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Journal FortKnox's Journal: Coders: What do you listen to? 41

Journal by FortKnox
btlzu2 thinks he found the perfect music to listen to while coding. This warrents a JE on what everyone else listens to. Me? I like to listen to video game music. I have a CD full of old 8-bit nintendo music, plus mp3's of background music for lots of PC games (lotsa starcraft music, shogun:total war, etc...). I also listen to classical music for movies, like the final credits for Bladerunner. Basically, I listen to background music with no lyrics.

What do you code to?
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Coders: What do you listen to? More

Coders: What do you listen to?

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  • Sometimes I like game music too...

    Other times... I like stuff like Yanni, Henri Mancini, Electric Light Orchestra, Pure Moods etc.

    Other times I like They Might Be Giants...

    Other times I'll listen to Pink Floyd...

    Usually though its music without words.

  • Metal (Score:2)

    by ryanr ( 30917 ) *
    \m/

    • Re:Metal (Score:2)

      by Tet ( 2721 ) *
      Hard to argue with the inherent truth of your statement :-) Currently I have on rotation:
      • Megadeth - "The system has failed" [1]
      • Rammstein - "Reise, reise"
      • Epica - "The phantom agony"
      • Therion - "Lemuria"
      • Sirenia - "An elixir for existence"
      • Blaze - "Blood & belief"
      • Season's End - "The failing light"
      • Ensiferum - "Ensiferum"
      • Duran Duran - "Big thing" [2]

      [1] Welcome back, Dave. A great return to form after a couple of pretty dire albums.

      [2] I listen to very little that isn't metal, and when I do, it's

      • [1] Welcome back, Dave. A great return to form after a couple of pretty dire albums.

        Really?!?!

        Hmmmm. If I pick this up and it sucks, its your fault.

        • Re:Metal (Score:2)

          by Tet ( 2721 ) *
          Really?!?!

          Yes, really -- IMHO, of course. It may not be up there with the great Megadeth albums, but it's head and shoulders above "Risk" and "The world needs a hero". In places ("Back in the day" and "Kick the chair", for example), it harks back to the Megadeth of yesteryear. Sure, I'd like it a bit faster and a bit heavier in places. But most importantly, I'm enjoying it, which is more than can be said of their recent output.

      • Hmm... I haven't heard of several of those bands, I'll have to hunt them down and check them out.

  • I like trance music, although I am well beyond the appropriate age to be a raver... 4 Strings, Fragma, 4 Clubbers, Solar Stone, State One, DJ Astrid, etc...

    That said, I spent today listening to 80's hair band music, in particular the Scorpions.

  • Massive Attack, Tricky, Portishead. Back when I used to code for a living they were what "all the cool kids" were listening. I've been out of the game for a while I suppose. These days it'd probably be Postal Service, The Streets, or Air (coding to surfing on a rocket sound good).

    As for the 8-Bit video game tunes. I have mario-bros as my ring tone. I 0wn.
  • Module files (I don't recall what format specifically

    "Astroid Belt" (astroidb.something)
    "Astraying Voyages" (astray.something)

    You've probably never heard of them. Both are good, really loud, through headphones.

    Other good sources that put me in a move-forward mood:

    CDs:
    Enigma
    Pure Moods I and II.
    Pearl's Girl
    Quake 2. (If I could find it...it's been missing for years, and I really want it back.)
    Oh No! More Lemmings!

    MIDI files

    Day of the Tentacle
    7th Guest
    Chill and Fever from Dr. Mario
    Dune 2
    DOOM and DOOM ][
    D

  • KMFDM, Ministry, :wumpscut:, Switchblade Symphony, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Skinny Puppy, Zeromancer, etc. etc.

    I spent today listening to Mudvayne, The Cult, Stabbing Westward, Godsmack and more.

    There a pretty involved thread [devshed.com] on the topic that someone started over at Devshed Forums some time back (it's dead now, however, so don't dredge it back up lest you incur the wrath of the ancient ones and someone locks it).

    • right on... my mix is something like:

      cradle of filth, misfits, clinic, manson, motorhead, morrissey, ministry, front line assembly, bright eyes, bad brains, beatles, radiohead, sepultura, leonard cohen

  • Phish (Score:2)

    by Patik ( 584959 ) *
    Lots of live Phish, Radiohead, 311, DMB, some miscellaneous 90s rock... Guess I'm pretty mainstream, though I don't like pop. I've even got a nifty iTunes script that pastes whatever is playing when I hit F4.

    NP: Phish - 1994-12-29 - Split Open And Melt

  • ...which was suggested in reply to my JE was Sigur Ros. Have you ever listened to them FK? It is really really good for coding. The guy (Jonsi) does sing, but it's nonsense mixed with Icelandic which isn't too distracting actually.

    Beautiful stuff!!!

    I actually think the computer game music would be cool too. I suppose you can find that type of music on various peer-to-peer dens of iniquity? :)
    • Yeah, it depends. I can hook you up with some. Some is free on the net (shogun:total war), some come in actual CDs (metroid:prime has a CD, I know for sure).

      But, if you can do the streaming thang, try Gaming FM [gamingfm.com]. Its a very nice site. Pick from 'old' consoles, modern consoles, PC games, or a variety of all.
  • I like to listen to classical. I also have a number of anime soundtracks, many of which are quite good as far as soundtracks go. No words where I'll find myself singing along, and nothing too loud where I'll start nodding my head to the beat, a la Beavis and Butthead.
    • Ahhh finally a Classical reference. I was reading down the list hoping someone else had this.

      I find that fast baroque music does wonders. IT has complex melodies and counterpoint that seem to help with complex thoughts. Specifically I use songs with out words, or words in another laguage. Though if I listen to a piece a lot, I know which words are comming up and I tend to sing along (even if I don't have a clue what that German word means).

