MusictoWorkBy

Do you listen to music when you work? What music do you choose? -- JohannaRothman 2005.05.28

Always listen to music and if there isn't any on I'm humming something to myself. It depends. Right now I'm listening to Blues. It could really be anything. If we think about all the music created in the world, even if we spend every moment of our lives listening, we'd never hear it all... so there's no time to NOT listen to music! :) Music is like 'listening' to math. -TroyAzmoon

I sometimes work to Gregorian chants, which ge me into the right mental state without being distracting. I'll sometimes put on some Philip Glass. He provides a nice mix of repetition and variation, without being too distracting. Other times, light classical will do. As I write this, the sound of laundry in the drier is enough to mask background sounds.

I once asked Donald Knuth what he listened to while working. He admitted to having written most of his famous volume one to a combination of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and a crying infant.

-- DaveSmith 2005.05.28

I mostly need quiet when I'm working, maybe because I didn't learn as a teenager how to work with music playing. I can work through most anything if I'm totally focused and know exactly what's next, but am very distracted by noise if I'm having difficulty. Sometimes I'll play music if I need to block out people noise, usually something choral like Thomas Tallis or William Byrd that I know well and can ignore.

For plane travel, I bought headphones with a battery-operated ambient noise blocker. They aren't perfect, but I've found them useful at work as well as on planes. --FionaCharles 29-May-2005

I find I share half interests with Dave. I too play Gregorian chant to work by, though I find Phillip Glass too enervating. I also play Enya and Jimmy Buffet. I think the key is that the music be either musically or emotionally interesting to me, but not call for any conscious thought. It must engage that part of my mind that would rather dwell on other issues requiring thought, so I don't try to think in parallel. I find I can parallelize only if I know the territory or the issues are straightforward. If the issues are complex, my conscious thinking needs to be mostly sequential. -- MikeMelendez 2005.05.30

One of the balances I struggle with is finding music that has a "thinking pace" without being too attention grabbing. A lot of light classical works, but some will send me off into a trance. It's hit-and-miss there. Brahms is largely a no-go. Ditto Beethoven. I have Aaron Copland on right now. It's good music, and ten minutes later I can't remember a note of it. --DaveSmith

Interesting. The music that works seems to vary with the task at hand, and with my mood. Back in the day, a some favorites were Joni Mitchell "Shadows and Light" (almost a Jazz album), Rikki Lee Jones (anything), and Manhattan Transfer (again anything.) These days I favor a sub-genre of electronica called "Down Tempo", or anthologies of what is called "Lounge Music." It seems from that list that I'm some sort of wanna-be hipster.

Steely Dan (again anything) still works wonderfully as do Greshwin, Copland, Bernstein and Stravinsky. Some of Ravel and Debussey work nicely. Others don't. For some reason baroque doesn't work for me when I'm doing computer work.

- JimBullock (Do-wah-diddy, diddy-dum, diddy-dee) 2005.05.30

It all depends on what I'm doing. Classical (Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and such) work well for writing. Aerosmith and Poison don't work for writing, but can help with coding.

Big & Rich, Travis Tritt, blues (Kenny Wayne Shepard, Stevey Ray Vaughn) go good with administrivia. I listen to Buffet by myself since I try to sing harmony. ;{)

Like Fiona, I have noise canceling headphones to help keep the background noise down. DonGray 2005.05.31

I don't like to play music when I work -- I either find it annoying or I tend to tune in (and tune out of working). I've never tried noise limiting devices -- except "nature sounds" to block out the noisy bird chirps in early Spring. I usually can focus without anything. DianeGibson 2005.06.01

Diane, I find it interesting that you use "nature sounds" to drown out nature sounds. ;^) MikeMelendez 2005.06.01

Hmmm, I use 'nature sounds' too. I have a Whale Music CD and an Ocean Surf CD when the 'nature sounds' of the office, i.e. chimps and hyenas, becomes too much. It's a jungle out there! :-).
Here are some artists/albums I have also found I can work to without losing concentration: Lisa Gerrard/The Mirror Pool (she is perhaps best known for her work with Hans Zimmer on the music for Gladiator); Philip Glass/Violin Concerto; Imee Ooi/The Great Mercy Mantra (highly recommended!).
Examples of music I love but have found I cannot work to without losing concentration are most rock, especially Radiohead and the Pixies; most narrative-driven vocals, e.g Alanis Morrisette or David Gray; and most definitely all flamenco!
For me the music that works is has to be underpinned by a sustained rhythm or melody with no sudden changes in tempo or mood.

