coding). Really great tool to give an add mind a little more focused.

wildpeaks 7y ago

If you like this, Xra_ always has great ambient music on while coding Memory of a Broken Dimension on stream (that's even how I discovered a lot of artists, such as Kammarheit): https://www.twitch.tv/xra_/videos?filter=archives&sort=time https://www.twitch.tv/xra_/videos?filter=archives&sort=time

apples_oranges 7y ago

To inspire others who were kids in the 80s/90s: My current favourite programming music is old Commodore Amiga game and demoscene music. (Lots and lots of tunes can be found on Youtube of course.)

vesinisa 7y ago
Hey! That's absolutely awesome. My current favorite coding music is something similar, a style called "Synthwave / Retrowave" that draws heavily from 80s/90s chiptune music, but made with a bit more modern instruments and techniques. There's tons of hour+ mixes on YouTube. Just a random one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk1nnAHI1mI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk1nnAHI1mI
- apples_oranges 7y ago
  Yes, I know Synthwave, and you're right, it's close and also, for me at least, super compatible with programming. Thanks for the link, will check it out. :)
- scns 7y ago
  My favourite album from that genre is Lazerhawk - Redline. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDn4-Na5co https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDn4-Na5co

slothtrop 7y ago

Notwithstanding the music I find laying out a web page like this sexy

rpastuszak 7y ago

Brain.fm works quite well in my case. It's not distracting and it doesn't sound like pure white noise either. The app is a bit clunky though.

jason_slack 7y ago
I use Brain.fm daily. I love it. I also switch to Soma.fm and Di.fm when needed.
electrotype 7y ago
Brain.fm owner is a crook. He lured me into buying an annual subscription with the promise that he would convert it to a lifetime subscription (which was available at some point). So I bough the annual subscription and from that moment I never had any more replies from him... I sent a dummy question from another email address to see if he was simply ignoring me and I received a reply immediately. So I downloaded the music I liked there (it's almost always repeating anyway), using a video/music grabber, and then cancelled my account.
- brainfmsteve 7y ago
  Hey, sorry about that, don't know how or why that happened but I'll fix it. My email's in my profile, I'll make sure it gets taken care of.

730salt 7y ago

clouddead, 0PN, Tim Hecker? These playlists are no joke.

qcom 7y ago
Seriously. I'm stunned to see 0pn deep cuts like Heart Of A Champion. Speaking of which happy new release day!

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

rukenshia 7y ago

surprised nobody has mentioned the freecodecamp radio yet, I really like listening to this on a very low volume. Mostly Lo-Fi music that doesn't take your attention away. https://coderadio.freecodecamp.org/ https://coderadio.freecodecamp.org/

stebann 7y ago

This is really subjective. Classics of Rock like Pink Floyd works for me, but I'm not sure that it works for my mate who asked me to "stop the music". Lofi is a good option too.

vyper91 7y ago

There's a guy who makes a playlist on Spotify called Programming with a coffee emoji, I listen to it so often I even found his Twitter or something and reached out to him to show appreciation. Turns out listening to Scandinavian Rock (melodic and lyrics I can't follow) is really good for productivity lol

rickdmer 7y ago
Link for anyone interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mtlhuFVOFMn6Ho3JmrLc2?si=RDu-N5zARq23DNmKYu8wLA https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mtlhuFVOFMn6Ho3JmrLc2?si=...
- erklik 7y ago
  Thankyou

