8 ms·
You are listening to New York – police radio and ambient music
- lifeformed 12y agoDang, this is cool... I love the idea of procedural music using live data sets. This works really well - a lot of ambient music I listen to already has radio samples in it. I wonder if you could add reverb to the radio? Maybe with the room size oscillating very slowly. Might I recommend a lower default volume for the radio? I'm listening to it more for the sound quality and not the words themselves.
- ominous 12y agohttp://url2la.uservoice.com/forums/201637-general http://url2la.uservoice.com/forums/201637-general for suggestions, it seems!
- colinbartlett 12y agoCould you make some kind of "music" out of the audio from a Twitter stream of Vine videos?
- mkal_tsr 12y ago[ SomaFM SF 10-33] http://somafm.com/sf1033/ http://somafm.com/sf1033/ Ambient music mixed with the sounds of San Francisco public safety radio traffic. [ SomaFM Mission Control ] http://somafm.com/missioncontrol/ http://somafm.com/missioncontrol/ A mix of ambient and experimental music mixed with the historical sounds of the space program.
- fredley 12y agoSoma FM is one of my favourite things. Their stations are among my top listening while working. The lack of ads/interruption and excellently compiled playlists make for wonderful listening that truly augments my mood and ability to concentrate.
- seren 12y agoAnother recommendation : I used to listen to "Bluemars - Music for the space traveler" stream, but it has been defunct[0] for some time. However, it seems someone is trying to revive it there [1]. It is really great to use as background when coding. Eerie and inspiring. (I just hope that my link won't DDOS it) [0] http://bluemars.org/ http://bluemars.org/ [1] http://echoesofbluemars.org/index.php http://echoesofbluemars.org/index.php
- ronjouch 12y agoThanks, and thanks to mkal_tsr for the link to Mission Control, that sounds like fantastic music for work! Here is a list of my go-to music for work: * (mandatory, already seen multiple times on HN) http://musicforprogramming.net/ http://musicforprogramming.net/ * Kruder & Dorfmeister - The K+D Sessions. Fantastic mix. * Apparat - The whole discography, but especially Silizium, and Krieg und Frieden. Both mix deliciously electronic and violin/cello.
- XzetaU8 12y agoTwo more recommendations: http://ambientsleepingpill.com/ http://ambientsleepingpill.com/ and the classic http://www.sleepbot.com/ambience/broadcast/ http://www.sleepbot.com/ambience/broadcast/
- DevX101 12y agoTrentemoller Radio on pandora is pretty good for coding. Subdued, but steady beats to maintain pace, with a touch of atmospheric electronics.
- mwexler 12y agoThey are amazing, and afaik live off of donations. As each of you guys discover Soma, please consider a small donation to the station to keep them going.
- thinkt4nk 12y agoLet's not forget the Christmas Lounge!
- Inversechi 12y agoMission Control is my all time favourite SomaFM channel!
- johnchristopher 12y agoHave you noticed some changes in sf1033 in the last 9 months ? It feels now as if the mixes are deliberately more musical than ambient.
- mkal_tsr 12y agoI personally don't really listen to sf1033 at all, but figured I'd toss it in since I figured HN probably has a skew toward that area ;-) For more ambient, I'm usually listening to recommendations by, * http://reviews.headphonecommute.com/ http://reviews.headphonecommute.com/ * Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/user/headphonecommute http://open.spotify.com/user/headphonecommute / spotify:user:headphonecommute
- johnchristopher 12y agoMy mistake, I meant ambient as in "ambiance sound" not the musical style (less chatter, more music with melody). But excellent recommendation nonetheless (listening to the flashbulb on reviews.headphonecommute.com) !
- robertfw 12y agoMission control is excellent background for playing Kerbal Space Program
- d23 12y agoSo bizarre. I remember listening to Groove Salad when I was probably 14 years old. Now here I am, 11 years later, living in SF, and I get reminded of it on a random HN post.
- shurcooL 12y agoCan someone elaborate please? Why listen to police radio while listening to ambient music? I am genuinely curious and would like to understand this better.
- ominous 12y agoWell, I don't think i can make you understand, but here's some discussion on the matter: http://redd.it/28zker http://redd.it/28zker In short, it can be used to zone out and work, or just as background noise for your daily activities. if being immersed in a noir/cyberpunk/blade runner mindset like that works for you)
- aric 12y agoIt invokes a mood. It distills a spirit of night and cities that never sleep. Urgent events from a police scanner play upon a feeling of social connectedness. Combining that with ethereal music plays upon senses of tranquility, danger, peace, haunting, calms before storms, and life transpiring. Dramas like Blade Runner, The Killing, and True Detective, as a few examples, achieve many of their most beautiful moments through that same, heightened essence. It's great for programming at night. It's meditative without entering a full alpha state. It's like other moods, such as sounds of rain and nature, that linger but don't distract. Many people find it conducive to "the zone" of creativity and productivity.
- pdknsk 12y agoThis is very strange to me. How can it not distract? Some guy beats up his wife, or worse, and knowing so helps you coding? I would have never guessed it. I understand the notion about a certain mood, as in Blade Runner, but that's carefully arranged fiction. This is real life. (The last sentence probably reads more dramatic than intended.)
- IvyMike 12y ago> knowing so helps I understand that some people can't help but listen to the voice, but for me, it is difficult for me to hear details and it quickly turns into background noise.
- acc00 12y agoVery nice! Why not make the third component live -- and include a webcam feed in the background instead of the static image?
- toasted 12y agoabsolutely love this, well done!
- sunseb 12y agoNice ! I would love to have a stream to play in my music player rather than in my web browser !
