Inspirational Music/Playlists

[artoni]

Hey all!

So I'm curious - what playlists/radio stations/music do you guys listen to when you're working on your games, whether writing, coding, mapping, or whatever? For me, I have a 'working' Pandora channel that's mostly without lyrics when I need to get some stuff done, but if I want to just kind of do some story mapping, I often listen to this one when I need to get back in the mood/mindset of the game.

 

[samkfj]

I listen to a lot of lo-fi, trip-hop, acid jazz and electro swing when I work on my game.

 

[MushroomCake28]

Usually Mozart concertos/opera, romantic symphonies, usually Russian lol. I do have my own compositions, some purely classical, some are OSTs for my game or commissions, but I get more distracted while listening to my compositions. I tend to follow the music and try to find errors, or see if my musical phrases work.

EDIT: Shameless plug of one of my compositions.

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[Poryg]

I find listening to music rather distracting.

 

[samkfj]

I find listening to music rather distracting.

You totally would

 

[Kes]

@samkfj He's not the only one. So do I.

 

[samkfj]

I totally understand the reasoning--but never?

For me--having silence is what would be distracting. I can't describe it--but it's almost like the feeling of waiting in line; a kind of waiting and wanting for time to pass.

 

[MushroomCake28]

To be honest I'm more productive when it's completely silent too lol. I just enjoy listening to music, and I want to enjoy game making, so I listen to some music while writing, coding, etc.

But yeah, I'm only working at like 75% when I listen to music. I have perfect pitch, so I tend to construct a score in my head while listening to music lol. It's also a curse, since off-tune notes, which are more common than people think, bother me a lot lol. Either way, it distracts me.

 

[Poryg]

I have a perfect pitch as well, but that's not the reason. My ability to multitask has gone to zero. I'm absolutely incapable of splitting attention. Hence if I hear music, I get focused to it.

 

[D.L. Yomegami]

A lot of the time I also work best in silence, as I tend to find extra noise distracting when I'm trying to think. However, I'm also extremely bad at motivating myself to do anything, be it game making or just basic chores. I've found that putting some music on can help with making doing things less of a slog and thus making me somewhat more productive.

For that purpose I usually go for instrumental music; songs with lyrics are way too distracting for me as I'll spend more time focusing on the lyrics than whatever I'm working on. Usually that takes the form of video game soundtracks or the music I'm planning on using for my game. Occasionally I'll listen to instrumental music from elsewhere; I've found my preferences tend towards electronic music these days.

 

[artoni]

It's interesting hearing about the people who don't like music - for me, I need at least white noise, else I get too antsy/distracted! (This may be related to my ADD.) Not so surprising regarding the lyrics stuff- like I said, unless I'm trying to get in the mood or for that matter unable to work directly on my stuff, I tend to go instrumentals as well.

 

[Kes]

One reason why I work without music is that I'm very comfortable with silence, and it allows me to concentrate on the task at hand. I know that not everyone is like that, but most people can build up their capacity if they do it bit by bit.

 

[samkfj]

I think for me--chaos is what's needed for production. I find comfort and bliss when I listen to music while I work, exercise, drive, and work on my game. It breaks the monotony for me.

I even listen to things like death metal or punk when I work on my game. Just depends on what I feel will fit my mood at the moment.

But maybe I'll try without distractions sometime and see what comes of it.

 

[TheoAllen]

My playlist is various. I don't rely on one, but instead, it changed depends on my mood.
Sometimes I listen to my own game music resources to "feel" related to the project. Sometimes random anime OP/ED.

I don't listen to ambient music or orchestra mainly because I think that's even more distracting. It may sound weird, but it's true. Why? background orchestra often makes me feel relaxed rather than pump up. And it's distracting because I need to work.

Most of the time I listen to music while working on my game because it feels like I have "personal space". I plug my earphone and everything else around me 'vanished', somehow. Also most of the time it's a labor work like writing code that I already know what I'm going to do or write, or mapping, or other labor work that is not related to gamedev. I don't need to focus on to think, I need to focus on doing the labor and not getting bored with it. Headbanging music might do the best for this.

Of course, if I need deep thinking, I put a stop to my playlist, and prefer a silence. But that's only when I need to think.
(This is also why the toilets are the source of inspiration)

 

[mobiusclimber]

Mac Dre, Suga Free, Gang Starr, Wu Tang, Pharcyde... basically 80s and 90s hip-hop.

 

[Shake0615]

Depends on what I’m doing. If I’m writing dialogue or quests then it’s silence. If I’m mapping, working in the database or bug testing then it’s 80’s/retrowave music.

 

[aniaaous]