Ask HN: Best Music Background to Work? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Best Music Background to Work?

23 pointssamrohn24 comments

What's your favourite music when you code,design or work in general?

I sometimes listen to tracks from musicForProgramming[0] website, and I usually download the ones which I like and then play them off the offline music player.

Other than that, I have some Spotify playlists saved (not from me, some links I found on Twitter and other sites) [1,2]

[0] https://musicforprogramming.net

[1] https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6dlwJYNRdkTfZMALZclyIx?si=...

[2] https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2u5h5ZloqSXRuDMTrRincp?si=...

I suspect this is a deeply personal question, like asking people "C++ coders what fiction do you read at home?"

Regardless I'm currently listening to Rammstein, I often listen to Queen, Depeche Mode, and soundracks from films such as LotR, 300, Blade, Resident Evil. I've spent a lot of time listening to the soundtracks to the various Fast&Furious films over the last month. Maybe next month I'll have more classical-music.

I usually have the Lo-fi beats playlist[1] on Spotify playing.

[1] https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWWQRwui0ExPn?si=...

Seconding this, Spotify at work is blocked and lots of active YouTube activity would look bad, so I fire up the beloved YouTube 24hr lo-fi beat stream and let it run all day pretty much

Yes ... I'm actually flexible with music but quite often use the "Focus" genre on Spotify for work that requires more thought. I like the "Deep Focus" Playlist too (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWZeKCadgRdKQ?si=...)

Ketapop, chillrave[0] - I find they have the right amount of ambience and novelty to not be too boring to make you drowsy or too interesting to be distracting so they can peacefully sit in the background all day long giving you a bit of rhythm but also letting you focus.

[0]: https://soundcloud.com/gina-sabatini/kitti-mimizan-b2b-gina-...

Silence.

(I've been a musician and programmed all my life too, but never have music playing when concentration is needed, i.e. when programming. When music is on, I concentrate on the music! It seems so weird to me that people would attempt some complex programming task with music playing! Hmm and mostly when I do want music these days it comes out of me: I imagine/remember it–hear my favourite stuff in my head, or imagine playing it, or tap rhythms, or play an instrument..)

I've found this to be the right thing to do for several reasons.

1. Music does not improve my concentration in the long term. It will help for a few hours and then make it harder to focus after that.

2. Headphones make me less approachable at work, and I want to contribute to a positive team culture by being easy to chat to. If I need to buckle down I will work from home.

3. Headphones make it much more tempting to watch youtube, or listen to podcasts in the background. Without headphones I find it much easier to keep myself on track.

4. Most importantly, silence at work makes me appreciate music a whole lot more when I do listen to it, because it is no longer simply background noise, it feels worthy of attention. On top of that, I am more capable of listening to more demanding and more rewarding music.

Usually classical, jazz, or Celtic/ambient. Words are only allowed when I'm doing something mindless and rote - anything that requires real thinking, especially writing, will have the lyrics take the quality down a couple of notches - not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. The only exception is pure non-verbal creative work (CAD, graphic design, etc.) where relaxation is key - there, Jimmy Buffett, or old country or pop music can be quite useful.

Similar discussion here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19579216

When trying to get into flow, I prefer fast paced music, with a lot of rapid beats. Metal is a natural pick, but even things like K-Pop works.

When in flow, I want things that maintain the same beat. I'll often play the same song in loop. Lately I've been looping Dance Monkey/Toss a Coin to Your Witcher for hours. Basically it's the songs that go 1234 1234 1234 123 123 123 1234 1234 1234.

I am a big fan of N'to and the sets from artist from the label Hungry Music. I believe the genre is deep house. This set is my go to at work

[Link] https://m.soundcloud.com/zubkow-ilya/nto-live-tour-saint-jac...

My absolute favourites are Abul Mogard's Works album and most albums by Alessandro Cortini. If I want something more high energy, I just find a techno or psytrance playlist from Spotify without paying much attention to which artist is playing.

I love hear felix music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RUzfOff5q0&list=PLDsQg9WjiO...

I vary between Classical, usually when designing, to something upbeat when coding.

Kimbra - Vows and Marina and the Diamonds - Family Jewels

Nothing with words or I get really distracted. Well, unless I really know the music, but even then it's a bit distracting.

It doesn't really matter. Once you are concentrating and "in the flow" you don't hear it.

I think the question is more, "What do you not hear? What puts you in the flow fastest?"

My roommate used to play Jack Johnston, The White Stripes, and Muse, and these felt terrible for my concentration.

Basic Channel, Maurizio, Quadrant

some ambient music, usually whatever comes up on spotify. i do like listening to my soundcloud stream whenever i get the chance, but that tends to have less focus-friendly tracks.

The soundtrack from The Social Network

I usually have no music.

Foreign rock/pop

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