Ask HN: What music helps you code better?

"The Dark Knight" OST

Anything with a decent tempo (except for Dance Music - too much thoomp thoomp) that is decent but that I don't know the words to. The important part is not knowing the words. If you know the words it can pull you out of the zone without you realizing. As for type I have no specific type, I'm all over the place, just as long as it follows the above criteria.

Downtempo (Tycho etc)

SomaFM Groove Salad

Mostly music with no lyrics. That’s key.

I’m currently enjoying brain.fm set to 30 minutes and synced with a 30 minute pomodoro timer. I enjoyed the trial enough to purchase a lifetime membership (using a discount code) as I feel much more productive, especially when combined with some Bose noise-cancelling headphones. I’ve spent more money on less productive things so I figured “why the hell not?”. It may just pay for itself.

If not brain.fm, then I’d prefer to listen to movie soundtracks, such as Another Earth, I Origins, Manglehorn, or The Wilderness.

Some artists I’ve enjoyed while coding:

Piano: Ludovico Einaudi, Dirk Maassen, Johann Johannssen, Olafur Arnolds, Joep Beving

Electronic: Tricky, Moderat (particularly the instrumental album).

Heavy Rock: Earthless, Russian Circles

Post Rock: Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, This Will Destroy You