aasasd 7y ago

This also links to Datashat's own Businessfunk compilations, which are excellent on another level from your regular ambient: http://datassette.net/businessfunk/ http://datassette.net/businessfunk/ And btw, there's also a fourth mix for the Near Mint web radio: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/near-mint-8th-march-2016-datashat-business-funk-special/ https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/near-mint-8th-march-2016-... But as heavy-artillery concentration music, I recommend TechnoLiveSets. It's the ‘accidentally done all work in one day’ grade material: https://www.techno-livesets.com/ https://www.techno-livesets.com/ P.S. I'm also gonna gripe about lack of volume controls on the site, which for some reason a bunch of sites consider acceptable. All volume levels on my machine are carefully tuned—and then this site comes along for which I have to fiddle with the master volume. While listening to this explicitly background music, I'll likely come across some videos that I'll want to watch for ten seconds—and then I'll have to either crank the video volume, or scramble to stop the music each time. Don't do this. On top of that, site authors' ideas of proper volume pretty much never matches mine: Bandcamp and Soundcloud both have to be cranked down a lot: Soundcloud's embedded clips make me lower the system volume to 1/4th of a notch on my Mac, which is about 1/32nd the normal volume for me.

klondike_klive 7y ago
Holy shit! Businessfunk 4! And on Resonance FM, no less. How was I not aware of this? You've just made my 2019. I love Businessfunk to the extent that I am prepared to name it as my favourite genre of music.
- aasasd 7y ago
  You can find a lot of it on Youtube and elsewhere: it's all library music from KPM and such. E.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2uAw_SOshE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2uAw_SOshE Datassette has tracklists on Soundcloud (iirc), and Andy Clark, Keith Mansfield and James Asher seem to dominate his mixes (though Asher is apparently more into tribal music). Alas my favorite bit from Businessfunk 2 at 34:25 is unidentified.

dv35z 7y ago

I have found several “brown noise” tracks which I find great for getting into the zone. Right now, my absolute favorite is “cockpit” brown noise (the sound of muffled airline jet noise). For example, you could set this track to repeat endlessly: https://open.spotify.com/track/01Kk9an41cyVj7oIXd2Fsj?si=NnCsHAo_ReWTqDHdwoOc1Q https://open.spotify.com/track/01Kk9an41cyVj7oIXd2Fsj?si=NnC... For whatever reason, it gives me the feeling of “fast” (jet), important (I’m the pilot of this important thing?), and cozy (strapped in tight in the cockpit), and I never get the distracted (hmmm! What is this song?) feeling that I usually get from programming to music. FYI: Difference between “white”, “pink”, & “brown” noise: https://www.soundofsleep.com/2017/07/18/white-pink-brown-noise-whats-difference/ https://www.soundofsleep.com/2017/07/18/white-pink-brown-noi...

paulintrognon 7y ago
I can't hear anything. Is it normal? Does it only works with headphones?
klodolph 7y ago
I would summarize the differences between noise types this way: White noise: equal energy per Hz (flat) Pink noise: equal energy per octave (-3dB/octave) Brown noise: spectrum of Brownian motion (-6dB/octave) White and brown are easy to create mathematically.
aasasd 7y ago
My favorite among the ‘busy background sounds’ tracks is the relaxing military skirmish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGgKdDCJx5o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGgKdDCJx5o
zV62drdTw6CM 7y ago
Thank you for the playlist! I added it to my Gist posted below. On a side note, I find it interesting how we buy noise cancellation headphones against airplane nose but also create playlist with these sounds.

vnorilo 7y ago

I don't like listening to music while doing routine tasks where thing A needs to be plumbed to thing B and mistakes should be avoided. However, when I need by subconscious to scan a vast non-verbal solution space, nothing is quite as good as energetic, information-dense jazz. It helps silence my inner verbal dialogue that just gets in the way. Some or my mental wires may or may not have been repatched by my conservatory degree.

tnorthcutt 7y ago

I've also found some of the selections on https://generative.fm/ https://generative.fm/ to be very nice background music for working. The author's introduction to generative music article (https://medium.com/@metalex9/introduction-to-generative-music-91e00e4dba11 https://medium.com/@metalex9/introduction-to-generative-musi...) is also very interesting.

opminion 7y ago

This has helped me write code as a sole developer in an open plan office of managers. Unfortunately the corporate filter only lets the last few ones through.

