Sounds for studing/working

[MethosH]

So, recently I got myself into scientific research again. And I've noticed that my new boss only works with classic music. He this a huge player right next to his desk, on his HUGE book shelf (and with HUGE I mean 2 floors huge) that is always playing a classic music on a small volume that only he and bats can hear.

So I decided to test myself with different types of music.. Strangely I've found out that different types of music are, for me, best for different types of studies or work... Actually inside the same type of study/work the types of music vary with the difficulty of the task itself... And some tasks even demand silence.

A friend of mine told me that he can only study listen to a cd of sounds of the ocean!

So... I was wondering what other people listen to accomplish their goals.

[Jack Squat]

Back when I was in Computer Science as a major, I'd turn on Techno/Dance/Whatever (basically anything with a strong, fast-ish beat...you know, aerobic music) when i was coding. Helped me keep a pace up and try and be motivated.

If I'm writing a paper or doing physical work, alternative/classic rock.

exception to the above: if I'm doing work either in a shop or somewhere else where I don't want to have my laptop and it's a bad idea to have headphones, I listen to JACK FM.

If I'm studying, whatever comes up on my media player.

[Perenelle]

I listen to a lot of classic rock when working, and in general for that matter. :smallbiggrin:
and then there's the occasional happy Celtic violin song:smalltongue: they're all hyper and tend to get me working faster.

[xPANCAKEx]

Ludovico Einaudi
Grails
Red Sparowes
Explosions In The Sky
This Will Destroy You

basically anything that swells, grows and sinks, but WITHOUT singing

[MethosH]

Some times I find lyrics to be distracting.. Since I stop what I'm doing to pay attention to them.

[Shadow of the Sun]

This is out there, and very few people do it, I'm sure, but when I'm working or even attempting to sleep, I either listen to Burzum, or Merzbow and other noise bands.

I find it incredibly relaxing.

[Perenelle]

Some times I find lyrics to be distracting.. Since I stop what I'm doing to pay attention to them.

I do too sometimes, but normally I kind sort of block them out and just listen to the tune of the song. I dunno.

[Megatron46]

"Regina Coelli"- Mozart
It's the way forward!

[Oregano]

Final Fantasy IX's Main Theme, or just the whole soundtrack. It's all great.

[DOOMBOT9000]

Anything with English lyrics distracts me when I try to write something, I can't focus organize my thoughts for some reason.

Funnily enough, the exact opposite happens with math/science stuff. As long as the music can just be background instead of active in my mind, it works.

[MethosH]

"Regina Coelli"- Mozart
It's the way forward!

Mozart is quickly gain space among my Dynamic Molecule Interaction studies.

[Serpentine]

Hello Shadow of the Sun! >waves<

When I really need to get down and concentrate (such as when I'm studying for an exam or properly getting an assignment done), I listen mostly to classical, with other instrumentals if I feel like it - anything that won't get me focussing on the lyrics instead of what I'm doing.

Methos, can you give us some of the results of your experiment? It sounds interesting.

[Shadow of the Sun]

*huggles Serp*

Anything ambient is a good choice, too. The Mozart effect is, to my mind, dubious. Although classical is relaxing.

A band that I listen too when relaxing is, sadly, unprintable here, due to using expletives. **** Buttons. They use "noisy sounds" and some beats to get a really relaxing music- I find it good for concentrating. And sleeping.

[MethosH]

Methos, can you give us some of the results of your experiment? It sounds interesting.
Tomorrow I'll make in a more controlled environment and formalize the results :smallbiggrin:

[valadil]

I prefer music with no lyrics or non english lyrics if I'm trying to read. Back in college I almost exlusively used VNV Nation for writing code and Jethro Tull for linguistics.

[Elder Tsofu]

I usually listen to piano, Rob Costlow to be precise.
http://www.magnatune.com/artists/costlow
(streamable if you want to try it)

[Tharivol123]

When working, its classic rock for me, although depending on what I'm working on I'll throw some classical into the mix. Being a poli sci student and a geek for parody, I would often listen to the Capitol Steps when working on papers, especially if there was a song related to my topic. While studying I preferred jazz, Jimmy Buffet, or Jim's Big Ego.

[Berserk Monk]

Depending on what the goal is, my taste in music differs. If I'm working with metal making chainmail, I usually go with some form of metal. If I'm working on an art project for one of my classes, I go with an episode of MST3K. If I'm reading, I usually just listen to Free Bird.

[V'icternus]

Depends on my mood. If I had to work right now, I'd probably put on "Talk Dirty to Me" by Poison. (Yeah, that's some good studying music right there... :smalltongue: )

But other times I'd prefer something smooth, or something sad, or something cool, or... well, you get the picture.

[Dragonrider]

I make playlists for each season. When I first start out listening to them, I can't concentrate. By about two weeks in, I've been listening to the same twenty-five songs eight hours a day and they become part of the environment.

