Music to Code By - What Do You Listen to While Programming?
Some swear by it, for others it’s a bane: Music while programming. Throughout grade school, we’ve been cautioned not to keep the TV and music on when doing homework, but is it really counter-productive? According to this study, not so, at least for people who are understimulated — which probably accounts for most geeks these days.
Let’s face it: Geeks are ridiculously overstimulated. How many of us don’t constantly have at least five Firefox instances open, each nesting a dozen or two tabs, F5ing Slashdot and Digg, keeping track of new emails and countless IRC channels, and crawling from one Wikipedia page to another endlessly?
I initially coded in silence, the only noise coming from my ten year old keyboard. I became increasingly bored coding assignments for class because I was far ahead of the curriculum, so I began keeping music on. Nothing extraordinary happened… until I attempted coding in silence again. Without noise, I was restless and far more easily distracted. I didn’t bother kicking the habit, realizing that I can get into the zone more efficiently with noise on than without.
Sometimes I get so absorbed writing code that everything besides my awareness of the screen, and the sensation of my fingers hitting the keys, disappears. Sometimes when I’m getting out of this trance-like state of mind, it feels as though my code, or specifically, the rate and rythm at which I hit the keyboard is in sync with the current backbeat. Then I hit compile and my program works flawlessly, and I think: WTF? Where’d that come from? I’ve written some of my most elegant code in this state.
The music I listen to while coding depends on a number of factors. I prefer little to no, or very simple lyrics, unless I am familiar enough with the songs that I do not get distracted trying to comprehend or interpret the meaning. I rarely, if ever, listen to something I haven’t heard before while coding. I make a specific time for new music so I can give it my full attention. This rule is broken if the songs are a “familiar style” to previous songs, or lack lyrics and serve naturally as background or ambient music. Lounge (”chill out”) or New-Age music (drumming) for example.
I prefer classical, slow or soft, music while designing or debugging, but something faster and with a predictable pattern while writing code. I might increase or decrease the volume, depending on ambient noise and my current mood. Number crunching or writing mundane code (I know, DRY), especially when fueled by caffeine, usually calls for louder, faster stuff than when I am relaxed, writing a simple script.
Headphones get distracting, becoming uncomfortable and sweaty after being worn hours on end. After half a decade, I gave in and got speakers. I’d never go back to headphones. I suggest putting down at least a few hundred for a good quality set of speakers that will last. I generally like to have lounge or elevator music running in the background even when I’m not on the computer. I wasn’t able to do this with headphones unless I turned up the volume to max, in which case the music sounded so bad there was no use keeping it on.
Below are lists of stuff I listen to while coding, stuff recommended to me by others, and anything else that might be relevant.
Obligatory Geek Tunes and Tools
Overclocked Remix (OCR) - Remixes of old school video game music. Sonic, FF7, Zelda, etc. Highly recommended, and it’s a great community.
mc chris - Rapping about Rob-tripping and Boba Fett’s Corvette? ‘Nuff said. (Check out nerdcore in general)
Coffee.mp3 - Coffee Replacement
Some Stuff I Listen to (while coding)
Buddha Bar - GET THIS!. It’s a must have, not just while coding.
Lemon Jelly - Electronica. It’s unfortunate they broke up.
Enigma - Also (primarily) electronic. The music is unique and good for background and foreground. You’ve probably heard Sadeness (part I) on the radio. I highly recommend their album Love Sensuality Devotion: The Greatest Hits
Ulrich Schnauss - Recently got into this after a recommendation in another paper I found online about coding music.
Bob Marley - I’ve been listening to the discography when programming, writing and studying almost exclusively. Excellent background and foreground music.
Philip Glass - Hard to get used to; Might annoy people in the room (at least from my own experience). I find it helps me focus.
Hotel by Moby - Good stuff. I’ve never heard anything else by Moby. I came across this while searching for coding music awhile back.
What Others Have Recommended
Dominatrix
Ambient 1 / Music for Airports by Brian Eno
WolframTones
Sources/tools for music: Songza | BTJunkie | gnump3d
What do you listen to while coding?
- Music To Program By (Javalobby)
- Music to make code by (RedHat)
- coding music (Everything2)
- Favourite coding music?? (9rules)
Thanks to conceptual for the spinning vynil photo.
