Music for Programming • Hacker News Board

Re: Music for Programming

#101

Post by cassianoleal » Thu, Jul 07, 2022, 8:42 AM UTC

brundolf wrote: post #10

A couple of my go-tos are Solar Fields and Infected Mushroom. Both are electronic; former is calm/ambient focus, latter is energetic/driving focus. Both have huuuge discographies that you can just put on shuffle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ldYxgJQG_E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQmvPQ0MmiY Solar Fields actually did the Mirror's Edge game soundtracks too, if you've played those. Really nice mix of ambient, al…

I haven't heard of Solar Fields but will check them out. I usually go for Asura, which sounds similar to your description of SF.

If you're interested, there seems to be 2 acts called Asura, one is a metal band. I'm talking about the other one. :D

Infected Mushroom were one of my favourite psy trance acts back in the day. I've seen them live a couple times, both excellent performances!

Re: Music for Programming

#102

Post by publicola1990 » Thu, Jul 07, 2022, 8:43 AM UTC

silisili wrote: post #54

I've always described myself as a person with zero ability to multitask. Always have been, always will be. Every time I cook, my wife about has a panic attack watching me fumble around, forgetting things, looking for things, oh god that's burning, etc. Back on topic, I absolutely cannot listen to music with words when I code. I'll intermittently type lyrics instead of what I was intending to do. Anyone else cursed wi…

Game sound tracks may be a good option, because to they are designed to be in the back ground, and not to be grating on the ears even after much repetition.

Re: Music for Programming

#103

Post by igama » Thu, Jul 07, 2022, 8:43 AM UTC

silisili wrote: post #54

I've always described myself as a person with zero ability to multitask. Always have been, always will be. Every time I cook, my wife about has a panic attack watching me fumble around, forgetting things, looking for things, oh god that's burning, etc. Back on topic, I absolutely cannot listen to music with words when I code. I'll intermittently type lyrics instead of what I was intending to do. Anyone else cursed wi…

Same for me. I find it boggling people that can listen to audiobooks, podcasts, to shows while working/coding.

Re: Music for Programming

#104

Post by TawandaMoyo » Thu, Jul 07, 2022, 8:46 AM UTC

I prefer instrumentals without words for deep work. My go to is Mbira instrumentals from Zimbabwe e.g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRlWoV022k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlbf2w6ZCPg&t=2672s

Re: Music for Programming

#105

Post by ricardobayes » Thu, Jul 07, 2022, 8:53 AM UTC

silisili wrote: post #54

I've always described myself as a person with zero ability to multitask. Always have been, always will be. Every time I cook, my wife about has a panic attack watching me fumble around, forgetting things, looking for things, oh god that's burning, etc. Back on topic, I absolutely cannot listen to music with words when I code. I'll intermittently type lyrics instead of what I was intending to do. Anyone else cursed wi…

Try mellow beats, lofi or jazzhop. Maybe some light liquid drum and bass. Really good for productivity.

Re: Music for Programming

#106

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 07, 2022, 8:59 AM UTC

SyneRyder wrote: post #85

I suppose I should link my own Music For Coding To playlist here, for anyone who might be interested. I've tried to refine it over the last 7 years, removing tracks with vocals & anything that throws me out of the flow state: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5YpeoHyEHG7ttNgvzAkW72?si=... It's intended to be played on shuffle, but I've started my workday with Ulrich Strauss' "I Take Comfort In Your Ignorance" so many…

[deleted]

Re: Music for Programming

#107

Post by bliblablub4 » Thu, Jul 07, 2022, 8:59 AM UTC

I really love listening to the Donkey Kong soundtrack. It really has something that just relaxes you, or pushes you to the programming limits. It has tracks for every kind of mood. I listen to it on the train or when I travel to work to gain mental focus for the day. In the office, I switch to a different, more upbeat song to create tension. With passing time I switch to Donkey Kong songs with increasing tempo. My hands are literally flying over the keyboard and I am in complete balance with the code. Some of my coworkers say I'm "wired in". I wouldn't disaggre with that. At some point, when the evening is within grasp, I slowly decrease the tempo of my Donkey Kong songs to calm down step by step. On my way home I switch into chill-song mode again. During the night I let the aquatic ambience of Donkey Kong Country guide my dreams. Highly recommend it to everyone!

Re: Music for Programming

#108

Post by ultrablack » Thu, Jul 07, 2022, 9:04 AM UTC

k_sze wrote: post #82

And here are a few of my sources for music while programming: - kahvi collective (kahvi.org, kahvicollective.bandcamp.com) - ocremix.org (they produce some really nice albums, e.g. the gigantic 6-disc Final Fantasy VI remix album, one of my all-time favourites) - amigaremix.com - www.dwellingofduels.net - remix.kwed.org - lots of other video game original soundtracks that I bought I have a FiiO X5 DAP, so I download…

You can get retromusic streamed on Slay Radio, Nectarine demoscene music or scenesat. I have been using Slay Radio for near 20 years. C64 only.

Re: Music for Programming

#109

Post by calmoo » Thu, Jul 07, 2022, 9:06 AM UTC

HKH2 wrote: post #40

Jagerbizzle wrote: post #16

As a massive house-head and someone who's been involved in the electronic music scene to varying degrees for two decades, I actually find it extremely difficult to listen to music while writing code, because all I actually do is listen to the music, rather than work. As such, when I feel the need to put my headphones on to drown out external noise, I prefer listening to musique d'ameublement ( https://en.wikipedia.or…

A large proportion of House music has lyrics and/or speaking, so I'm not surprised.

I would say the opposite, most "good" house music, or house that is considered tasteful, doesn't have lyrics. It may have some voice samples, but nothing too distracting. There are obviously many exceptions to this rule, but you can generally consider most house music to be instrumental.

Re: Music for Programming

#110

Post by thyrox » Thu, Jul 07, 2022, 9:06 AM UTC

Just posting this in case anybody else experiences it too but I've found that listening to a 140 bpm instrumental track on a loop puts me in the zone very quickly.

It doesn't even have to be long track, even a 30s loop does the trick. The 140 bpm is like a sweet spot for some reason though.

I dunno if it's because it's like a video game music which repeat over and over but it really helps me focus and get in the zone everytime. Anybody else have something like this to share?