pier25 7y ago

Would be great if there were also Spotify playlists. This way you could play/pause from the keyboard, find albums, related artists, skip tracks, etc.

asaddhamani 7y ago
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7w33zSxzXN5blasm8mk6cc https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7w33zSxzXN5blasm8mk6cc
erklik 7y ago
If you like using your keyboard to browse the web, I'd like to introduce you to Tridactyl ( https://github.com/tridactyl/tridactyl https://github.com/tridactyl/tridactyl ).

bsg75 7y ago

I find I need energetic music, ambient styles tend to make me sleepy and drift. Currently Insomnium is on rotation - ironic name given the above statement.

awalton 7y ago

Is there a mix among these that isn't so... dark? I tend to go for lighter tone colors/airier ambient works when I want to really engage.

whitepoplar 7y ago
I love this IDM playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6t93D5kmpPfeGwAm7VMej8 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6t93D5kmpPfeGwAm7VMej8 Not mixes, but I like BT's "These Hopeful Machines" and Oceanlab's "Sirens of the Sea" albums, too.
- awalton 7y ago
  BT and Above and Beyond are my #1 and #2 favorite artists... BT's new ambient album has been a fun listen while coding, but I'm always out for more music since I tend to listen constantly. Thanks for the link!

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

asaddhamani 7y ago

I've found that all these instrumental tracks don't work for me. They're too -- boring? But I find it quite distracting if I don't have music on while coding, and I prefer music with lyrics, EDM/Pop/Rock types. Rarely, when I've got to think a lot and basically hold huge complex flows in my head, I've found brain.fm to be the best.

gbuk2013 7y ago

I have a subscription to Focus@Will and listen to either their “Focus Spa” or “Ambient” channels and don’t like the others. But for me it really does help me focus on a day when my head’s all over the place.

paulcarroty 7y ago

Seeburg 1000 - http://74.82.59.197:8351/stream http://74.82.59.197:8351/stream Super useful as background music.

chvid 7y ago

Eye of the Tiger. On repeat.

downerending 7y ago
Can't tell whether troll or not. (the best kind)
- jacquesm 7y ago
  I can't speak for the OP but I'm a bit weird in that I can play songs on repeat for days on end until I've totally memorized them. Current one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpwjEBtoDRQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpwjEBtoDRQ

random_kris 7y ago

I can get into such deep focus when listetning to postrock. I found this genre a year ago and it is soo good. I recommend this youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-wdveKCDbbjK0_rzR2XhVA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-wdveKCDbbjK0_rzR2XhVA

dkdbejwi383 7y ago

I prefer speedcore

snvzz 7y ago

Whatever works. For me, it's The iDOLM@STER in general. If I am already in the zone, metal works best.

iscrewyou 7y ago

Reading these comments, I’m fascinated by how people listen to things and what makes them focus or lose focus. Us humans are a strange creature. I’ll give my input. This is my go to focus sound: http://youtube.com/watch?v=dWjKZbkcYdA http://youtube.com/watch?v=dWjKZbkcYdA

franky47 7y ago

I found my favourite style for coding without thinking [1] is progressive rock/metal. My favourite bands of the moment are Haken, Devin Townsend, Liquid Tension Experiment, Steven Wilson (et al). Also aptly named is French band The Algorithm. Want more extreme ? Try Pryapisme. More Jazz/fusion-y ? Nova Collective. [1] as opposed to thinking without coding, which usually comes first and requires complete silence, paper and pen.

deusofnull 7y ago

Does anyone happen to know if there's a name for the "theme" that this site seems to be emulating in its terminal-esque design? It looks sorta like Monokai but with a really nice dark teal background.