RobertFitzmaurice 2005-11-01

Okay Manhattan Transfer has a five song sequence I use when making a Chocolate Truffle Torte. And nobody listed Frank! That is a shame. Sometimes you need that good Sinatra music to drive you. And a whole conference of people not mentioning the Doors or Lynyrd Skynyrd? Is rock music for video gamecoders? (not me) I did see Aerosmith mentioned. Can we get a different view? What kind of music goes with what kind of work? Classical could break down into Rhapsody in Blue and Sabre Dance. Can you write to Sabre Dance? Or better yet, what kind of writing is best done to Sabre Dance? Perhaps there is music you use for work breaks?

KurtSimmons 2005-11-01

My practice has changed. Working on an XP team means very little music at work. The time slot I have for doing personal work is after my daughter has gone to bed, and quiet is in order. I've been listening to Podcasts of technical talks while commuting. This has all meant very little music in my life, save for radio Disney when my daughter turns it on.

DaveSmith 2005.11.01

I go in fits and starts listening to music when I work. When I do, music at the simpler end of the lyrical spectrum is definitely preferable - the random shuffle on the iPod is my usual selection! I tried listening to �a Ira - the classical opera by Roger Waters - and I was concentrating so hard on trying to understand the story that I couldn't do anything else. Listening to the radio is similarly no good - especially if the DJ is remotely worth listening to. This doesn't seem to apply (as much) to driving and listening though.

I suspect this is probably a male thing though - there was an interesting programme on the BBC here in the UK showing the differences between the sexes. One of the experiments involved people wearing headphones whilst the sound of a different person was broadcast in each ear simultaneously. Men either couldn't understand what either person was saying, or could understand one. Women could differentiate between the two.

PhilStubbington 2005.11.03

I usually listen to SomaFM (Indie Pop Rocks rocks, especially with aacPlus), or my iTunes collection. If I'm working from home, I'll plug my laptop into the stereo system so I can hear it through the house. Otherwise I have noise cancelling headphones to cut out the chatter. If people want to talk to me when I'm hacking, they usually IM or email me.

WillSargent 2005.11.23

Kurt - Frank Sinatra and the Doors are two of my all time favourites!

My playlist has a huge variety on it. I listen to almost everything (Enya, Lenny Kravitz, Beethoven, Madonna, Miles Davis, St. Germain, Blink 182, Zwan, U2,...). Soundtracks and musicals too (i.e. Trainspotting, Les Mis, Moulin Rouge, Buffy TV Musical). Sometimes it will depend on my mood, but most days anything goes with any kind of work. I am a music junkie. I often need to stop singing at my desk. :)

SelenaDelesie 2005-11-025

I listen to jazz (Miles, Chick Corea, Coltrane) or electonica (St. Germain, K&D Sessions, Groove Collective) to do creative thinking or visual designing; classic works when I get stressed out (Gregorian Chants, Bach violin solo, Mozart,...); and punk and hard rock when I have to write unnervingly long reports (X, ACDC, Metallica, Nine Inch Nail - I guess they put me into a getting it done mode ;-)

VolkerFrank 2005-11-28

Someone once told me that listening to music interferes with creativity in the brain, so I should listen to music only when doing purely rote/mechanical tasks and not listen to music when doing something that requires more creative attention. On that basis, I typically listen to music only when I need to do something boring that I really don't want to do, like keep my books or clean my office.

At those times, I listen to Chopin, Vince Guaraldi, anything recorded between 1979 and 1987, as well as Canadian a capella sensations Cadence.

JbRainsberger 2005-11-28

I have a ton of music across most of the spectrum (except country...not too much country, except for the incomparable Man in Black). I listen to any- and everything, in shuffle mode, when cleaning house or doing other chores. I find it fairly difficult to write (text) when listening to most music, though classical doesn't seem too bad. When coding, my productivity is *much* higher when I'm listening to techno, metal, house, hip-hop, and (especially) drums -- Crystal Method, Daft Punk, Pantera, Beastie Boys, Rahzel, David Macejka, et al. I can actually tell when I haven't been writing enough code by noticing how long it's been since I fired up some hardcore beat music.

