After slipping on my Sennheiser HD598's and turning on some Venetian Snares on Spotify, I started to wonder: What are other developers out there listening to while they write some code?<p>1. Do you wear headphones/earbuds, if so, what kind? Sennheiser HD598 Open-Air Headphones<p>2. Do you use speakers, if so, what kind? When I don't have headphones on I use Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 speakers.<p>3. What genre(s) of music do you listen to? I listen to everything indie, electronic, classic rock, hip-hop. But I generally prefer instrumental music, or music with minimal lyrics.<p>4. Do you have a hacking playlist on Spotify? No. But maybe we should start a collaborative Hacker News playlist?!
Am I the only one who finds almost all music distracting - I like to listen to it not ignore it. If I am going to concentrate I need to use all my brain cells (I only have a few left you see), so I listen to nothing.
Listen to mostly NPR podcasts on my razor headset, in specific I will listen to Freakanomics, This American Life, Radio Lab, Illusioniod, Tell Me More, Brian Leher Show, Planet Money, Stuff You Missed In History Class, NPR Science, TED Talks, and when I go through all of that I will listen to some music (Local Natives, Mumford and Sons, Parlor Mob, The Killers, Edward Sharpe..., She and Him, Of Monsters and Men, Catch 22) There are more things I listen to but I cant think of right now. I am relatively productive with most things I listen to except for Illusioniod.
Putting myself in a convenient environment is crucial for my productivity.
I have two places, one in work, one at home that are dedicated for working
purposes. Within this environment I always listen to www.trance.fm, lyrics would
distract me. It's a never ending stream so I don't have to care about selecting tracks. I don't care about headphones,
as long as they aren't uncomfortable to wear.
I listen to a variety of music--from Gesualdo to Wendy Carlos to Mike Oldfield. I gained a fan for The Bobs when I was at work looking at a code generator late one night, thinking myself alone, on headphones listening to their "My Shoes" and singing the bass line along with Richard Bob full force. "What are you listening to?!" I explained, and before long poof! A new FOB!
I like listening to the instrumental versions of my favorite bands. If you use spotify, just type in "Pink floyd instrumental" for example.<p>Singing distracts me, but the instrumental is perfect because it's like riding a bike, my mind doesn't have to concentrate on the song, it already knows it, and the music actually helps me think.
1. Yes, I use headphones. Currently Sennheisser HD 555.<p>2. I have Harman Kardon SoundSticks III 2.1 Channel Sound System. I use them when watching a movie or when I'm alone at home.<p>3. All kind of metal. Mostly progressive, technical death metal, deathcore, etc. Then classical, ambient, trip and a lot of Soundtracks…<p>4. I do but I rarely use Spotify.
1. I wear my ATH-M50s. They work for my needs.<p>2. No speakers for me.<p>3. I like listening to glitch hop and instrumental rock.<p>4. I have a collaborative one at <a href="http://open.spotify.com/user/zachlatta/playlist/4KuyJRu62zShGTaKpCos38" rel="nofollow">http://open.spotify.com/user/zachlatta/playlist/4KuyJRu62zSh...</a>. Feel free to contribute!
I usually just put a Michael Nyman playlist on and turn my headphones up to a level where I can't hear anything over than an explosion.<p>Personally works for me.<p>But, ideally anything I can listen to for a couple of hours without feeling the urge to skip songs or sing along to. Instrumentals only.
It depends on the concentration level a user story needs to get and my mood to get it done.<p><pre><code> Light: Beatles, Bob Marley, CB, Lemon Jelly, Rush, etc.
Medium: Bonobo, Dave Brubeck, Ludovico Einaudi, Bach, Vivaldi, etc.
High: rainymood.com or silence</code></pre>
KEXP.org, OCRemix / Rainwave.cc.<p>When at home and working on side projects or things that don't need much concentration I put on a podcast or Netflix. I like the background noise.
Have any of you ever been to: <a href="http://coding.fm/" rel="nofollow">http://coding.fm/</a> ? I don't think I could listen to that for very long at all.
streamingsoundtracks.com, although it has deteriorated somewhat over the years. It used to be exclusively instrumental tracks from popular movies, but now there are more vocal and video game tracks than I care for.