Game Development Community

Music to code by.

by J. Donavan Stanley · in General Discussion · 07/02/2003 (1:36 pm) · 50 replies

My current client forbids music of any sort. I'm currently on vacation and hacking away on GORPE with the stereo so loud I'm glad I'm in the country. Which made me wonder, what do ya'll listen to when coding?

Right now I'm listening to: System of a Down, Marilyn, Eminem, Dr Dre and (oddly enough) Reel Big Fish.
#21
07/04/2003 (12:13 pm)
Vice City soundtrack is my current addiction; thanks to the wonders of technology, I've ripped the radio streams from the game. I'm planning on playing them in my car. Nothing quite like driving around and listening to an artifical radio station.

Yes, I am a geek. :P
#22
07/04/2003 (12:38 pm)
I'd be doing the same Ben;)
#23
07/07/2003 (8:22 pm)
I can and do listen to almost anything. The one thing I dont like is silence. :)

current list includes:
The Used
Something Corporate
Nine Inch Nails
Clinic
Radiohead
Mozart
Ben Folds
Further Seems Forever
Evanesence
Lord of the Rings soundtrack
#24
05/04/2005 (3:24 pm)
Alice in Chains
Soundgarden
Smashing Pumpkins
Stone Temple Pilots
Led Zeppelin
Queen
Yes
Mad Season
Pearl Jam
Metallica
Primal Scream
#25
05/04/2005 (3:34 pm)
For development, I listen to a nice mix between Metal (such as Slayer or Blind Guardian), 70s(!disco)/80s (such as Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, or various other 70s/80s artists), some techno, and GWAR (I consider GWAR its own genre, with their oddities).

At the moment of this post, Slayer happens to be playing.

Robert
#26
05/04/2005 (3:38 pm)
IRL I'm a long haired hippy lookin, head bangin, concrete chewin, harley drivin, black leather jacket wearin, metal head!

Personally I can't stand trance/dance/techno except when I'm coding, when I need to code I put on di.fm or my iio www.maderecords.com/made.htm CD.

I can't program when listening to anything else, and the reverse it true as well, I can't seem to do anything BUT code, when listening to that stuff... Don't have any idea why though.
#27
05/04/2005 (3:48 pm)
My latest coding music is the new Mudvayne CD... great heavy stuff
#28
05/04/2005 (3:49 pm)
It depends on the mood I am in as to what I listen to, not only when coding but doing anything. I am always playing MP3s when at my computer, unless I'm playing Counterstrike where I need to hear what's going on (when playing Quake, who cares what's going on - just blast away like a mad man).

As for what I listen to, I'm obsessive compulsive about how my MP3s are sorted and I have the following dynamically generated playlists based on genre:

Rap - Everything from Tupac and Bone Thugs N' Harmony to Eminem and Mike Jones
Rock - From Marilyn Manson to Pink Floyd and back around to Switchfoot, I got a ton
Techno (I label this because I don't care if it's trance, breakbeats, wtfever) - Prodigy, Corsten, even some Selenluft
R&B - I don't listen to this section enough to name any names other than Mario and Pretty Ricky
Country - I have like 3 songs, maybe....

I work equally well no matter what I listen to, but the double-click has been landing on the rock section more often than not... maybe I'm growing up out of the rap.

On a side note, I got my new head unit, amplifer, and 4 Image Dynamics ID MAX v.3 12" subs today to put in my Bravada! LOL, guess I'm not growing out of it.
#29
05/04/2005 (3:53 pm)
I cant do any work at my computer unless I'm listening to something.

I love to listen to Uematsu's Final Fantasy albums because they fill me with cool pictures and idea. When I get tired of listening to that and other bands, (Motion City Soundtrack, Rufio, Jimmy Eat World, Blink 182, Dashboard,) I like to listen to audio books. I'm kind of a nut for political audio books and some fantasy ones like The Chonicles of Narnia. I just recently got the unabridged Interview With the Vampire audio book and its pretty awesome.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I'm a closet fan of Avril Lavigne and I have the Harry Potter books on audiobook...just thought I'd throw that out there.

