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What music do you listen to at work?

MacDawg

MacDawg

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Mar 20, 2004
19,823
4,505
"Between the Hedges"
Listening to music while you are working (or while at work in an office environment) can be tricky
I need to concentrate on what I am doing and not the music/lyrics

If I listen to my favorite music, it can get in the way so to speak, and I focus on the music and not work
Even with Pandora stations I find I have to skip some tracks on my favorite channels, which means I am listening and not working

I want music that keeps me alert and focused on the work
It shouldn't put me to sleep, but it shouldn't be intrusive either
I shouldn't even realize it is there

I recently ran across an article on Lifehacker, "The Best Sounds for Getting Work Done"
It has a lot of suggestions from classical, to techno, to "noise"
But the comments section highly recommended making a Pandora station for "Explosions In The Sky"

I have to confess, I had never heard of them, but that's what I did... Explosions In The Sky
And I have found it to be awesome... uplifting, invigorating, encouraging

What do you listen to while working and concentrating?

Sample of Explosions In The Sky... search on YouTube for a ton more
Or set up a Pandora station for this and similar music

 
unfortunately I have to listen to sirius XM top 20 ... its like on repeat and hear the same songs over and over and over
But like today we have to stay a little latter, so I jam out to my favorites playlist on my iphone.

anything from hip hop, lil wayne, jay z, all the way to D&B and David Guetta. Drake ETC
 
Elevator music (gag), mandated by the boss. Unless the jukebox computer is down for maintenance, then its a local classical radio station. As of late, the jukebox computer has been "crashing" a lot lately. :D
 
I actually turned my 3GS into a glorified iPod Touch and leave it in it's dock on my office desk. If I play anything, its usually classical or maybe NPR News. I keep it at a low volume so as not to distract me too much, but loud enough to have some kind of noise in the background.

I'll have to check out this Explosions in the Sky...
 
MacDawg said:
Listening to music while you are working (or while at work in an office environment) can be tricky
I need to concentrate on what I am doing and not the music/lyrics

<snip>

What do you listen to while working and concentrating?
Click to expand...

Great topic, I agree with what you said - the trick is finding appropriate music to listen to that isn't distracting, allows you to concentrate, yet is enjoyable. For me this often results in listening to different tunes and genres whether I'm at work, at home, at the gym or in the car.

With respect to work, I find it difficult to concentrate while playing any type of music with lyrics in it so it's usually a toss up between electronica and classical for me - instrumental stuff. I've always enjoyed electronica (house, trance, drum & bass if I'm feeling peppy and rhythmical, etc...) and I perform with the Symphony Orchestra here so have always loved classical, so obvious choices.

Duration plays a part for me as well in this respect. Whether it's listening to Tchaikovsky symphonies or two hour-long BBC Radio 1 Essential Mixes, I find that it helps me concentrate if I'm listening to a constant flow of music, not tunes which start and end every five minutes.
 
When I have to write research papers and such, I usually listen to the same albums on repeat until I'm done working for the day.

Bruce Springsteen- Magic
The Killers- Sam's Town
My Chemical Romance- The Black Parade

I don't know what it is about these albums, but I can get in the zone and focus and blow through my work without noticing time ticking by.
 
I agree with the article... music with repetitive beats that kinda fades away into the background as you begin to concentrate more on the task is PERFECT. I've found good rap to be the best for this (not pop-rap they play on the radio). Techno isn't bad either. I'll have to give Explosions in the Sky a shot. The YouTube video was good.

That said, once i leave the office and am driving home, or at home relaxing, i'll listen to almost all rock (in some form or another).
 
Usually i just listen to the radio but thanks to my workplaces draconian internet restrictions finding a radio station that isn't blocked is difficult, this (http://jackfm.co.uk/) is one of the few that are still available and it isn't bad as it goes, shame about the 'playing what we want until the iPhone is as good as every other smartphone' joke that comes on every so often :rolleyes:
 
I was lucky in this regard. My last 2 employers allowed an FM radio at my desk. Long before tiny digital players and ear buds.

As a fan of Classical, I would chose that in the background.

And, as an added bonus, I have 2 commercial-free stations to listen to. :)
 
my brother does all his work while listening to metal and he is a grade A student idk how

I to a range of genres but bands like Metallica or airsupply, sometimes elo or the eagles.
 
Anything instrumental works for me, be it electronica or something more ambient. I really love listening to Nine Inch Nail's 'Ghosts' while working...

 
It depends; if I have my own office, I'll listen to easy electronica (Air, for example, but Explosions in the Sky sound really interesting - I hadn't heard of them, and that clip posted by MacDawg [for which many thanks] sounds terrific; must explore them further), easy modern trad, (Kila, Eoin Dillon, Flook for example), or easy classical.

Great idea for a thread.
 
MacDawg said:
...

I recently ran across an article on Lifehacker, "The Best Sounds for Getting Work Done"
It has a lot of suggestions from classical, to techno, to "noise"
But the comments section highly recommended making a Pandora station for "Explosions In The Sky"

I have to confess, I had never heard of them, but that's what I did... Explosions In The Sky
And I have found it to be awesome... uplifting, invigorating, encouraging

...

Sample of Explosions In The Sky... search on YouTube for a ton more
Or set up a Pandora station for this and similar music

YouTube: video
Click to expand...

I hit play for the sample despite not being familiar with the band and it immediately blasted me back to Friday Night Lights...their music was heavily featured in the show's soundtrack. Seems irrevocably tied in my head to high school football, pickup trucks and small town Texas drama. ;)

I have a variety of Pandora stations that I rotate through at work, from electronic music, indie rock, punk, hard rock, hip hop, and a lot in between. The last thing I want is to keep hearing the same songs all day.

I worked at a restaurant in the summer during college, where the management insisted on a soft jazz XM station. The station only had a set track list, so every day we'd hear the same music over and over. The bizarre thing was that many of the light jazz songs were instrumental covers of random pop songs—having heard it for so many hours we could pick out Bob Marley, the Beatles and various others, only they were played on a rider cymbal, a bass guitar and a saxophone. :p
 
What I listen to at work varies drastically, but it is 100% headphones. Too quiet in my office for anything else.

I can pretty much get work done to any style of music as long as I am concentrating. I tend to always have music going in my life (even as I fall asleep) so perhaps I am desensitized to distractions of that sort.

For example, this week, I've listened to:
Slayer
Nas
Mogwai (another good one to check out if you like EITS, above)
Eric B & Rakim
Comsat Angels
Chamelons
Kate Bush
Mercury Rev
Les Savy Fav
Leonard COhen

At least iTunes Match has done wonders as far as being able to get to an eclectic music library of 18,000 songs. :p
 
I've really started liking Within And Without's album Washed Out. But lately, I've been listening to Days of the New's first album and some Live. And some classic 80's stuff like this one..



Love it! :)
 
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