corndoge 7y ago
solarized dark perhaps
actionscripted 7y ago
https://ethanschoonover.com/solarized/ https://ethanschoonover.com/solarized/

nlh 7y ago

Since we're all sharing coding playlists here, happy to share mine as well: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2hLUvezSiJ2TpmSQq27IQI?si=r2Gr_kyrT1mNDgw3I1AMWw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2hLUvezSiJ2TpmSQq27IQI?si=... This is a ~21hr mix I use basically daily when getting into flow - I love it. It's mostly high-energy electronic, some electro-swing, and I'm sure a whole bunch of other genres I'm not equipped to describe (not a music nerd). Almost all of the music has been discovered through using Spotify Radio, Pandora, etc. and saving the songs I really liked / helped me keep the groove going. It might or might not work for you, but always happy to share. Also - feedback welcome! If you like this and there's some other stuff I'm missing out on, lmk :)

landonxjames 7y ago

Hainbach, whose website is linked to so he might have created this, has a really cool youtube channel where he repurposes old engineering equipment to make music. Heres one of my favorites https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19KbrTpgiEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19KbrTpgiEM

dep_b 7y ago

I don’t listen to music anymore during work since silence is really rare nowadays. Some good stuff I play(ed): - Terrence Dixon - from the far future - Omar S and Shadow Ray - OASIS COLLABORATING - Aphex Twin - Ambient - Brian Eno ambient albums - Musik von Harmonia

tabtab 7y ago

I like the idea of such ASCII GUI's for prototypes and internal IT oriented apps. It has a fun retro feel. Does anyone know of a JavaScript library for building such?

erklik 7y ago
https://terminal.jcubic.pl/ https://terminal.jcubic.pl/ is fairly good, but somewhat older and out of fashion.
thristian 7y ago
You may be interested in https://kristopolous.github.io/BOOTSTRA.386/ https://kristopolous.github.io/BOOTSTRA.386/

clickhead 7y ago

I kinda like the music but it's so damn ominous that it takes me out of my focus sometimes and makes me question why I am listening to such depressing music. I'm not sure this beats simple upbeat lofi for me.

zpallin 7y ago

I think everyone has different tastes and making a catered list is neat, but probably only going to work for some people. And people have some pretty weird tastes. For example, I've been listening to the original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis soundtrack on Spotify. Something about 90s survival horror video game themes made for a 16 bit, 24 channel sound chip really gets my fingers typing!

slowmovintarget 7y ago

Rock and Roll while coding: yes! Electronica, synth, chill, film soundtrack: yes! Bach? No! Bach stops me in my tracks and I'm forced to devote my attention. Mozart? I'm apparently allergic to bad performances because unless the performance is perfect, the music... fails. Beethoven? Yes! Not sure why, though.

timwaagh 7y ago

Although I like some Bach or similar while coding, I don't listen to music or even bring headphones anymore when at work as the temptation to listen to more distractive music is just too big. If it's too noisy at work I pull out party plugs and recently I ordered a 3M construction earcap.

mfrye0 7y ago

I've been listening to binaural beats lately at the recommendation of a few friends. It seems to work pretty well to drown out the office noise without distracting me.

keithnz 7y ago

I tend to listen to psytrance, a while back on another music related programming thread on HN, someone posted this great guide to psytrance http://psytranceguide.com/ http://psytranceguide.com/

Tade0 7y ago

I've found that the best music for programming is the one you listened to when you were younger and could focus much better. For me that would be anything that I listened to during the all-nighters I pulled throughout college and the background noise in Star Trek TNG. As a side note if you're working remotely and having trouble focusing on long calls, I recommend Tibetan signing bowls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujyu7tkyxtw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujyu7tkyxtw They nicely fill in the gaps in the conversation.

catchmeifyoucan 7y ago

When I'm doing items such as math or programming - I listen to upbeat pop music that can get me moving. It's as if my fingers are dancing or writing away to the beat. When I used to take math exams, all I could remember in my head as I took the exam was the songs that were playing as I was practicing and I might even hum along. In fact, it might even be the case that I have one song just stuck in my head on repeat. However, when I need all of my mental energy to think architecture, understand or formulate a plan of action, music is distracting.

