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Favourite working music?

14 points by Vaebn ↗ HN
Hello. I have been wondering if anyone has any suggestions and/or what everyone's favourite "working music" is if any. Particularly among those of you who work from home / reportedly / alone / during your personal projects etc

Myself seem to have mixed results, with complete silence sometimes being the best when I do something that I am actually focused yet other times wanting something in the background to occupy the auditory channel so to speak (or to drawn other environmental noise)

That in turn often has countereffective results, with "too epic" making me feel like I do amazing work, despite not doing any or with "too chillaxing" music actually making me too relaxed in turn and finding myself drifting towards the abyss of random wikipedia article reading.

So I reckon, if 10 people here chip in, and all happen to have 1 particular style (track), that may end up fairly interesting.

34 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 54.3 ms ] thread
Cortez
I usually listen to synth wave when I study because it gives me a euphoric feeling.
sethammons
I have to avoid things with lyrics.
Vaebn
Huh. That's actually fairly interesting! Myself I have noticed the following. I am someone who meddles around with both "artistic" stuff (3d modelling etc) and programming as a hobby/projects.

I have noticed that when I do the 3d stuff, I can usually tolerate music with lyrics, or for that matter even listening to documentaries, TED talks etc just fine. Everything slows down but progress is actually being made.

On the other hand when I do something programmy or for that matter even simple text based stuff such as "writing descriptions" I have noticed that I find music with lyrics utterly distracting.

Although the left/right brain thing is a bit of a myth, frankly it has been extremely clear to me that language neurons get to be dual-purpose components when it comes to logic stuff of a particular kind.

chatmasta
White noise or meditation playlists on Spotify. Or Dr. Dre instrumentals.
mod
On linux, at least:

play -q -c 2 -n synth brownnoise band -n 1600 1500 tremolo .1 30

That's nice for drowning out noises when I need to. In case you can't test it out, it sounds a lot like sitting by the beach with waves rolling in. Lyric-less (or nearly) music also works well for me, I just have a playlist on spotify.

partisan
Thanks for this. I will be trying it for a few hours tomorrow morning.
cag_ii
That's great, thanks for that recommendation!

By modifying the last parm I get a more pronounced wave in/out sound that works well for me:

   play -q -c 2 -n synth brownnoise band -n 1600 1500 tremolo .1 75
lighttower
wow. I think this beats my brain.fm recommendation. Doesn't need a browser / internet to run. Thank you very much.
larrykubin
Mostly instrumental music - jazz, post-rock, or chill hip-hop beats. eg. Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros, Nujabes, Miles Davis.
partisan
I usually go for anything that is free of lyrics, but lately, I've been stuck on a playlist:

MCMXC a.D. by Enigma

Music for the Masses by Depeche Mode

Music for Programming Episode 24: RITES (64 plays so far according to iTunes)

Music for Programming Episode 37: Lackluster (33 plays so far)

Esau
I pretty much listen to anything but lately, I have been listening to soundtracks. Today, in honor of Star Trek, I broke out Star Trek II: Wrath Of Khan.

BTW: James Horner died too young.

fitzwatermellow
Opera. Maria Callas singing "Un Bel Di". The overture from Wagner's "Tannhauser" ;)
FlopV
Alina baraz Spotify radio is one of my favorites.
RUG3Y
Whitesnake and Savage Garden on endless repeat.
1_listerine_pls
Prefer instrumental, the genre doesn't matter.

Los Angeles Guitar Quarter - African Suite "Mbira"

Jonny Clegg & Savuka - Scatterlings of Africa

Paradise - Fable

vldx
Just waves sound on background.

Also, Mission Control on Soma.fm is worth checking out.

drakonka
I enjoy a mix of things - sometimes I'll be in the mood for instrumental game or movie soundtracks (favorites include Mirror's Edge and Deus Ex: Human Revolution). Other times I'll enjoy electronic/dance music (though I'm very picky about these since I usually don't like this genre, so it's tough to find something I'll be able to work with). Sometimes I like alternative/pop-punk/rock. Usually I'll stick with a genre for a day or so and then move on to something different.

Right now I've been listening to outrun, stuff like Gunship.

malux85
I like Drum and Bass - because I interpret music spatially, multiple times during the day I notice the beat and the execution of code actually sync up, it's exhilarating to watch

https://youtu.be/ww5z-24x7LY?t=101

I've also started to listen to 2 songs at once, because it's quite a different perception to enjoy the songs together and then individually, simultaneously

lighttower
I listen to brain.fm [0] I got a promo $25 for lifetime membership. It really works for me... or at least great placebo effect for me.

[0] https://www.brain.fm/app

p333347
For me music works only when I am in what I call "mechanical mode" i.e. when all the thinking etc is done and I am only left with doing code review, refactoring, cut paste rearrangement, comment editing etc. Sometimes it gets distracting even then but that usually means I haven't reached the mechanical mode yet.

Anyway, I have a set of songs that I turn to specifically for what you call 'working music'. These songs generally have a broody, even melancholic, feel laced with trance or psychedelic like aspects and there are no sharp rises or falls. In other words, these songs quickly drift into the background and won't interfere, even when they have lyrics. I play these at the lowest possible volume where I can just about hear them, almost as if they are coming from a concert a many kilometers away. And oh, this is my home office routine, not a workplace thing, as I like to hear songs from speakers and not headphones due to the concert thing. And this is usually an after 10.30 pm affair. And of course, played in a loop.

The main songs are these: Russian National Anthem, Israel National Anthem, Dexter Soundtrack - (Blood Theme, Wink), The Last of The Mohicans - I'll find you, Tom Petty - Last Dance with Mary Jane, Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower, Chris Isaak - Wicked Game, Doves' (Blue Crush soundtrack Firesuite, Rise, Here It Comes), Niel Young - Southern Man, Bob Dylan - Knocking on Heaven's Door, JJ Cale (Magnolia, The Sensitive Kind, Crying Eyes), House Soundtrack - Teardrop, Die Toten Hosen - Ich bin die Sehnsucht in dir (German), some country songs too.