soma.fm always has great DJs and streams. Definitely a go to for flow state.
this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2026
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Groove Salad for me. Unless I'm updating production severs then I put on Drone Zone to lower my heart rate.
SomaFM really is the best thing on the Internet
when i really have to focus, i listen to dronezone
80s bestof
I mostly listen to videogame soundtracks with no lyrics, or various electronica (also no lyrics). https://rainwave.cc/ocremix/ if I'm not feeling anything in particular
When coding, I usually listen to Indian classical. It can't have any lyrics, as I get distracted by them.
When studying (it's my actual job, I'm a mathematics researcher), I usually prefer white noise, or just a good pair of noise cancelling headphones without anything actually playing on it. Sound of rain works pretty well too.
silence so I can concentrate else my brain focuses on the music and I get nothing done and end up dancing around to the music
At least you don't start sing. I think singing would be the worst. I'm the same BTW, minus dancing. :D Especially good music, my brain is in a different dimension when I listen to good music I can "vibe" with. (Hey don't judge, this is the first time in my life I used the vibe word appropriate).
Heavy metal to disassociate myself from the office
Psytrance or Dubstep. Something without much (or any) lyrics but with a strong bassline, maybe a bit glitchy.
I like -45. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wX2GhQOCO0Y
After a quick listen and skip, can confirm, that would do the job :-)
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There is tuning involved.
If what i'm working on is repetative and aggrivating, i'll have anything on, up to and including an audio book.
If what i'm working on requires modest brain power, stuff that's calm and ambient.
If what i'm working on is demanding, dead silence.
A lot of prog rock, 70's rock, and prog metal. I need long winding and pace changing music to keep from stagnating my train of thought for too long. Synthwave and anything Nobuo Uematsu or Yasushi Ishii makes is good too.
Synthwave is my jam. But, and this is a big Butt, I'm a person who focuses on one job and get distracted too easily. So having any music in the background will distract me. So mute is it then for me.
"this is a big Butt"
Nice.
Melodic dubstep when I'm debugging, metalcore when I'm developing new code.
I can't do lyrics when I'm working with GDB, and the gutteral screams help me maintain my composure as I quietly swear at the prior maintainers for leaving me with a poor foundation for my new code.
Then you find out you were the prior maintainer...
Jungle, dnb, futurecore. 140-180ish BPM is my focus zone
Acid Jazz/Funk. No overwhelming lyrics, good background noise.
The soundtrack for Virgo Versus The Zodiac. It's the only video game soundtrack I ever bought.
Never saw this game before...ooooo that soundtrack is silky. Keeping an eye on this one!
I started listening this morning and the soundtrack indeed slaps. Thanks for the rec!
These days, I'd usually listen to either a Dungeon Synth playlist (like Mountain Realm, Atrium Carceri, Witch Bolt...) or I'll listen to my doom/stoner/psych playlist (Mars Red Sky, Colour Haze, Earthless, Kikagaku Mori, Youngblood Supercult...).
Also, there are a few Diablo Lo-fi mixes made by blizzard that really get me in the mood of writing. Tristram theme Lo-fi is also sick.
I enjoy non-AI generated music.
hard to come by after YT took away the ability to filter search results by age.
luckily I had ripped a bunch of music from YT before AI was a thing.
mostly around 80s jpop, synth, wave.
Normally no because music distracts me, but sometimes I want to feel a bit more chilled out so I put my entire music library on shuffle and just skip songs I don't want to listen to. So ends up with all sorts of genres.
My go-to's, with no real rhyme or reason..
Nightride FM - Chillsynth Venice Classical Radio Lofi 24/7 Soma.fm Groove Salad and Drone Zone
For some reason, darkwave. I never listen to it in any other context.
Then there are specific albums that I love but am so familiar with that it just plays in the background if I'm doing something else, like comfort listens. So that's Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come; Gang of Four - Entertainment + Solid Gold; Bloodborne + Old Hunters OST; No New York; James Chance and the Contortions; Shin Joong Hyun
Deep, minimal, liquid drum and bass. Nothing gets me into flow better.
I tend to go for House, DnB, or Electro Swing when coding. Something upbeat and with a steady rhythm.
Slayer 🤘
Video game OSTs with some Lo-Fi sprinkled in, sometimes Jazz. More recently I've been having a good time with Bluegrass and Celtic Folk.
The Doom 2016 soundtrack.
Downtempo electronica.
Anything pretty laid back and lyric free is good coding music for me. At the moment, Solar Fields and Tangerine Dream are my faves.
Make sure you check out the Mirror's Edge soundtracks, they were produced by Solar Fields.
Thanks for that. I'm enjoying it now!
Sometimes while studying. I have studied in a library but when I don't have a music player I can't keep at it for very long unless im studying in a group. For long sessions I need something.
Either metal/Tidal or bicycling on GCN.
I do but once I'm concentrating I have to pause it
The soundtrack to Tron legacy
"The Grid. A digital frontier.
I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer.
What did they look like? Ships? motorcycles? Were the circuits like freeways?
I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see. And then, one day...
... I got in! "
🎶[Sickest synth drop that is part of my core memories forever]🎶
I would prefer VGM (video game music), I like its wide range of genre and it's not repetitive or ALI PROJECT's albums :\
Jam bands like Phish or Goose. Lots of instrumentals, unfamiliar lyrics, nothing to sing along to.
Most of the music I enjoy listening to, has good singing and/or lyrics that I want to hear. But this is exactly what I don't need while attempting to concentrate on another task!
When I need to focus on something, the music needs to be motivating, blocking out any ambient noise, but not distracting. I find trance and other techno to be best for this.
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