edem 7y ago

Kinda anecdotal, but what works for me is a mix of dark ambient and drone. Anything more intense gets me out of the flow. Relevant playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62CD3gc39cVrOkUGelCRrZ?si=o_6hFZv8S5COIEP88zEj6w https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62CD3gc39cVrOkUGelCRrZ?si=...

zV62drdTw6CM 7y ago
Great selection! I added your playlist to my Gist posted above.

tenken 7y ago

I suggest working on ones weaknesses such as concentration. I like to work with quite but share an open workspace. Learn to tune out distractions by focusing. Key example last week had a staff retreat to a bowling alley. I don't much like bowling so fired up Lichess on my phone. Tons of noise, talking and pins falling all around me but I'd rather focus on the game at hand and tune out distractions. I suspect decades of karate training has helped build my ability to focus myself as needed.

zV62drdTw6CM 7y ago

I shared this Gist with radio stations, playlists, collections, albums, … before: https://gist.github.com/z3to/3ad6458674afb2e308e1bbf881669879 https://gist.github.com/z3to/3ad6458674afb2e308e1bbf88166987... Mostly ambient, drone, (neo-)classical, dub, minimal techno, deep house, micro house, downtempo, slo-mo house, ketapop, schneckno, jetlagdisco, post-rock, lowfi hip hop…

Voltage 7y ago

If you haven't coded to Infected Mushroom, then you haven't lived. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLWXSsYJoWY&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=PL78CF8B9E79AD7FBA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLWXSsYJoWY&feature=list_rela...

sytelus 7y ago
Too distracting, unnecessary high energy prevents to get in the zen mode.

xwowsersx 7y ago

I, like many others in this thread, have a difficult time listening to music while writing code or reading. One app that has worked wonders for me and boosts my focus is brain.fm. The rhythms and beats are steady and I've had some of my most productive sessions while listening to it.

sytelus 7y ago

I have been fine-tuning my "Code Time" music for over a decade that is conducive of getting and staying in the flow. An eclectic mix of ambient, tango, jazz, techno, progressive with a hint of trans. Pandora: https://pandora.app.link/nKUbxNb4m2 https://pandora.app.link/nKUbxNb4m2. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71xXPTrKmQ72TpLZSV1DAU https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71xXPTrKmQ72TpLZSV1DAU Google Music: https://play.google.com/music/playlist/AMaBXynw1A1Qs30Ii8AKRa1cpGSwO1cNj1rBN_vh61pz2CSg5Yu1OsNfGoMcHBVP7gBomGO_542lT1iY6Cglo81KoaDFoOhFiQ%3D%3D https://play.google.com/music/playlist/AMaBXynw1A1Qs30Ii8AKR...

Dowwie 7y ago

Soundcloud has an endless supply of great music to listen to while working. There's a podcast from the Netherlands known as "Deep Electronics" that has gotten my attention recently. Give the latest episode, #257, a try: https://soundcloud.com/deep_electronic https://soundcloud.com/deep_electronic

proc0 7y ago

I compiled my own. I'm not sure what this genre of music is but it's amazing. It's like downtempo ambience with no audible base. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KmEKavq5Ux0IxY2d5VfyI?si=0QLJavB8Rpmzwtms8BwI5g https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KmEKavq5Ux0IxY2d5VfyI?si=...

29athrowaway 7y ago

Try this: dark room so you can only see your screen, tiny bit of alcohol, tiny bit of coffee, instrumental music.

lendinggroup 7y ago

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deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

electrotype 7y ago

Fuck you

prabhjos 7y ago

I listen to this while programming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBVxMvATaFU&list=PLxSOsUnHsfLvFvc6SmW8V4loIDzg5z8E9&index=4&t=3275s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBVxMvATaFU&list=PLxSOsUnHsf...