- robmcm 12y agoBundle this into an app with some nice photos or live webcam and I'll throw some money at it!
- achairapart 12y agoLooks like they already did it: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/la-vue/id566957123 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/la-vue/id566957123
- robmcm 12y agoBoom, purchased!
- bigiain 12y agoOhhh, I like this one: http://youarelistening.to/numbers http://youarelistening.to/numbers
- chillax 12y agoSome background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station
- bigiain 12y agoYeah, I've got The Conet Project 4CD box set. A guy at Aquarius Records in San Francisco convinced me to "just have a listen" back in '98 or '99, and I bought them _immediately_
- algo 12y agoIt's available to download at archive.org: https://archive.org/details/ird059 https://archive.org/details/ird059
- cichli 12y agoIn a similar vein, there's a great album that mixes ambient music with field recordings from airport terminals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_for_Real_Airports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_for_Real_Airports
- shirowski 12y agoThere's also a similar native app for iOS called La Vue – perfect for late night coding sessions. It's also an eerie experience to walk down the streets of your own city while listening to the sounds of another city on the other side of the globe/country. [La Vue for iOS] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/la-vue/id566957123?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/la-vue/id566957123?mt=8
- aric 12y agoBookmarked. I already occasionally listen to local and nonlocal police scanners via Broadcastify with my own playlists of atmosphere and ambient-shoegaze music. No joke. I'll use this. Some beautiful, fresh music on the roll here.
- grimgrin 12y agoMind sharing any of your playlist? I loved your explanation: "It invokes a mood. It distills a spirit of night and cities that never sleep. Urgent events from a police scanner play upon a feeling of social connectedness. Combining that with ethereal music plays upon senses of tranquility, danger, peace, haunting, calms before storms, and life transpiring."
- aric 12y agoThank you! I'd be honored. Likewise, I'll be eager for any music from you, especially as you're even willing to ask. It should be noted that I truly love all forms of music and sound without reservation. Would be nice if HN had a simple forum or messaging/alerts for these moments. My lists are a disastrous mess in Foobar. It's time to finally get up to par and organize what I can on Spotify or whatnot for these situations. Any way to message, or just check back in a few days?
- smikhanov 12y agoWorth mentioning that they cover a number of cities, including St Petersburg, where they listen to road traffic police (in Russian of course).
- harel 12y agoI absolutely love this. On one hand you've got the peacefulness of mellow ambient music, and on the other, the potential death, doom and destruction from the police channels. It properly conveys the 'techno' feeling that something can go horribly wrong at any moment.
- theoh 12y agoApparently the idea for Twitter came to Jack Dorsey from listening to a police scanner: http://www.cnet.com/news/jack-dorsey-on-his-childhood-inspiration-for-twitter/ http://www.cnet.com/news/jack-dorsey-on-his-childhood-inspir... It's very much a techno thing, reminiscent of a track like Space Manoeuvres' "Stage One". I'm not sure if it's ethical to do it with live emergency communications, though.
- daturkel 12y agoThe site is also mentioned in a good episode of the design podcast 99% Invisible. http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/episode-23-you-are-listening-to/ http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/episode-23-you-are-lis...
- thehoff 12y agoThis is just great. Not only the sounds, but I love the backdrops. I'm reminded of how much I miss LA.
- awjr 12y agoThought this was the stupidest thing ever, then I listened. It's rather cool and seems to work. Kudos.
- tragic 12y agoMy first thought when I saw the website name was Screenwriter's Blues by Soul Coughing - which turns out to be looping on the info page! Very cool idea.
- fumar 12y agoThis is really cool. Makes me feel productive. I have been working on ambient music that allows me to work and stay focused. Just released some of my first tunes here: http://www.vpena.com http://www.vpena.com
- jwallaceparker 12y agoHey, great work. Listening to it now. What toolset or DAW did you use to create these?
- fumar 12y agoThis was all done with Ableton live 9 on Surface Pro 3. I did use some field recordings and a few micro samples from Bill Evan's album, Moonbeams.
- jwallaceparker 12y agoWow great to hear. I've been learning Ableton Live 9 on my Mac, along with a Push controller, which I can't recommend enough.
- yoctonaut 12y agoVery nice work--great textures and atmosphere. Thanks for sharing it! If you're ever inclined toward a productivity challenge, you might want to check out http://weeklybeats.com http://weeklybeats.com (not my site, but I am a participant). The idea is to write, record, and upload one piece per week. (My stuff's at http://weeklybeats.com/#/onezero/ http://weeklybeats.com/#/onezero/ )
- squidmccactus 12y agoThis is one of the only good things I've ever seen on this site.
- xtrmntr 12y agoThanks for listening to my site everyone. It's crazy that 3+ years after launch it's still finding new listeners every day! Feel free to @ me on twitter with any questions (@idontlikewords)
- RIMR 12y agoThis was really soothing until SFPD started talking about a nasty Truck/Motorcycle accident. They dropped the line "The rider is still down", and now I'm switching to ambient by itself. Nice site though. This is actually pretty soothing as long as it's typical, nearly-undecipherable police chatter.
- selectodude 12y agoYeah, listening to Chicago's at night can get pretty gnarly.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- pavel_lishin 12y agoI tuned in just in time to hear a report of a child being shot. On the plus side, the relaxing music just makes this seem like the opening of a drama film.
- yoctonaut 12y agoThis is a really great idea--bravo, xtrmntr! Are you traversing a SoundCloud playlist, or pulling randomly based on tags? It's quite cool. If the police feeds are too dramatic, there's that excellent (archival) NASA audio one as well: http://youarelistening.to/nasa http://youarelistening.to/nasa