Related posts
Robert Horvick:
I’m all for ambience in my work music but I have a large mix of mainstream as well.
Everything from Iron Maiden, Parliament, Indigo Girls, The Eels, and The Dead Milkmen to the things more akin to your post - Fripp and Eno, Harold Budd, Tangerine Dream, Orbital, Aphex Twin.
I used to work in an office that pumped in white noise.
That was nice.
11 December 2007, 10:56 amIndiana:
Powerglove - Video Game Metal: http://www.vgmetal.com/
11 December 2007, 1:51 pmStevan Little:
Interesting your comment about Phillip Glass. I find that sometimes I concentrate the best when the music I am listening to is more chaotic/unstructured. I especially like Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz album for this, along with more modern stuff like DJ Spooky, The Boredoms or SquarePusher. Of course, this stuff can annoy many a co-worker who is not into it, so headphones are usually a must.
12 December 2007, 1:01 pmLoren:
@Stevan
+1 for squarepusher….his virtuosic and chaotic electronic masterpieces are what i listen to almost all the time while doing any coding/writing.
13 December 2007, 7:53 pmhutch:
If you find Phillip Glass helpful, you’ll find Steve Reich even more so. He’s a colleague of Glass’s who came up from the whole 70’s minimalism scene. Reich’s early work is pretty non-musical (just phased drumming or clapping), but by the time you get to different trains, electric counterpoint, or music for 18 musicians, you’ve got beautiful albums you can put on repeat that will gear up your brain for some hardcore coding.
See also: Terry Riley.
17 December 2007, 10:51 amgmarik:
Interesting topic!
I asked my colleagues(developers) about music the listen when coding and found that most of them prefer 1) rock 2) electronic music. What’s interesting that no one told he listens hip-hop or rap :)
As for me i belong to 2nd group(electronic music: positive trance, funky house) as it keeps me in tempo and listen online radios like http://ah.fm and http://di.fm
Thanks for must_haves :)
31 December 2007, 3:25 pmfax Ambient:
water Ambient Ambient trailblazer
3 January 2008, 7:04 pmcharles:
The issue with me is that I love hip-hop music. Especially, discovering new music and hearing something I’ve never heard before. There is absolutely no way I can have the music on while doing any kind of serious work. The music just demands attention. Anyway, I ought to look into different types of music :) Thanks a bunch for your music suggestions, I may check ‘em out.
6 February 2008, 1:16 pmAvi:
My choice in coding music really depends on my circadian rhythm state, and the type of work I’m doing. I almost always listen to psychedelic trance in the morning and at night while coding. It locks me into a hypnosis in which i perform my best, losing all awareness of existence other than myself and my code. In the middle of the day I ususally listen to dance/hi-nrg, and sometimes house and drum & bass.
18 March 2008, 2:11 amAlso, while designing i like downtempo or chillout, and while coding and debugging I prefer something fast paced and captivating (to put the mind in that beautiful symmetric flow, or “the groove”)
Ankur:
GreenDay
18 April 2008, 6:25 amtamberg:
http://www.quiet.ch/search
18 April 2008, 7:31 amEnlightenment:
Metallica, Megadeth, AC/DC, Korn, Linkin Park, Rob Zombie, RUSH, Led Zepplin, Van Halen (early), Hole, Boston, Kansas, Alice In Chains.
18 April 2008, 7:33 amEnlightenment:
…., Alan Parsons Project.
18 April 2008, 7:34 amDaniel Cedilotte:
Iced Earth, Iron Maiden, Rush, Mercyful Fates, Dream Theater, Alice In Chains, Machinae Supremacy, Diablo Swing Orchestra, Cirque du Soleil, Delerium, some Enigma, Sacred Spirit, E.R.A, Erik Mongrain, Don Ross, Michael Hedges,
18 April 2008, 8:19 amIssac Kelly:
My Last.FM acct is only open when I’m working. ^
Evidentially I listen to a lot of Ben Folds while I’m working, who knew.
18 April 2008, 9:10 amCC:
I’d second that Enigma recommendation, and the Marley. I have a fairly short list of coding music, but the stuff that’s on it *really* does boost productivity. Mine’s fairly weird but includes Rammstein (i don’t speak german so the workd don’t interfere but the thrash sound helps me achieve a real state of zen-like calm!), Bach (for the inner mathematician), Leonard Cohen (to inner artist), Alabama 3, Hanz Zimmer and the (new) Battlestar Galactica soundtracks.
