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Ask YC: What music do you listen to when programming?

11 points by sspencer ↗ HN
This has probably been asked before, but I am curious about the musical tastes of all the rest of you, having noted very similar tastes in the "Ask YC: Books" thread.

I'll start us off:

Mashups: http://bootiesf.com http://djearworm.com http://partyben.com

Also all manner of classical: Bach, Mozart, Strauss, Beethoven, Debussy

And last but not least, some excellent indie radio: http://www.bagelradio.com/blog/index.html

62 comments

[ 6.1 ms ] story [ 234 ms ] thread
pius
Lots of things, but predominantly hip-hop and rock. If I'm in "discovery mode," I'll use Songza or Last.FM.
tjr
Mostly classical (especially Bach) and jazz (Dave Brubeck, Pat Metheny, Abraham Laboriel, Miles Davis, et al)

Very rarely anything with lyrics, as it tends to disrupt my concentration.

eru
None. Interferes with my concentration.
superjared
Try DragonForce.
eru
I will. Just in general - not for programming.

Part of my problem with music and programming is - that I like distracting and complex music.

pius
On another note, do you guys wear headphones/earbuds or use external speakers? For me, I really find external speakers distracting, while headphones suck me into the code.
tjr
Headphones, but mainly because part of the use of me listening to music is to block out other sounds.
sspencer
Earcup headphones all the way. Noise canceling is an added bonus.
apgwoz
I'm incredibly glad my last employer bought me a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort headphones for Christmas. Probably the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn.
edw519
Speakers. I don't want anything "touching" me when I'm doing my thing.
Neoryder
Depends.

Planning/Thoughts stage: Classical, Jazz

Implementation Stage with Nothing to Explore: RnB, Rock

Exploratory: nothing, flow issues

jamiequint
headphones, mostly everything, but especially daft punk, Tiesto, lots of blues and stuff too.
manvsmachine
Recently, a lot of movie soundtracks and instrumentals; lyrics divert my attention. BSG, 28 Weeks, moody/epic stuff. Not sure why, but it works.
irrelative
Lyrics really break my concentration too. I like electronica for that reason -- it doesn't have vocals and it's got a nice motivating beat.

Try Aphex Twin for some really good stuff.

sspencer
I really like Hans Zimmer's soundtracks: "The Thin Red Line" and "Gladiator" are both particularly good.
manvsmachine
Yes, Gladiator... I meant to include that as well.
misterbwong
Any music that my brain doesn't try to process. Preserves concentration while keeping out noise.

I'm currently listening to Nujabes - Modal Soul. It's a mix of hiphop/jazz and mostly instrumental.

Xichekolas
Half the time I listen to nothing... the other half involves NIN, Tool, Deftones, Massive Attack, Glassjaw, Ska-P, and other music roughly like that.
carpal
I've scientifically confirmed that The Talking Heads made the best hacking music known to man.

Aside from that, I listen to a lot of Of Montreal, other indie pop, some electronic and movie soundtracks (There Will Be Blood and The Fountain OSTs are both great).

edw519
Ditto Talking Heads. Also Depeche Mode and Tears for Fears.
sspencer
Is there a better song for working on a startup than "Everybody Wants To Rule The World"?
ph0rque
How 'bout taking the next step and making a shared Pandora station for hacking?
sspencer
Not a bad idea at all. I'd need a pretty eclectic library to please everyone here, though.
ayc
Motorhead, Accept, Iron Maiden -- dedicated to programmers :)
mattmaroon
Well, I write rather than program (well, technically I do both, but I suck pretty badly at the latter) but I like Mahler, especially as conducted by Bernstein.

Rhapsody has a phenomenal classical selection.

palish
Rain. It's probably strange, but ambient rain sounds are quite relaxing.

If anyone is interested in this, go here: http://www.hypnosishealthcare.com/rainsounds.html

Choose "Rain MP3 Download". Twelve bucks gets you an hour of rain without any background noise at all.

Note that you'll need to play with Winamp's equalizer a bit to make it sound great through headphones. The Full Bass preset is perfect.

tirrellp
Usually I listen to stuff that allows me to think... some chilled out stuff like Stereolab, Free Design, Telepopmusik, Thief, Portishead, Jazzanova, Forss, Yesterdays New Quintet, Wahoo, and more stuff like that.
pistoriusp
I use Sennheiser inner ear headphones and Itunes tells me that I mostly listen to:

Punk and music between the 70's and 90's.

davidw
Stuff I've heard a lot before, so that I'm not paying much attention to it. Fishbone!
apgwoz
I find my collection of Punk/Hardcore suits me best for programming. It keeps my mind alert, and works even better than caffeine in some cases.
projectileboy
I alternate between classical (I like Mozart and Beethoven and some others) and electronic/techno dance music. I can't have vocals; it breaks my flow.
jward
I'm exactly the same way but I've found that sighs j-pop fits in this as well. If I can't understand the words then it doesn't break my flow. German techno also seems to work.
lg
I like music with nonsense lyrics for the same reason, i.e. cocteau twins, sigur ros, dead can dance. Otherwise, ambient stuff like explosions in the sky, god is an astronaut, mono (the japanese mono).
eloisius
Try some Godspeed You! Black Emperor
aswanson
I hear you on the vocals; your brain might work like mine...I never forget a conversation and I can't tune them out no matter how trivial.