DEV Community

What kind of music do you listen to while working?

Robert Newton on April 29, 2018

Looking for what others find good for their productivity or code writing. What kind of music do you listen to that gets you in the zone?

For me, it can be anything from classical to metal, lofi to an entire playlist of hans zimmer.

Collapse
 
elmuerte profile image
Michiel Hendriks

In generally I prefer not to listen to music as it generates various forms of distraction. Singing is the worst as the text affects you train of thought. But also a strong beat, or rhythm can clash with the current flow. These can affect your productivity. I mostly listen to music when there are other distractions I need to cancel out.

When I do listen to music I listen to video game music which has been created for ambiance. This music can easily dissolve in the background and not cause more distractions.

Several artist I listen to are:

  • Austin Wintory. Albums like Journey, ABZU, and Flow.
  • Ben Prunty. Especially the FTL soundtrack is good.
  • Disasterpeace.
  • Jeremy Soule. Mostly the Elder Scrolls sounds tracks, as a lot of the others are not really that ambiant
  • Garoad. A lot of good background music in the VA​-​11 HALL​-​A soundtrack.

Generally noc-action focused simulation video games and classic puzzle games have good background music suitable for programming.

Sometimes I kick it up a notch with some strong sythwave from

Collapse
 
rjpsyco009 profile image
Ryan Norton

I completely forgot about Ben Prunty. Thank you! So good!

Collapse
 
presto412 profile image
Priyansh Jain

Witcher my friend

Collapse
 
lvndry profile image
Landry Monga

Personally mostly progressive and house music.

I like what can be called "brain food" music. It puts me in a mood where I am 100% into my work and cannot be distracted.

open.spotify.com/user/1220697692/p...

Collapse
 
sadra profile image
Sadra Isapanah Amlashi • Edited

That's awesome👌 thanks, Landry 🙏

While I'm coding, I listen to these playlists too:

Beats to think I
open.spotify.com/user/spotify/play...

Beats to think II
open.spotify.com/user/1128469578/p...

Collapse
 
aleclarson profile image
Alec Larson

House and ambient music are my favorites. 😏

Check out this house mix: youtube.com/watch?v=ZSk8k6basWw

Collapse
 
rhymes profile image
rhymes

There are some good pointers here:

I do not differentiate between coding music and music for the rest of the activities :-D.

I mostly listen to various playlists on Spotify, the last album I enjoyed was Cardi B's.

Jóhann Jóhannsson – Orphée is a favorite of mine in the soothing music department.

I've also tried listening to Max Richter - Sleep which is 8 hours of music designed to be listened to while... sleeping :-D

Collapse
 
tribex profile image
Joshua Bemenderfer

Both Jóhann Jóhannsson and Max Richter are in my playlist as well. You've got good taste. ;)

Collapse
 
rhymes profile image
rhymes

Ahah thanks!

Collapse
 
mortoray profile image
edA‑qa mort‑ora‑y

Generally death metal, doom death, dark ambient and anything else atmospheric and distant. Usually I start the day with slower material and increase the intensity as the hours pass.

Collapse
 
_daveg profile image
dabe.gif

One of the few! Tempo for me is usually dependent on my mood at the moment, but I generally stick to faster death metal or grindcore while working. My "head down and focusing" album has been Cryptopsy - None So Vile.

Collapse
 
cess11 profile image
PNS11

Circle of Dead Children, Human Harvest.

Collapse
 
mortoray profile image
edA‑qa mort‑ora‑y

Kataklysm, Valkenfyre, Bloodbath, Behemoth are part of my high intensity fallbacks.

Collapse
 
defman profile image
Sergey Kislyakov

Anything with good bass and beats.

Collapse
 
aleclarson profile image
Alec Larson

Agreed! Here's a good mix: youtube.com/watch?v=ZSk8k6basWw ✌️

Collapse
 
speedstream profile image
Aaron Santos

For me, depends on the mood I arrive at the office: disco, oldies, new age, pop or rock en español; but in general I preffer dubstep or music like that (with high bass, weird sounds and no lyrics) at high volume. I need to isolate from conversations or whatever are happening at the officce.
I love rock and classical music, but I find I lost focus very quickly aprecciating songs, so it's very easy to get distracted.

Collapse
 
colinmtech profile image
Colin Morgan

All sorts of stuff!

  • EDM
  • Prog Rock
  • Metal
  • Punk
  • Alt Rock
  • Hip Hop
  • Classical
  • Folk
  • Celtic
  • Instrumental Metal/Rock
  • Stuff that I don't even know the genre of.

Often I'll just let youtube or spotify run wild and see what happens. After work I sometimes find I have a song or two stuck in my head. I'll usually dig into that genre and listen to it for a few weeks or months.

I'm not going to lie, part of why I enjoy programming is because I get to listen to music most of the day. On that note, after almost ten years of listening to music with headphones on, I'm pretty sure my hearing has suffered.

Collapse
 
spences10 profile image
Scott Spence • Edited

I love listening to Drum n' Bass whilst I'm coding, I love listening to it when I'm at the gym too, really helps me zone in.

Gym and Code are two separate playlists, coding one with less distracting vocals in there and the gym one with uplifting stuff 👌

And for super laser focus time I use brain.fm which uses science!

science

Collapse
 
carlymho profile image
Carly Ho 🌈

My general best working music is largely ambient electronic with minimal or unclear vocals such that it’s not distracting, but with some dissonant/jarring qualities to keep my work rhythm up. Some of my favorites are Gazelle Twin, Alec Lambert, Andy Stott, Disasterpeace, Susumu Hirasawa, and the Mr. Robot soundtrack.

If I want to switch it up, I either put on some upbeat foreign-language pop music or the communal company Spotify playlist, since sometimes I think just switching my playlist can get me out of a rut and most of my coworkers have very different and fun music taste!

Collapse
 
r0bnet profile image
rob

I don't distinguish between the music i listen to when coding or any other time but i try to avoid music with to much singing because that music tends to distract me. So my favorite music genre is Drum&Bass and fortunately there are many tracks with no or few vocals.

Playlists i prefer:

Run 'N' Bass 170-175 BPM

Drum & Bass Top Tracks

Technimatic's Box of Tricks

Collapse
 
lacanlale profile image
Jonathan Lacanlale

chillhop beats! Or really any smooth instrumentals with an added hip hop snare flavor. artists like jinsang, tomppabeats, and Wun Two are especially nice to listen to. Not too distracting, not too relaxing, just smooth enough to keep you focused and calm. These are my usual playlists if anyone would like to try!

open.spotify.com/user/6frog/playli...

open.spotify.com/user/6frog/playli...

Collapse
 
rjpsyco009 profile image
Ryan Norton

I stay away from vocals. Mostly ambient or electronic if not just various instrumentals

I've made a list that I listen to on Spotify

open.spotify.com/user/1249523871/p...

Adam Young/Owl City/Port Blue
Darren Korb
Disasterpeace
Soundtracks like Skyrim, FTL, Borderlands. These tend to be designed to keep you on task. I don't have compete evidence to prove it, but it does help me focus.

Also, the Wolf359 podcast has a soundtrack by Alan Rodi that can be purchased on Bandcamp.
SO good. Very ambient and quiet. Good background music to anything you're doing.

Collapse
 
jjjjcccjjf profile image
endan
Collapse
 
scottishross profile image
Ross Henderson

It depends on what I'm doing. If I'm zoning it and I know exactly what I'm doing then it's House/Trance and other repetitive music. Deadmau5 is a favourite of mine, as is the YouTube channel "The Grand Sound".

But if I'm researching or making a lot of small changes, documents, etc, then probable Rock/Metal. I've been listening to a lot of Gojira, InMe and Dethklok at the moment.

Collapse
 
buinauskas profile image
Evaldas Buinauskas
  • Chillstep
  • Vocal
  • House
  • Gaming music

These all help me concentrate.

Collapse
 
aleclarson profile image
Alec Larson

I've got a sweet house mix for you! youtube.com/watch?v=ZSk8k6basWw

Collapse
 
tmcsquared profile image
TMcSquared • Edited

Growing up homeschooled, I haven't had much experience with working in total silence. :P I listen to music because my mind tends to drift away and get distracted if I don't have some sort of background noise.
Mostly I listen to Celtic Thunder/Woman groups or [Southern] Gospel groups such as Greater Vision or Ernie Haas & Signature Sound.
On occasion to like to listen to classical music such as Mozart's Ein Klein Nacht Musick (probably botched the spelling)

Collapse
 
adamukaapan profile image
Adam Krpan

I agree with a lot of the comments said before this (especially the one about Ben Prunty, he's awesome); for me, I'd like to add on Electro Swing. I'm not quite sure why, but something about it tends to get me going really well. I usually listen here, although there's tons of others similar to it as well: youtube.com/watch?v=4SwJvs8PKPQ

Collapse
 
briankephart profile image
Brian Kephart

I’ve been a musician much longer than I’ve been a programmer, so I tend to listen to whatever interests me. I don’t really choose on any sort of functional basis. The idea of doing that actually makes me sad because it seems reductive somehow, like turning art into a mere stimulant.