At the moment I've got:

Barenaked Ladies - Half a Heart, For You, Testing 1 2 3, Am I the Only One, He Makes Me Want Her Again
Cat Stevens - Oh Very Young, Ruins, O Caritas, Foreigner Suite, Wild World, C79, Father and Son, the Wind, Peace Train, Can This Be Love, Don't Be Shy
My dad - Losing You, Control, Good to You, Little Pieces
Dave Matthews Band - Grace is Gone
Dr. Horrible - My Eyes
Feist - 1 2 3 4
Five For Fighting - 100 Years
Once Soundtrack - If You Want Me, Say It to Me Now, Once
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge, Californication
Vampire Weekend - Bryn
Yusuf - Welcome Home, Roadsinger, To Be What You Must, Heaven

I remember last year it was Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, the Indigo Girls, and They Might Be Giants. :smalltongue:

[Little Bo Peep]

A favourite of mine to listen too when revising Chemistry is The Eels. They're quite mellow so it's easy to focus on my work as well as enjoy the music.

Physics is a different story however, as it's my weakest subject if I have any music on I can't focus on it. So it's a silent room when working on my physics.

Biology is my favourite so lively, upbeat music always pours from my laptop when working on that. It keeps me motivated and interested in what I'm doing. Although I don't really need the help where Biology is concerned.

I was wondering if anyone listened to classical music when they try to sleep?
Also I'm always up for trying out new bands to listen to whilst studying, anyone have any suggestions? Both Mellow and motivational.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus and Mary Chain are my favourites.

[Rutskarn]

The sound of a dog whimpering in the frigid rain.

The gentle sigh of air being released from a balloon.

A half-second clip from a Soviet propoganda speech, looped infinitely to a cookie-cutter bass beat.

The cheerful whistling of a choo-choo.

[MethosH]

I didn't get the time to re-do the experiment...
But I came up with this:

I'll re-do it and judge based on pages/time (where 'pages' is still to be defined in a matrix of characters) and assimilation of the knowledge.

The level of difficult will be evaluated by the following equation:


http://zecarioca.net/Imagens2009/equation.jpg


Where:


NTT: Number of Technical Terms.
TTi: Technical term number i.
DTTi: Difficulty of understanding of technical term number i (that vary between 1-10).
NEq: Number of Equations.
Eqi: Equation number i.
DEq: Difficulty of understanding of equation number i (that also vary between 1-10).
NTET: Number of transitions between equation and plain text during reading.
FK: Familiarity with the knowledge (that vary between 1-10).


The songs/albums I'll be testing will be:


Kill 'em all - Metallica
Soundtrack - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Symphonies No. 24, 25 and 29 - Mozart


I'll also test in complete silence.

The books I'll be reading will be:


Basic Physics 2: Fluids, Oscillations, Waves and Thermodynamics. - By H. Moyses Nussenzveig. (Translated title. I own a copy in portuguese.)
File Organisation and Processing - By Alan L. Tharp
Methods of Theoretic Chemistry and Molecular Modelling - By Nelson H. Morgon and Keline Coutinho. (Translated title. I own a copy in portuguese.)


I'll also mark all the times I got distracted. I'll write a small program to help me with that and I'll be dividing the distraction in 3 categories:

Distraction by my own thoughts.
Distraction by the song.
Other.

[Jalor]

Ludovico Einaudi
Grails
Red Sparowes
Explosions In The Sky
This Will Destroy You
basically anything that swells, grows and sinks, but WITHOUT singing
Try Godspeed You! Black Emperor; it's what I use for studying. For reading, I listen to experimental rock/jazz fusion stuff like Mahavishnu Orchestra or any Buckethead album with long jams as opposed to short, riff-based songs.

[Vella_Malachite]

That's...some equation, Methos! :smallbiggrin:

Personally, I listen to anything I happen to like at the moment -as long as I've heard it lots before. Then I can stop concentrating on the lyrics.

I find it harder to work in a silent room than one with background music. Either I'm used to multitasking, or the ambient noise is more "strange" than my music, so it distracts me more.
One of the two.

[Klose_the_Sith]

I take what music I have and put it on shuffle, as a result I'm almost always listening to the chuggin' sounds of face-****ing metal.

There is, however, some surprise folky music, which most people don't expect to find me listening to but occasionally catch me singing along to ... :smallbiggrin:

[Serpentine]

I was wondering if anyone listened to classical music when they try to sleep?
Also I'm always up for trying out new bands to listen to whilst studying, anyone have any suggestions? Both Mellow and motivational.Often, I'll put on all the classical I have the night before an exam, then leave it on (very quietly) overnight, then turn it up the next morning.
Maybe try Flaming Lips?

[Thes Hunter]

I only have one tune by God Speed You Black Emperor. I may have to get more.


I like to mix things up with the number of hours I need to study. So I listen to Jazz, Classical, World, Electronica, instrumental rock. Basically anything without words.

Though what Jack Squat said above is also true for me. I listen to a lot of techno when I study because I need to stay motivated to keep the pace up, but can't have words getting in the way.

Your equation looks a bit scary though MethosHazara. :smallwink: