On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 12:59 PM, Scott McDaniel <[email protected]>wrote:

> Not to be contrary, but I consider music essential to my process.
> There are times for silence and office buzz, but really now...I know how I
> work.
>
> Weedling through wireframes of familiar sorts, documenting, sketching,
> corresponding:
> trance (esp. psytrance),  dancey goth-industrial, Mozart, Chopin
>
> Complicated issues:
> Tool, Coil, Aphex Twin, Legendary Pink Dots, Psychic TV, Marilyn
> Manson, Mussourgsky, Debussy
>


Much the same here... At my last job, I actually created iTunes playlists
based on the task I was performing:

Functional specs playlist (slow, deliberate, intensive concentration
required): Ambient, e.g. Drone Zone on SomaFM; classical, esp. piano &
violin concertos, and Baroque operas (esp. Handel).

Wireframes playlist (high energy, intense, narrow focus): Psytrance and
other electronic dance music (e.g. http://philosomatika.com/)

Flow map playlist (moderate energy and concentration, broader focus):
Down-tempo stuff like Morcheeba, Air, trip-hop and some jazz. Govinda ended
up being huge on this playlist: highly recommended.

Site map playlist (broad focus, more energy than concentration): Transglobal
Underground, Thievery Corp, Goldfrapp etc; Secret Agent Radio from SomaFM.

Filling-out-time-sheets playlist (Grrrrrr...): Industrial: Skinny Puppy,
Front 242, Nine Inch Nails etc.


It started as a "what if" experiment, but I ended up using them a lot.  I
found that for most tasks, vocals ended up being distracting - unless they
were in a language I didn't understand.

Dan

Information Architect,
Gerson Lehrman Group
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