I’m a weird creature.
I can spend hours working with music jamming around, feeling completely concentrated. At times though, any possible sound can make me snappy and turn my mind off work, immediately.
Eventhough I tend to have my days on this issue, I’ve observed that most of the creative work I’ve done was under some (i)tunes. Most of the times, I set my player to shuffle and just listen. If I want something easy and not too distracting, it’s Chicane or Sten. If I want something more party-ish, it’s Hôtel Costes and Ministry of Sound collections. If I want to wake up, Placebo & Unkle. If I want some deep concentration, there’s nothing better than Carbon Based Lifeforms.
So my question is…
What do you listen to while designing or developing websites?
Is there anything particular that makes you zone in (as acidsmile puts it)?
Do you listen to shuffled tunes, a particular playlist or some random radio station?
13 comments on this post
adamo #1
25.Feb.09
OK, (although not a designer) I’ll bite:
- Ehren Starks, The Depths of a Year
- Philip Glass, Circles
- DJ Krush (anything)
- Estero
- Roger Eno, 18 Keyboard Studies
- Keith Jarrett, The Koln Concert
- Rene Aubry, Killer Kid
acidsmile #2
25.Feb.09
dnb, liquid or jump up, old skool jungle for the zone. quite often i’m seen coding and bouncing on my chair at the same time [and you thought you're weird heh!]
i do listen to other stuff too, but anything else when working sounds more like background noise that my brain refuses to let in.
PanosJee #3
25.Feb.09
Anything downtempo, jazz would do
Search for Bonobo
Nick Andrik #4
25.Feb.09
If I have to deeply think (like algorithm design etc.) classical music or jazz does the trick.
If it is one of those days that I hardly have the right to raise my head and the lunch time is cut to minimum then hard rock/metal from morning to evening in volume that my ears can barely handle (and in the end, feeling like a full highway of trucks has passed over me).
Usually easy pop, rock or some greek “entehno” or tango when in the mood.
porcupine #5
25.Feb.09
During work I usually listen to Sigur Ros, Elbow or Mogwai.
Of course I always keep some Pink Floyd/David Gilmour tracks spare in case of emergencies.
The Porcupine Tree/Blackfield/No Man/Steven Wilson story is definitely the precious one.
Svelon #6
25.Feb.09
soft rock lol!
No, seriously now, last.fm is just perfect, since the music I like to hear depends on my mood. One thing is for sure though: I can’t work in mute.
Gerasimos #7
25.Feb.09
It’s either a random selection from my Global Underground series or wefunkradio.com
gterez #8
25.Feb.09
No particular preference for general work, but for getting in the “zone” I always go back to Northern Exposure vol1 & vol2 by Sasha & Digweed.
Sugar #9
25.Feb.09
Lots and lots of excellent suggestions in there, thank you people
Gerasimos #10
25.Feb.09
@gterez: All time classics. Amazing stuff +1
Nick Andrik #11
25.Feb.09
If you want another suggestion, can you put an option to receive email notifications of following replies to the thread?
I am sure you know how to do this
Sugar #12
25.Feb.09
@Nick Andrik
Good idea for the semi-ready second version of this blog
lexx #13
25.Feb.09
You know its a lot. This week I mostly listened to Arcana (Medieval Music) and Cat Power. However, Arcana is best. The dark choir make you believe that you have mystical powers.