Music for Programming (2011) • Hacker News Board

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#151

Post by tcoff91 » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 5:13 PM UTC

aasasd wrote: post #122

tombert wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not the only person; it's why I absolutely despise open offices. I have trouble getting things done with people talking, and "just putting on headphones" doesn't really work because I have trouble focusing on anything but the music. The closest thing I'll do to address my particular problem is find audio of stuff like thunderstorms or waterfalls and more ambient stuff. Personally, I find that much easier to tu…

I recommend in-ear headphones. You just put them in. No music is necessary.

If you aren’t going to play anything why not just use earplugs?

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#152

Post by aidenn0 » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 5:13 PM UTC

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #94

tombert wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not the only person; it's why I absolutely despise open offices. I have trouble getting things done with people talking, and "just putting on headphones" doesn't really work because I have trouble focusing on anything but the music. The closest thing I'll do to address my particular problem is find audio of stuff like thunderstorms or waterfalls and more ambient stuff. Personally, I find that much easier to tu…

I think this site does a decent job of avoiding music that can be focused on. They mention on the about page: > we have found that the most effective music to aid prolonged periods of intense concentration tends to have a mixture of the following qualities: Drones Noise Fuzz Field recordings Vagueness (Hypnagogia) Textures without rhythm Minor complex chords Early music (Baroque, lute, harpsichord) Very few drums or…

For others who find they need too-loud music or noise, here's my 3 step process that works.

1. Get any in-ear earbuds (for noise even cheapy ones are fine, for music pick whatever type you like).

2. Get the foam tips to fit them: https://www.complyfoam.com/products/t-series/

3. Put some hearing-protection ear-muffs on top

A tiny amount of noise will make all other sounds disappear at this point.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#153

Post by remmargorp64 » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 5:15 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #91

inform880 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would invest in a pair of nice noise canceling headphones. They work wonders for me and are a must have in open offices.

Don't those only really work with low-pitched repetitive background noise? They don't do a lot for people talking. I do have noise canceling headphones and I like them, but they don't really do a lot for people talking.

I have Bose noise canceling headphones, and my experience with them is that they do a really good job of blocking conversational noise if you use them with music.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#154

Post by archagon » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 5:15 PM UTC

coreyp_1 wrote: post #35

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... bu…

I can only listen to instrumental songs that I'm really used to.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#155

Post by Wowfunhappy » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 5:15 PM UTC

tcoff91 wrote: post #151

aasasd wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend in-ear headphones. You just put them in. No music is necessary.

If you aren’t going to play anything why not just use earplugs?

As someone who does this in other situations: because unlike earplugs, my headphones can also double as headphones in other situations.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#156

Post by billfruit » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 5:16 PM UTC

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #94

tombert wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not the only person; it's why I absolutely despise open offices. I have trouble getting things done with people talking, and "just putting on headphones" doesn't really work because I have trouble focusing on anything but the music. The closest thing I'll do to address my particular problem is find audio of stuff like thunderstorms or waterfalls and more ambient stuff. Personally, I find that much easier to tu…

I think this site does a decent job of avoiding music that can be focused on. They mention on the about page: > we have found that the most effective music to aid prolonged periods of intense concentration tends to have a mixture of the following qualities: Drones Noise Fuzz Field recordings Vagueness (Hypnagogia) Textures without rhythm Minor complex chords Early music (Baroque, lute, harpsichord) Very few drums or…

I have had some experience listening to video game music, esp those from strategy games, they are designed to stay firmly in the background during game play.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#157

Post by asaddhamani » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 5:16 PM UTC

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.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#158

Post by degenerate » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 5:16 PM UTC

thearrow wrote: post #39

verytrivial wrote: post #31

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.

https://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/17085/ ?

You need an account to download; here's some accounts: http://bugmenot.com/view/freesound.org

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#159

Post by aasasd » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 5:17 PM UTC

dv35z wrote: post #105

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=NnC... For whatever reason, it gives me the feeling of “fast” (jet), important (I’m the pilot of this important thing…

My favorite among the ‘busy background sounds’ tracks is the relaxing military skirmish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGgKdDCJx5o

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#160

Post by gbuk2013 » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 5:17 PM UTC

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.