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Comment by Bootwizard | Hacker News Reader

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.

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As someone with a rather annoying tinnitus, silence freaks the shit out of me. To stay productive, I need music.

What kind of music I listen to really depends on my mood. It could be dubstep (Excision, Teminite, PsoGnar, to name a few out of my current dub playlist), various forms of metal (anywhere from After Forever to Xandria, In Flames, you name it); some times even Happy Hardcore / Handsup.

Generally, if I'm feeling well I prefer high BPM happy sounds, which -- together with some caffeinated drinks -- makes me incredibly productive. The darker my mood, the darker my taste of music gets, with also a few slower sounds. I can't really put numbers on my performance here, as on those days I prefer work that isn't easily evaluated performance-wise.

Have you ever tried identifying the frequency of your tinnitus and removing that range from your songs(aka notch filtering)? I heard over time it can lessen the effects.

If you play live music as a hobby, you're not exactly getting that. I've made bad decisions in the past; namely playing in an orchestra next to the drums without hearing protection. I can't undo that, and while it wasn't the cause of my tinnitus, it certainly didn't help.

Nowadays I wear in-ear monitoring on stage which helps quite a lot, protection-wise. I've recently read about a study (dunno if it was on hn) where they discovered that vibrations behind the ear lessend the volume of the tinnitus. I am so going to try that if I ever get my hands on such a device.

I still have a very good hearing overall (especially in the base region), so I should not complain.

> Have you ever tried identifying the frequency of your tinnitus

I have but since I don't have perfect pitch, I'm not getting anywhere. Plus it seems like the frequency has a certain amount of smear which might be hampering things even more.

I would love to try notch filtering but without the key frequencies, I'm doomed (although the tinnitus stuff on mynoise.net does help knock it down for short periods).

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 (deep house)—https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOftnzGIKwJB1h6ErEcFJTO...

I agree with you. Good DJ mixes build up the energy. It does help me get my brain in a rhythm that enters into a flow state. BBC's Essential Mix do put some good mixes, as well as Diplo and Friends.

Some tracks:

* Dimension Essential Mix (DnB): https://soundcloud.com/dimension_uk/essential-mix

* Nicolas Jaar Essential Mix (Various): https://soundcloud.com/otherpeoplerecords/csp06-nicolas-jaar...

* Mano Le Tough Essential Mix (House): https://soundcloud.com/manoletough/essential-mix

* Charlotte De Witte Essential Mix (Techno): https://soundcloud.com/charlottedewitte-essentialmix2018-02-...

* Diplo Burning Man 2019 (EDM): https://soundcloud.com/diplo/diplo-burning-man-cloud-art-car and https://soundcloud.com/diplo/diplo-burning-man-tetrix-art-ca...

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

I can't imagine listening to music with lyrics while programing. For me ambient soundscapes, psy-chill, psy trance, atmospheric DNB, chiptunes, soundtracks or lo-fi are the best choice...

It's about music to put you in focus, not make you sleepy, and not distract you, not about music one personally likes to listen to as a music fan.

Some kinds work better for this than others.

> Everyone has different tastes.

Yep. And perfectly illustrated by many of the comments being about what works for them. in particular.

Sometimes I even listen to talk programs and don't lose pace (depending on the task). The horror.

> This is cool, but what makes it "music for programming?"

Marketing. /s

I can't listen to music I normally listen to. Anything with (English) words that is too slow or too fast.

I love Raggae but it's terrible for programming. It's too chill and wordy.

Speaking personally, I find somewhat ambient, low key, or atmospheric music without words to be most helpful when I program, which is not necessarily my favorite kind of music in general. This is just a huge library of those kinds of songs. I was a big fan and user of it when I first discovered it in 2013/2014.

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