6 ms·
Ask HN: Good coding music?
I don't know why, but recently I've been unable to listen to music whilst doing work for extended periods (45 mins or more). It seems to distract me or get in the way.
Would anyone care to tip me off with some good (preferably non-mainstream, as I like discovering new artists) music to work/code productively to? I was thinking anything along the lines of Minimalism/House/Electro, although I like to dip into Classical from time to time.
... Or just share anything (music) that makes you work productively :)
- paul_willis 13y agoTry this out, it's Keith Jarrett live at Köln http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a7xoYZZE4s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a7xoYZZE4s
- sarreph 13y agoHe's great! Hadn't heard of him before. Thanks for the share.
- reisub 13y agoI usually like instrumental music, words take my attention away from the code. Mozart, and other classical music is a great background for coding. Other than classical, God Is An Astronaut (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34C41eEpM48 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34C41eEpM48).
- ScottWhigham 13y agoLove that God is an Astronaut! Awesome.
- 2mur 13y agoThe Glitch Mob - Drink the Sea and We Can Make the World Stop EP
- tjr 13y agoI have for years found that if I really needed to concentrate deeply on a programming project, I tend to be immensely helped listening to Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky". Yes it is (was?) mainstream, and yes it has been cliche'd into the ground in countless movies that used it for overtly happy scenes. But regardless, it helps me. (If the ELO original is too mainstream for your tastes, you might like the version by The Delgados.) More generally, I find that light classical music, especially Bach, is pleasant to have playing while I work. Anything else may or may not help, and it's pretty random. A song that helps a lot one day may be a distraction on another day. For just "listening" to music, I mostly enjoy jazz, but that often doesn't really help me much to focus on programming.
- yulaow 13y agoI usually listen the related broadcast in Grooveshark http://grooveshark.com/#!/writhem/broadcast http://grooveshark.com/#!/writhem/broadcast
- chewxy 13y agoMy playlist today is full of Tchaikovsky and a few Bear McCreary interleaved.
- carlyle4545 13y agoThe Diplomats are ideal for maintaining an optimal level of concentration. Their album, "Diplomatic Immunity Vol. 1" will put you in a zone. The song "Dipset Anthem" is the undisputed gem. Thank me later...
- sonicallison 13y agoI can't think of anything more distracting than this album, they stop to talk constantly... http://www.amazon.com/Diplomatic-Immunity-Diplomats/dp/B00008GQ9Y http://www.amazon.com/Diplomatic-Immunity-Diplomats/dp/B0000...
- darkmethod 13y agoI'm a fan of anything by Zoe Keating. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TTX0ryyoac http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TTX0ryyoac "Into the Trees" is my default coding music.
- bnejad 13y agoTrance, specifically the weekly "A State of Trance" hosted/mixed by Armin Van Buren. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_State_of_Trance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_State_of_Trance There are like 600 episodes, each is a 2 hour mix. Great to just turn one on and not fidget around with the next track. Another one of my favorites is Digitally Imported, di.fm Basically a bunch of different electronic genre stations.
- dethstar 13y agoI usually listen some post-rock such as GYBE!
- meerita 13y agoMy favorite coding music, for late nite is SomaFM: Mission Control, wich is ambient music mixed with NASA mission audio archives, it is sublime. You can find it iTunes radio or in SomaFM official website http://somafm.com http://somafm.com
- hmsimha 13y agoMy vote goes to SomaFM's Space Station, though the vibe of that station is a bit variable
- anigbrowl 13y agoExtrawelt.
- majc2 13y agoBig fan of movie and game soundtracks for coding. Regular rotation at the moment consists of Man of Steel, Batman Trilogy, Inception, Mass Effect 3, Skylander Giants and a lot of classical music esp the planets or anything else from civ 4! Final shout out would be music that Adam Curtis has used in his documentaries such as Power of Nightmares. He uses lots of good modern instrumental pieces. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/4202789.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/4202789.stm is a starting point.
- jrokisky 13y agoBrian Eno's Ambient albums
- Oculus 13y agoDJ sets of artists like Kaskade or Porter Robinson always work for me. I find the key is to find something that doesn't distract you from the work, but is also nice to listen to when you focus on it. I find it really hard to just work when the room is completely silent.
- vmarsy 13y agoWhat about https://www.focusatwill.com/ https://www.focusatwill.com/ ? or not really music but a coffee shop sound : http://coffitivity.com/ http://coffitivity.com/
- Raphmedia 13y agoThanks a lot for those two links. They really make it for me! Edit: I found that Coffitivity goes really well with Muzak - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdJWZxPW45c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdJWZxPW45c - that someone else posted. Turns your office into a mall!
- bdevine 13y agoI swear by Boards of Canada, which, judging from the criteria you listed, might be right up your alley.
- rdouble 13y agoTry the free podcasts from bleep.com
- jschrf 13y agoTake a look at http://musicforprogramming.net/ http://musicforprogramming.net/, you might find something you like there. I personally use di.fm or soma.fm and pick a channel that suits my mood, usually something a little more downtempo and free of vocals.
- pidge 13y agoI like the this room on Turntable, electronic chill - http://turntable.fm/chill_or_be_chilled2 http://turntable.fm/chill_or_be_chilled2
- benjtinsley 13y agoSteve Reich + coding = profit
- MonkoftheFunk 13y agohttp://Di.fm http://Di.fm
- MonkoftheFunk 13y agohttp://www.di.fm http://www.di.fm
- shoo 13y agoStars of the Lid - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaSi7Gut7xM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaSi7Gut7xM , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et_lDyRymrw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et_lDyRymrw , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OycCEDxQFoA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OycCEDxQFoA Tim Hecker - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jXbnydhNjU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jXbnydhNjU
- Skoofoo 13y agoI like to listen to http://scenemusic.net http://scenemusic.net.
- mkname 13y agomuzak, designed not to distract. example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdJWZxPW45c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdJWZxPW45c (edited to remove distracting remark)
- keefe 13y agocheckout state of trance on youtube I like those really long tracks for the sustained flow
- wanderr 13y agoWhen I really need to focus, I listen to a mix of mostly Au Revoir Simone, Ladytron, Metric, and The Faint
- pushkargaikwad 13y agoI personally find music to be distracting while coding but yesterday found this thread on reddit http://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/1jke2r/whats_the_most_beautiful_music_that_you_have_ever/ http://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/1jke2r/whats_the_most..., this has some gems! I am sure you will find few good once
- jamesjguthrie 13y agoI can't code with music on, my brain tunes into it and makes me want to sing along or pretend I'm drumming etc. I find TV on in the background to be much more helpful.
- alexanderh 13y agoThis is why there is an entire genre of music called "Ambient" Seriously, I know where you're coming from but there is music out there for every situation.
- alexanderh 13y agoI really enjoy all kinds of Ambient music for coding Sync24 and RQ come to mind.
- jeremyirony 13y agoI like the playlist made of: - Kingdom of Heaven OST - Assassin's Creed Revelations OST (the full 3 CD version) - Full Mass Effect 3 OST (extracted by some guy from the game itself. Not the one you can buy ;))
- hemezh 13y agoI personally prefer chillstep, it really helps me concentrate. Recently I created a mix @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EY0r-VJF6k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EY0r-VJF6k I'd strongly suggest you to discover other artists of this genre e.g. Xan, Sizzlebird, Ramases B, etc
- biolime 13y agoI always listen to grunge.
- hyling 13y agohttps://www.focusatwill.com https://www.focusatwill.com works well. I also create a Spotify station by searching for "background music"