      As an example, I have a playlist of Glen Gould playing the ent
  • I find nothing better than listening to a bit of alternative to get the creative juices going.

    I heartily recommend bands like The Folk Implosion and The Gufs which are some of the best things I've listened too. The big reasons being that there is real depth to the music itself. It's a swarm of instruments, melodies and harmonies, interesting vocals, and great percussion. Go find the The Folk Implosion's One Part Lullaby CD in your library or something. Seriously, find the CD and not an MP3 of the st

  • of recently purchased CDs (which should be familiar to anyone who follows the journal) and old albums. I try to stick to things that are pretty innocuous since I share a lab most of the day. The recent stuff:

    Aphex Twin RDJ Album
    Boards of Canada In a Beautiful Place in the Country
    Method Man Tical
    Interpol Antics
    Sielwolf IV
    Jesu Heart Ache
    Arpanet Wireless Internet
    The Bug feat Warrior Queen Aktion Pak

    Before Blue cut herself she mentioned the story about being a 'black' girl. I remembered Soul Coughi
  • for coding, I've been listening to a 4-minute beat-progression I "Sequenced" in Hammerhead (think TR-808 with some samples). I also enjoy Acid breaks, too. Current guilty pleasure; on the drive to work, I've been listening to Chris Liberator "its fucking 'aving it" and the shit just rawks after the first 15 minutes. Hard, burbly, acid goodness.

    From 99 to 2003, I was big on a Nicky Blackmarket jump up/ragga jungle set with MC Stevie Hyper-D. "I say junglists are you ready? Oh lord have mercy!"

    My old pla
    • AS for lyrics; lyrical music is okay if I already know all the lyrics by heart; then my conscious mind can just slide over them.

      I find that singing (or humming if there are people in the room) along to the lyrics in a song helps to distract the left side of my brain while the right side focuses on coding. Or maybe it's the other way around.
  • check out this site [minibosses.com]. they are the ones who truly 0wn.
  • at least while I'm at work. There is an asinine company policiy banning walkmans, mp3 players, etc.
  • ... but mostly classical, easy-listening and showtunes. Stuff I can tune out while I'm thinking.

    I have several playlists I use, depending on my mood... Classical (Mozart, Beethoven, Star Wars ep4 soundtrack, Lord of the Rings Trilogy soundtrack, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon soundtrack, etc -- I love epic movie soundtracks for coding), Easy Listening (Benidictine Monk chant, Enya, Harry Connick Jr., Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole, Loreena McKennitt), and Showtunes (buncha Disney movie soundtracks, Les Miserables, L
  • Thanks to bands sending me stuff for my station, I typically get around 3-5 new CDs a week. It gets to be a pain to lug a bunch of CDs back and forth (and the jewel cases get destroyed in transit) and we're not allowed to store mp3s on work computers, so I've felt lucky if I *can* listen to music while I'm coding.

    I think I've got a good system going with iTunes sharing, although it would be nice to be able to create playlists remotely. I'm still in the process of importing all my CDs, so as of today what
  • I usually throw on a stream from either:
    Dirty Radio [dirtyradio.net]
    Soma [somafm.com] (usually groovesalad)

    Barring that I pull something from my collection

    Fila Brazillia (Old Codes....New Chaos or Mess)
    Underworld (anything)
    RJD2 (anything)
    K-Os
    King Tubby
    Kings of Convienence

    so bascially anything :)
  • I've been listening to computer game music lately myself!

    Also hawaiian music and TMBG.
  • Mostly http://di.fm/ [di.fm] actually. A bunch of channels to choose from.
  • Game related music and soundtracks, not so much MIDI though, for instance Final Fantasy Symphonic Suite, and I love listening to the Space Channel 5 soundtrack.

    Other than these have been in my CD stack recently:

    • Peelander-Z : P-Bone Steak
    • Electric Hellfire Club : Kiss the Goat
    • Buckethead: Giant Robot
    • The Cramps: Stay Sick!
    • Various DJ mixes by my friend each @ 1 hour
    • Specials : Collection
    • Inspecter 7: The infamous (some old acquaintances and a high school friend, but a damn fine CD regardless)
    • Nick Cave an
  • we download the shows every day w/bittorrent, then we (me and my nemesis) listen to the show throughout the day
  • I mostly listen to electronica when I code...

    Darude
    The Alpha Conspiracy
    Almost Human/Billion Dollar Brain
    Amok Vibes
    ATC
    Budha Building
    Daft Punk
    Dirty Vegas
    Energy 52
    Eple
    French Affair
    Jamiroquai
    Kenny Beltrey
    Kid Koala
    Lemongrass
    Luke the Wizard
    Mindflower
    Milk Inc
    Prodigy
    Taxi Doll
    Ultrabeat
    Wide Receiver

    A great site to check out is epitonic.com
  • - Talk radio (wtks.com)
    - Primus
    - Billy Joel
    - Queen
    - DMB
    - Jimmie's Chicken Shack
    - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
    - Dead Milkmen
    - Red Hot Chili Peppers
    - Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack
    - Presidents of the USA
    - the TV (cartoon network, sports, TLC, Discovery, or game shows)

    -Ab
  • To better answer the actual question... Much as I prefer electronic pop with vocals, I've found that listening to it while I'm trying to concentrate at work can be distracting. For reading or heavy coding I've found the smoother, no-vocals kind of stuff at some of SomaFM's [soma.fm] stations to work well. There's an aacPlus stream for Groove Salad at Tuner2 [tuner2.com] that sounds amazing at only 48kbps.

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