Music for Programming (2011) • Hacker News Board

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#201

Post by electrotype » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 7:23 PM UTC

rpastuszak wrote: post #73

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.

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.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#202

Post by sp0rk » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 7:28 PM UTC

colecut wrote: post #199

imglorp wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

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?

Threads like that are typically linked because people might be interested in the previous discussions. This is especially true for this one, because people will inevitably suggest their own preferences for programming music in the comments.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#203

Post by gmfawcett » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 7:39 PM UTC

cheschire wrote: post #90

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 use bose in-ear noise cancelling headphones with a custom spectrum of noise from mynoise.net playing which is specifically tuned to the same frequency as certain louder individuals in my office. Completely blocks it.

I love that you tailored the noise to actual people's voices! Play track Greg from Accounting...

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#204

Post by thiagomgd » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 7:40 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 also have some difficulties doing "brain work" while listening to music for the same reasons, I just start paying more attention to the music. I'm a hobbyist musician and have been playing trumpet and saxophone since I was around 8~10. I wonder if that changed the way I (or we) perceive music

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#205

Post by amatecha » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 7:40 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #115

travisjungroth wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m guessing music transmits a lot more “information” to you than the average person. It’s hard to have something you love as a background. I love scuba diving. If there was a monitor with rotating images of underwater scenes, I wouldn’t just think it was pretty. I’d be glued to it figuring out where they took the shot, wondering how deep they were and wishing I was there. I’m guessing something similar happens with…

Not the OP, but I think you might be onto something. I'm not a huge music-theory guy or anything, but it's virtually impossible for me to "tune out" music; I think I subconsciously like to dissect it a bit. However, if someone were to put on virtually any sporting event on the TV (without announcers and assuming you didn't have a bunch of people cheering or anything like that), it would have almost no affect on me, s…

Oh yeah, you know how people put on music to relax and go to sleep (with the music set on a timer)? It doesn't work, it keeps me awake.. I analyze every detail, think about how they made a certain sound or how something is placed in the mix...

That said, at the same time I pretty much have to listen to music while working, otherwise my brain is like 1/2 as functional. No clue why.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#206

Post by djaychela » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 7:40 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…

No, me neither. Unless I'm working on something brainless and repetitive (I'm currently doing formatting for a book I'm writing, and using my old version of Indesign which means a lot of repetition of the same thing as it doesn't have the ability to set sane defaults!), I can't listen to any music - either the music gets my mind, or the job does and then I'm not listening.

FTR I partially make a living as a musician, so maybe that's why?

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#207

Post by slowmovintarget » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 7:44 PM UTC

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.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#208

Post by clickhead » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 7:51 PM UTC

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.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#209

Post by brainfmsteve » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 7:52 PM UTC

electrotype wrote: post #201

rpastuszak wrote: post #73

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.

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…

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.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#210

Post by zpallin » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 7:53 PM UTC

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!