Edit again: The FLCL OST's 1 and 2 are AMAZING! The pillows are a great band to listen to while working.
#30
05/04/2005 (4:22 pm)
For coding (when I'm home)
G-Rap - for relaxation, mellowing out (Dre, Snoop, Tupac, 50 Cent, NWA type)
Jungle - for brain inspiration, gets even my mind moving in rapid directions.
Ol' Skool Dance - for background noise.
Classic type rock - for mindless distraction (Floyd, Queen, Zepplin)

For non-coding (not coding?...must not be home!)
Rap to Rock to Classical to Top 40...anything except country...depends on the mood, the CD's available at the moment...and the radio stations of the area I'm passing through : )
#31
05/04/2005 (4:33 pm)
Some good old fashion Mudvayne works for me.

Then again I torture little animals so my opinion might be a little off.
#32
05/04/2005 (4:59 pm)
Trip Hop has always been a favorite (dj shadow, massive attack, portishead, dj RJD2)
Smashing Pumpkins
Radiohead
Rage Against the Machine
Misc Drum and Bass and Dj mixes
I also like the occasional Hans Zimmer sound track (The Rock, Gladiator, etc...)
#33
05/05/2005 (9:37 am)
Check out the Live Music Archive
#34
05/05/2005 (10:23 am)
Ozzy
NIN
Metallica
Korn
Nirvana
AC/DC
Perl Jam

and while not music I have to listen to Howard Stern in the morning.
#35
05/05/2005 (11:19 am)
My favs for coding are:

hard core drum and bass ( bassdrive.com or my own tracks/mixes, esp dieselboy or roni size). Drum and bass is the best for me for coding, it kinda becomes my heartbeat. Usually my modus operandi.

rap or hip-hop-
kool keith (his insanity gets those crazy juices going)
tribe called quest, de la soul, del, easy e, KRS one, slick rick, anything published by Ninja Tunes. If you are a fan of Ninja Tunes I HIGHLY recommend their DVD available online. Also my favorite for mixes is betalounge.com.

rock/grunge-
soundgarden, NIN, helmet, nirvana, ac/dc, misfits, faith no more, slayer, megadeath, pantera

classic rock-
jethro, doors, heart, zepplin, aerosmith, beatles

lately I've had not as much work to do so its been mostly reggae/dub/dancehall or I throw everyshowsucks.com on the other monitor w/ some comedy.
#36
05/05/2005 (11:51 am)
Well, I'm usually art-ing not programming, but all I can say is:

Dark Side of the Moon on repeat. :)
#37
05/05/2005 (11:56 am)
Oh and also stuff like Massive Attack, Chemical Brothers, Dust Brothers (Fight Club soundtrack), Aphex Twin, etc. for when I'm in a no-words-good-beat mood.

Also for any of you who like Eminem, google DZK and download some of his songs (they're free). He's amazing.
#38
05/05/2005 (1:08 pm)
Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Electric Hellfire Club, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, New Order, etc.

I used to listen to Unsigned on XMRadio, but I noticed that new music that I wanted to buy would break my thought patterns as I scrambled to write down an artist or web site. Listening to stuff like NIN and the like that I knew gave me a constant working rhythm. I also noticed that while listening to Rap, I had a tendency to word along, which led to a lowering of efficiency.
#39
05/05/2005 (1:58 pm)
I find that anything without vocals is best. Rock out, mellow out, whichever suits my mood at the time, but I'm best off if there's no words to catch my attention.

But then I'm the ADHD poster... guy.
#40
05/05/2005 (3:04 pm)
SOAD, Zepplin, Reel bif fish, Paw, floyd, Blink 182, slayer, all sorts, even the odd bit of dido!

Off to see System and Slayer on june 10th :)