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Music for Programming (2011)

musicforprogramming.net

211–220 of 272 posts

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#211

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'm a pianist with an active performing schedule and I'm the same way. I'll listen to music at work if I have relatively mindless tasks to get out of the way, but when it comes to actual coding or anything requiring careful thought, forget it. All music ends up being distracting, either because I really enjoy it or because I find it really annoying. I'd be curious to know if there are any serious musicians here who c…

I've played piano for 15 years, and I prefer listening to music. Although, some of my musician friends say it's more noise than music... https://whoami.sh/thought/flow-playlist

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#212
Although I like some Bach or similar while coding, I don't listen to music or even bring headphones anymore when at work as the temptation to listen to more distractive music is just too big. If it's too noisy at work I pull out party plugs and recently I ordered a 3M construction earcap.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#213

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…

Generally agree, but I also need to drown out my coworkers. Found that NIN-Ghosts type of music to work the best, that repetitive/drony music gives me the space I need to think.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#215

This is cool, but what makes it "music for programming?" I'd say music for programming is whatever your favorite music is. Everyone has different tastes.

Personally, I like to listen to electronic DJ mixes because a) the music flows together nicely (by design) and b) repetition paces me and gives something for my ADD brain to latch on to (like rapidly bouncing your leg) and c) I don’t get preoccupied trying to DJ for myself. Here are some sources I like: Boiler Room (all EDM/dance genres)— https://m.youtube.com/user/brtvofficial/videos?view=0&sort=p... Anjunadeep (dee…

Here's another great Boiler Room mix, from Nightmares on Wax, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q692lHFaLVM.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#216

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't work without music, it drives me crazy.

I have ADHD, so working in an environment with lots of voices and other sounds is impossible for me.

I've also got tinnitus, so working in silence will drive me insane too.

I'm listening to music for upwards of 12 hours a day. It also helps that I have a real passion for music, mostly techno and psytrance, and also DJ and produce, so I love it.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#217

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 listen to music when doing easy/repetitive work - it actually makes it seem less dull. When working on something hard or reading/learning something I can't listen to music.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#218

Is there a mix among these that isn't so... dark? I tend to go for lighter tone colors/airier ambient works when I want to really engage.

I love this IDM playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6t93D5kmpPfeGwAm7VMej8 Not mixes, but I like BT's "These Hopeful Machines" and Oceanlab's "Sirens of the Sea" albums, too.

BT and Above and Beyond are my #1 and #2 favorite artists...

BT's new ambient album has been a fun listen while coding, but I'm always out for more music since I tend to listen constantly. Thanks for the link!

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#219
post #136

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…

There's definitely truth in that. After learning to drive, I found that the sense of vague-but-uninformative flow in the sight of traffic, that ant-like busyness, is gone. Now it all has meanings. Worse, I'm now hypnotized by scenes of cars trying to pass each other in the one-lane driveways below my apartment. A trainwreck of five cars going one way, three the other, and two coming in from the side, might keep me at…

Well that sounds like a very interesting and complex interaction to watch play out! I find sitting by my window at night and watching the cars go by a near meditative experience, difficult to leave. However I am quite able to think and articulate during that time and find the strange monotony of other lives quite the generative brain food.

Re: Music for Programming (2011)

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I have ADD in different areas/amounts. The difference between us in the way we use and react to sound is, in my rather biased opinion, fascinating: Me: Single source only, absolutely can't listen to music while trying to code or read. I have used https://mynoise.net/ and the Android app to drown out environmental noise when I'm working around others. I'm very easily distracted by noise, especially things…

I'm glad you two can get along in this capacity. I have ADHD and I'm very much like your wife and my last partner was like you, but my ability/tendency to multitask tended to be overwhelming for her even when it was just me doing it. Like, if I tried to talk to her while simultaneously listening to a podcast and doing something on my phone, she would be feel overwhelmed by association and ask me to stop the other thi…

Your conversation quality might be noticeably different when you are doing something else and when you are not (even if you don't notice it).

For me, I can kinda participate in a dialog when distracted, but I'm definitely not pulling my weight in such cases, so the person on the other end has to do all the work.

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