music for research?

[Roll Right]

I'm curious, for those of you engaged in research, what do you listen to (if anything) while you work?

[victorydance]

I am doing lit reviews today and have been listening to Weather Report.

[f1simplified]

I listen to a lot of instrumental stuff. I often play the Piano Guys on repeat. I figure that listening to instrumental music soothes me without distracting me as there are no lyrics and I won't try and sing along. 

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Underground hip hop.

[Roll Right]

I move between thrash metal, doom metal, death metal, heavy metal, hip hop, and grunge.

[maelia8]

I can't handle anything with lyrics either - it's too distracting to me. I listen to instrumental soundtracks, new age meditation music, and classical.

[St Andrews Lynx]

1980s Power Ballads are the best music to run column chromatographies to. 

[rising_star]

Depends on the task. When doing a lot of data analysis, I listened to the same songs that played a lot when I was in the field, either from my computer or via a Pandora station I created with that in mind. When editing text, I tend to prefer either music without lyrics (jazz) or music where I've heard the lyrics a zillion times (so older things on my computer). I do stream stations from Accuradio a fair bit because they have a lot of options to give you decent variety. If you've never checked out the site, you should.

[Maleficent999]

It 100% depends on my mood and the task. If I'm reading articles leisurely I like to listen to instrumentals, specifically of the Celtic variety (probably because of my Irish blood). If I've had a lot of coffee and I'm writing I like to listen to punk or rock music (on low volume).

[1WheeledGeo]

I have a hard time listening to anything while reading articles, but if I'm writing, doing lab work, or just toiling away in excel, I really enjoy listening to silly music like Shaggy or Jimmy Buffet.

[fancyfeast]

Wow this is perfect. I actually was going to make a thread for something related to answer the question but now I don't have to

To contribute to the thread, I have to listen to songs without words or I get distracted and bad things happen But my instrumental music playlist is so beautiful it's okay. It's a mix of soundtracks and classical with a bit of experimental music I found on reddit.

I do have a problem though! I am quite petite and so when I'm wearing my earbuds in lab, the cord often gets in my way or caught on things. I don't know if it's because I'm just clumsy and don't pay attention to where the wire is at all times, but it's annoying How do you guys wear your headphones? I have heard of people wearing it under their shirts but I don't really want to do that.

[Maziana]

I can listen to anything when I'm doing data analysis (sometimes podcasts!), but when I'm reading or writing papers, either instrumentals, nothing, or the sound of rain. SimplyRain is nice. 

[harrisonfjord]

It's kind of cheesy, but I love the Sunlounger pandora station. It's mainly instrumental and non-distracting.

[Roll Right]

Wow this is perfect. I actually was going to make a thread for something related to answer the question but now I don't have to

To contribute to the thread, I have to listen to songs without words or I get distracted and bad things happen But my instrumental music playlist is so beautiful it's okay. It's a mix of soundtracks and classical with a bit of experimental music I found on reddit.

I do have a problem though! I am quite petite and so when I'm wearing my earbuds in lab, the cord often gets in my way or caught on things. I don't know if it's because I'm just clumsy and don't pay attention to where the wire is at all times, but it's annoying How do you guys wear your headphones? I have heard of people wearing it under their shirts but I don't really want to do that.

 

Hmm, my lab is essentially a desk with a computer and various statistical programs...or my brain and a laptop + books, so I run into the problem you're having. I would suggest wearing your headphones so the cord runs under your shirt like you mentioned. Or, have your ipod or whatnot in your back pocket and your headphone cord running up your back and into your ears so it is never in the way.

[Maleficent999]

It's kind of cheesy, but I love the Sunlounger pandora station. It's mainly instrumental and non-distracting.

I'm currently listening to pandora at work...*quickly adds the sunlounger station*

[TakeruK]

I use Pandora too. To avoid the annoying headphones thing, I got a headphone extension cord thing for like $10 and I run it in a path that does not let it get caught on things andis also convenient for me to plug into my ears (and take off easily if someone wanted to talk to me).

 

I don't listen to music all of the time. I find music distracting when I have to read or grade or do homework. I listen to everything when I am doing very low thinking but tedious work like manually going through my data to record numbers or validate things. I listen to my classic rock channel on Pandora when I write computer code but sometimes I mix in some comedy too. 

[C&C]

If I'm buckling down to get through some heavy reading/writing I'll listen to Rodrigo y Gabriella, Mozart, Debussy, or possibly nature sounds.

 

For lighter reading/research I enjoy current hits and have frequently been caught dancing at my desk. Whatever works, right?   

 

Edit: I'm also a huge fan of Songza for my music streaming. I never got into Pandora.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Calhoun&Caffeine

[rising_star]

Bluetooth or other wireless headphones will solve the cord problem.

[stmaan01]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJrVZCbKxsE

[1WheeledGeo]

Well, if youtube links are going to start showing up, this one definitely has potential for research music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJelEXaPhJ8

This song... er... remix complements my text message alert nicely.

[Tall Chai Latte]

I use an app called Songza. It asks you stuff like "It's Monday morning. How are you feeling?" or "what are you doing now?", and you can tap on the mood/activities that best describe you at the moment, the app will then randomly play music based on that. You can pick your genre too.

[Roll Right]

Does anyone use Spotify? I'm interested in sharing playlists.