Of course, that means no one else can concentrate if I pick the music.

Miles Davis, John 5, E.S.T., Dead Sara, intervals, Chasing Furies, Bill Frisell, Bill Evans, Polyphia, Funkadelic...

Collapse
 
larswaechter profile image
Lars Wächter

Most of the time I listen to Chillstep. For example 'Blackmill'

Collapse
 
aaronsapa1 profile image
Aarón Ch. Sánchez

24/7 freeCodeCamp radio - chill tunes you can code to (no ads)

youtube.com/watch?v=utVc84P5xoU

Collapse
 
d4be4st profile image
štef
Collapse
 
hlrossato profile image
Higor Rossato

Generally Death Metal but it may vary from day to day. Some days I need more heavy music, others a little bit softer.

Collapse
 
codevbus profile image
Mike Vanbuskirk

Usually some kind of electronic music at 160+ bpm(footwork, DnB), but could trend into more instrumental metal as well. I'll sometimes go slower with the electronic as well.

DnB: Om Unit, Sam Binga, Fracture, Neptune, Rockwell, dBridge, Icicle, Doc Scott

160/Footwork: Ducky, Machinedrum, DJ Paypal/Teklife, Slick Shoota

Electronic: Burial, Jacques Green, Pearson Sound, Ben UFO, Boards Of Canada, Tycho, DJ Shadow, Chrome Sparks, Caribou, Ital Tek

Metal: Astronoid, Animals As Leaders

Can really vary by mood and day. Spotify does a pretty impressive job of queuing up music it thinks I'll like. Soundcloud is also a great source for mixes.

Collapse
 
cess11 profile image
PNS11

Usually some extreme metal or trap style EDM I haven't heard before, then I make a note in the hourly break if it was really good or not.

Collapse
 
ferrmolina profile image
Fer Molina

From deep house to thrash / power metal :)

Collapse
 
adnanrahic profile image
Adnan Rahić

"Nyan cat 12h remix" 😐
Guilty pleasures...

Collapse
 
adnanrahic profile image
Adnan Rahić

Jokes aside, progressive house always keeps me focused when I'm wired in.

Collapse
 
vbordo profile image
Victor Bordo

This is pretty good: CodingRadio

Collapse
 
__shadz_ profile image
Chardenal Matthieu

Hardstyle/Hardcore nobody :( ?

Collapse
 
ferricoxide profile image
Thomas H Jones II • Edited

Was coding to the three hours of a Defqon 1 retrospective, the other day.

Collapse
 
itsjzt profile image
Saurabh Sharma

anything, but probably in Hindi, Punjabi, English

Collapse
 
swapagarwal profile image
Collapse
 
siddefinition profile image
SidDefinition • Edited

lofi hip hop remix - beats to relax and study to

Or Pop Punk or Pop or Metal

Collapse
 
domitriusclark profile image
Domitrius

Lofi ALL DAY

Collapse
 
pbouillon profile image
Pierre Bouillon

I love listening to calm and sweat stuff. I really like music like vexento's: a kind of electro with a good rhythm and no lyrics so I can stay focus.

Collapse
 
preslavrachev profile image
Preslav Rachev

I have found out that movie soundtracks work quite well on my productivity. I'd usually start a movies playlist on Spotify, or an online radio, called CineMix while coding.

Collapse
 
nsueper profile image
Nicolai Süper 🍃🌧

I regularly hear Techno / Tech-House without vocals.

Progressive 4/4 beats make me instantly flow into the code. 😊

Collapse
 
niorad profile image
Antonio Radovcic
Collapse
 
dmerand profile image
Donald Merand

For me, it can't have words - I must focus on the music when it has words.

There are a million genres that work fine, but when I need to be in the full zone, I like Squarepusher + Aphex Twin.

Collapse
 
moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair • Edited
Collapse
 
k2t0f12d profile image
Bryan Baldwin

Human Music. I LIKE IT

Collapse
 
nervousjuice profile image
Nervous Juice

I start off with Classical//Opera. Then the project will change and more than likely the playlist, probably some DOOM,R.A.G.U., E-40, Grunge, CNN or the like.

Collapse
 
hudsonburgess7 profile image
Hudson Burgess

Not music, but check out Noisli - lets you mix your own background sounds. I find it really relaxing.

Collapse
 
thetalesman profile image
Alison Vargas

Mostly progressive rock/metal and jazz.

I really like 'the algorithm' kind of music too.

Collapse
 
binarypatrick profile image
BinaryPatrick

Pretty lights is a great to listen to while I'm coding. No vocals and lots of melodic, deep beats. I also find the pacing to be relaxed but not slow.