DavidPickett 2006.01.27

I can't listen to vocal music when I work, even opera--no, especially opera, because I want to listen to the words. As far as the music named above, I have no idea what "techno, metal, house, hip-hop, ... Crystal Method, Daft Punk, Pantera, Beastie Boys, Rahzel, David Macejka" sound like. I do know and love the Bach Boys, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Gelinek, the Hayden Family, Hummel, Kreisler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Nov�cek, Pagannini, Sarasate, Franz and Joseph Shubert, Telemann, Vivaldi, and the like. And all sorts of Bluegrass, Dixieland, and, especially, Sousa marches, which march me right through my work. - JerryWeinberg 2006.02.05

I seem to be a Mozart aficionado. Vivaldi too. I'm branching out to some Telemann.

Troy, what did you mean above when you said, "Music is like 'listening' to math."? I was tracking you until you said that, but now I'm confused. -- JohannaRothman 2006.02.06

Wow, JR, if I were going to list out "listening to math" music those would be pretty close examples. For me, music operates at least three ways.

One is social, where it invokes memories and imaginings. A "tango" is interesting musically, yet also has a social context. Little riffs, or chords have social meanings in their other associations.

Another is a more visceral appeal. Some structures have physiological effects, regardless. Drumming of many kinds ties to a physiological response to particular rythms, volumes, and tones.

The last is this "math" thing, were the relationships are the thing. They are cleaner - more definite - with music than often with language, the same distinction between doing math and talking about it. Bach, but any baroque will do. Other genres have it as well.
For me, music performance is something else. I love live music for the performance not so much the music. It's a conversation of sorts. Really a trade of virtuosity and appreciation at least, sometimes with participation. Nothing happens unless the audience and performer(s) both engage each other.
I really like recorded music. Also performance, but for different reasons. Does this help, JR? Troy, am I at all close to your meaning?

-- JimBullock 2006.05.21 (Du - de - dum - dum.)

I've been listening to Bach lately. His Fugues put me in a mathematical frame of mind. --DaveSmith 2006.05.10

I just bought a large collection of classical Dixieland, the music I grew up with. It helps me jazz up my writing. Bach is great for copyediting. - JerryWeinberg 2006.05.18

I recently found internet radio. There are many "obscure" radio stations on the internet that play music that isn't played much on the Washington D.C. area FM stations. A co-worker recently made the same comment about satellite radio. For now, I listen to these various stations while writing and editing.

DwaynePhillips 19 May 2006

I just discovered something about music and writing. I came across a song on the radio that I then bought on iTunes for 99 cents. The tune and such caught my attention, but then I listened closely to the lyrics - it was a song about grandparents.

I started taking notes and writing about my grandparents. During the day at work, I cannot think of anything about my grandparents. I come home, play the song once and am flooded with memories and ideas.

Lesson for me? When I want to write about grandparents I listen to songs about grandparents to help me remember. When I want to write about growing up in rural Louisiana, listen to songs about rural life. When I want to write about baseball, ...

It seems I should have known about this long ago.

When I want to write about management...I don't know any songs about management.???

DwaynePhillips 23 May 2006

Would Merle Travis' "Sixteen Tons" qualify as a song about management? -- MikeMelendez 2006.05.25

Mike;

I think the union would beg to differ on that. "What'd I Say" might count. "Hit the Road Jack" could work after a merger. "How Little We Know" for a start-up. "Call Me Irresponsible" for any crook in the news. "Money" (From Cabaret or Pink Floyd). "You'll Never Know" if management just can't get it. How about "You Run Your Mouth And I'll Run My Business?" (Bonus points for every song you were able to sing any lyrics to.) (Of course I thought it was Tennessee Ernie Ford that did Sixteen Tons. Turns out he just made it famous, but Travis wrote it.)

--KurtSimmons 2006.5.25

I've been puzzled by Dwayne's discovery about management songs since he posted it. All the songs I could come up with were like the ones Kurt has listed, that is, songs by indirection. Then I realized two separate streams, Soviet Social Realism from my study of Russian decades ago, though Jerry's experience as IBM songmeister may be a far better example, and directly anti-management songs like "16 Tons", most co-opted, appropriately, by the unions. Maybe this should be the start of a new thread (now see VisibleManagement), why good management is hardly visible at all, as Johanna's and Esther's booktitle "Behind Closed Doors" suggests. I suspect Dwayne's book "It Sounded Good When We Started" might have something good to say here as well. Dang, now I want to read the books. I guess that's a good thing. -- MikeMelendez 2006.05.26

Updated: Friday, May 26, 2006