18 April 2008, 10:05 amJackson:
I second the Steve Reich recommendation.
Personally, I need energy in my music. I often times listen to Bassdrive.com or Drum&Bass Arena’s podcasts (1 hour mixes each week).
18 April 2008, 10:16 amJoseph:
I actually tend to listen to mostly Progressive Metal to Goth Metal. Bands like Kamelot, Evereve, Nightwish, Therion, Katatonia, Draconian, and others. There is a mix of Instrumental Rock, like Joe Satriani and some Classic Rock like Steve Miller and Pink Floyd - along with David Gilmour’s solo work. Sometimes I will throw in the Clash or some Nick Cave, also. Pretty much, anything that I already know, as to not have it be distracting, as long as it isn’t country or rap.
18 April 2008, 10:42 amDan:
Radiohead, Bach, Jurassic 5, Beatles, Punch Brothers, Andrew Bird, Glen Phillips, Nickel Creek, Led Zeppelin, They Might Be Giants
18 April 2008, 10:59 amDan Previte:
I usually listen to movie soundtracks while programming. There’s no lyrics, it’s kinda like classical but modernized so I don’t fall asleep, and every once and a while they get all epic and make you feel like a bad ass programmer. My favorite right now is the Batman soundtrack. I can leave it on repeat and never have to mess with it.
It’s kinda dumb, but works for me.
Last.fm is great for this kinda thing.
18 April 2008, 11:48 amRobin Hoode:
+1 Depeche Mode, Square pusher & bassdrive.com
But you’ve never _really_ programmed until you’ve programmed while listening to Xanopticon
http://www.last.fm/music/Xanopticon
You are Neo. You are *The One*.
18 April 2008, 2:15 pmAtchinator:
I listen to bands that don’t even exist yet.
18 April 2008, 6:34 pmnablaone:
Minimal: http://deepmix.eu/
19 April 2008, 6:31 amchantelle:
I listen to sad music. Really really sad. It makes me feel calm and clear I guess. For example: http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2008.05-online-exclusive-saddest-songs/
19 April 2008, 2:27 pmNiels:
I dont find Nerdcore too good for programming to, since the words tend to spark interest. But since that’s a good thing, here’s a local Berkeley group of science students making some good nerd music ^_^
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=130840283
19 April 2008, 6:44 pmAnonymous:
can someone make an imeem playlist please?
19 April 2008, 8:43 pmPhillip Rhodes:
What I listen to depends on the mood and where I am. At home, coding on my personal projects, I usually listen to either Metal/Hard-Rock, OR Classical OR (a little) Hip-Hop. At work it’s usually Metal/Hard-Rock OR House/Trance/Techno/Europop type stuff. I will very rarely listen to the latter at home as well, but not usually.
Out of those, on the Metal/Hard-Rock side, I listen to everything from 70’s stuff like old Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Sabbath, etc. through 80’s hair metal - Motley Crue, Dokken, Ratt, Poison, etc. - to 80’s era thrash/speed metal - Megadeth, Exodus, Testament, Nuclear Assault, Overkill - to various power-metal, death-metal, melodic black-metal… everything from Kamelot to Judas Priest, Iron Maiden to Dimmu Borgir, Children of Bodom to Emperor, Opeth to Iced Earth, Nightwish to Dragonforce, Mortician to Incantation, whatever. Oh, and of course, Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra!
In terms of hip-hop, my tastes are pretty narrow. I dig Obie Trice, Eminem / D-12, Doctor Dre, 50 Cent, old N.W.A, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, and a few others.
For Classical, I listen to Verdi, Wagner, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Orff, Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Handel, Strauss, Gorecki, and Saint-Saens among others.
When I want Trance/Techno stuff, I just tune into one of the shoutcast stations and listen to whatever’s on. I don’t even really know specific artists in that genre.
19 April 2008, 11:28 pmAnonymous:
SLAY Radio: http://www.slayradio.org
20 April 2008, 6:56 amGivonni:
Great!
8 May 2008, 10:19 pm