Name of music type that is not distracting

Question

I'm convinced some quiet background music can increase productivity or at least I'm willing to try :) I'd rather listen to music on head phone than street noise.

I believe that music should be definitely non-vocal, it should not have any recognisable melody that is "singable" and it shouldn't be too rythmic.

Now I'm not an expert on music genres. Do you have experience or can you name a genre I should look for, when searching for "unsingable", non-rythmic music?

Answer 1

LifeHacker.com has a number of great posts and recommendations on this topic:

Brian Eno's "Music for Airports"

http://lifehacker.com/5842509/music-for-airports

Explosions in the Sky (described as "epic ambient atmosphere")

http://lifehacker.com/5848287/explosions-in-the-sky

and "Music for Programming", a collection of musical mixes intended to aid concentration and increase productivity

http://lifehacker.com/5882714/musicforprogramming-focus+boosting-mixtapes-for-everybody/

http://musicforprogramming.net/

Answer 2

Try out trance, ambient, idm (or for something concrete: Brian Eno, Autechre) I also like 'darkjazz' music as background

Answer 3

I'm convinced some quiet background music can increase productivity...

Excellent! Welcome to the club!

The term I'd think that most closely matches the topic is simply 'background music'. I use that in its original classical sense and not so much the Musak sense. Google for some of the studies that have been done over the years and classical will stand out as having a measurable impact (positive ;) ) on the ability to both be logical and creative.

Personally I like the Operatica/Space Opera type of music playing while programming something that is creative and classical when trying to figure out how something will even work. Pandora has quite a few of these types of 'stations' already geared towards that type of sound. It keeps me in 'the zone' for longer periods of time, but can be rather jarring when something comes up that pulls my mind back to the moment.

I saw a series on the Discovery channel, Learning channel, or one of those about autism a long while back, and one think that really struck me was how common the repetitive habits of rocking, tapping, flexing, etc.. are. It got me to thinking about how, when studying out of a 'paper' book I consciously tap my forehead, tap my toes, or something... Recent studies have shown that this creates temporal 'marks' for your memories and that classical music is especially good for subconsciously providing a similar mechanism, sorta like a metronome for the mind that isn't as annoying as dripping water or a ticking clock... which at times seem oddly comforting...

An interesting related article with further references: Music and the Brain by Laurence O'Donnell

Answer 4

I have tried to listen to many different styles of music, but eventually I came to conclusion, that the best in this area are the sounds of nature. Particularly, I found myself attached to sounds of a forest brook and of rain.

Also I'd recommend "Solar fields" music.

Answer 5

By now you'll have seen that pretty much each answerer suggests genres that they like most or are most used to.

Adding from my own experience, I'll go ahead and make a generalization:

The type of music really doesn't matter. You're better off listening to something you like rather than forcing yourself into a genre because it's considered 'background' music, or for any other reason.

The real rule is listening to music that you're used to, as others have noted. When you have heard it enough times, it doesn't matter whether they have lyrics, you abstract them and it doesn't vie for your attention, so you can keep focused on the work. Even heavy metal or scream-heavy music can work just fine, provided you know those screams by heart.

Answer 6

Personally, I find ambient piano music to be nice; stimulating enough to keep me motivated, but subtle enough not to distract me.

A good example of this is Whisperings Solo Piano Radio: http://www.solopianoradio.com/

Answer 7

I find my most productive music is heavy metal from the eighties, especially if I know it off by heart. It is worth looking at various types to see what really works in practice.

Answer 8

You coul'd try with some music generes like Post Rock (Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Mono...), Jazz (Miles Davis, Coltrane, Avishai Cohen...), Classics (Chopin, Jean Sibelius, Stravinsky...), and others (Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts, Earth, Astor Piazzolla...).

They help me a lot to concentrate while working. Sometimes I need rithmic and energic music if I start to feel numb or just to keep the energy. It all depends on the moment.

Answer 9

My method is a little different:

I use four sources of non-lyrical music (classical, techno/electronica/etc, folk, etc) and pipe two into each ear. I started with two sources, one per ear.

This way I am only distracted by listening to music when I need to be distracted - when my mind is processing a task and needs something else to pay attention to.

I'll occasionally include lyrical music in the mix, but only for short periods of time.

I do this for multiple reasons. The first is that it's good background noise - when I'm doing something important, it's easy to tune out the music, easier than when there's only one song to listen to.

Secondly, it's a good meditation exercise, as it makes you be patient and listen without listening (I know it sounds silly, but it works!)

Lastly, I have some auditory processing difficulty (filtering out extra noise is hard for me) so this has helped my brain learn how to do this better.

Answer 10

I agree with Rory Alsop about music that I know by heart helps productivity. I find that listening to music sung in a language that I don't know (I'm multi-lingual but don't know Swedish, Japanese, Korean or German) works great as my mind isn't "listening" to the words and I can focus on what I'm doing. I suggest Sigur Ros, Rammstein or any J-Pop music.

Answer 11

There's a genre called "ambient music" which is pretty nonintrusive. However, I must say that literally every scientific study on music and prodictivity found that it does not increase productivity, only observed productivity (ie, you think you work harder, but really, you don't).

Answer 12

I'd strongly recommend downloading spotify to your pc (and blockify to avoid ads), search 'study' and subscribe to some of the returned playlists/albums that take your fancy. I fancy instrumental piano. Have a few genres so you can easily switch playlist when genre fatigue kicks in. By the way google the Mozart effect. We were taught in final year high school that it would aid study.

Answer 13

I would say it really matters the person, I would say whatever music keeps you thinking about your work and not anything else. Personally I blast metal into my ears (needs head phones, can't be from speakers), this keeps me on task and drowns out any other sounds to think about. It also keeps me happy, so I keep working.

I think of it as a happy place, I can close my eyes and be in my own world.

Blasting Lamb of God right now :) getting stuff done.

Answer 14

Ulrich Schnauss is a personal favorite. He falls somewhat into the ambient category that some others have mentioned.

Answer 15

I code and have a few different playlists for the different modes of coding I need to do:

• heavy conceptual <-- calm unobtrusive music but not monotonous e.g. beats antique
• rapid fix/just get it out there <-- perky, fun music
• save me from the users <-- country music

That being said - I only listen to music when the general hum of the office gets to be more of a roar as I like keeping quite grounded in my surroundings.

Answer 16

People swear to different styles of music to help them focus. Part of finding the right mix is finding what works for you. For some it is instrumentals or classical music, while others, heavy rock or dubstep.

Personally, I find the best set of music to tune-out everything else is ambient electronic:

BT - This Binary Universe

Datasette's Music for Programming (hour long ambient mixes)

The Glitch Mob - Drink The Sea (Spotify)

If you are more of a classical or piano-only fan, check out

Ludovico Einaudi - Una Mattina (Spotify)

Answer 17

You can try using an app like Songza.com, where you can select a genre of music based on your mood.