Ask HN: What music alters your state of consciousness? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What music alters your state of consciousness?

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When you are feeling unproductive/unfocused what one piece of music alters your mind state and helps you refocus? For me it's Carl Craig "At Les" http://bit.ly/3KfNRh interested to know what yours is...

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Songite link: http://www.songite.com/#e0eecb

Glenn Gould playing Bach.

London Elektricity's Syncopated City

Most pieces by Steve Reich

The Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack by Philip Glass.

Burial's Untrue.

Fujiya & Miyagi's Transparent Things.

Apparat's Walls

Miles Davis' In A Silent Way

DNTEL's Life Is Full Of Possibilities

The Weather Report's Heavy Weather & Black Market

...

I'm not sure what the linking thread is here. For example, elevator-cheesy Heavy Weather is worlds apart from just about everything else on the list. But it all works, at least to get me into the zone.

I never heard about Apparat, sounds great!

Lately I've become a big fan of AIR, they make great instrumental tracks, as well as songs with lyrics. I tend to listen to the soundtrack of the virgin suicides quite a lot. Many people don't like the atmosphere of their music, but I feel as if I get their songs. I also like the soundtrack of donnie darko, the mood is quite unique, haven't discovered it anywhere else. I don't know why but that kind of music doesn't distract me at all and makes me calm and more productive.

Two of my favourites as well. AIR are the perfect 'background music' and i don't get distracted by their lyrics. The Donnie Darko soundtrack is moody and atmospheric.

Also, anything by Sigur Rós. Not because they are a great band, but because they don't sing in English (or Icelandic a lot of the time). I find their music isn't distracting and really enthuses me.

I recently noticed that if I put on something extremely hard or caustic - some kind of screamy metal like Protest the Hero or Tool - and turn the volume up to the point where I can't hear anything else, I stop noticing the music altogether. It kind of feels like it puts my auditory nerve on overload and everything gets filtered out.

The intense, ear-crushing metal also confers the added bonus of warding away pesky human distractions.

As an added benefit, you'll soon lose your hearing altogether and the annoying sound of human voices will become a distant memory!

Anything electro/techno:

- Justice

- Boyz Noise

- MSTR KRFT

- DeadMau5

- Erick Morillo

- (sometimes) A-Trak

This almost the only way I can get work done, otherwise I am reciting lyrics & enjoying guitar riffs.

I've found these mixtapes by Moneypenny quite enjoyable:

http://www.urchicago.com/spandexxxmixtape

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYUdixQGF0w (Rossini La Gazza Ladra Overture Abbado Vienna 1991)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CMo_mLNz38 (Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1 - Mov 1, Part 1/3 (Martha Argerich, 1973))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG2hGSL345I (Rossini - William Tell overture (Part 1))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU_QR_FTt3E (Rostropovich plays the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B49N46I39Y (Holst - Jupiter)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLHj-eekdNU (Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4, 4th mvmt)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Sx5lbVlQA (Pavarotti Last Performance "Nessun Dorma" @ Torino 2006)

A varied selection:

Jazzanova

Old Blue Note Jazz stuff

Glenn Gould Goldberg Variations (1. version 1955)

Bach Cello Suites (Pierre Fournier)

Minimal Electronica

Daft Punk/ Justice/ Etienne de Crecy (French Electro)

Drum n' Bass (old Roni Size stuff - New Forms/ V Label)

almost forgot: Giles Peterson's monthly podcasts

Alcest -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaDm6n2oo1c

http://rapidshare.com/files/90534814/Alcest_-_Souvenirs_d_un...

Thanks, I had totally forgotten about Alcest. If I remember right, they actually started out playing black metal

The 2005 album Le Secret is more black metal in that it has some dirty vocals but purists would probably scoff at calling it black metal. I haven't listened to Alcest's 2001 demo.

Alcest is a solo project of one guy from Amesoeurs. The full band Amesoeurs is darker and actually black metal, though with an interesting mix of new wave. Their recent album is good if a little inconsistent.

If you know more bands that sound like Alcest, I'd love your recommendations, I haven't managed to find much with exactly that sound. Maybe some of Jesu's recent stuff.

Last.fm is sometimes helpful: http://www.last.fm/music/Alcest/+similar

Thanks, found another member of Amesoeurs with a solo album there.

I don't know if they're quite the same, but if you like Alcest, I bet you'd enjoy Agalloch. The Mantle is really a beautiful album, though it has some BM vocals.

I think the new Pelican album, What We All Come to Need, is also pretty relaxing, and uses distorted guitars.

Thanks for the recs, I like them both. Agalloch reminds me of Ulver.

m83, bach, buckethead's acoustic work

i.e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJud5kqFEDU

air

boards of canada

burial

caribou

m83

memory tapes

mogwai

mum

ratatat

sigur ros

Caribou was formerly known as Manitoba, for any of you who want to look up their older stuff. Really chill music.

I'll just put my list here while I'm at it:

-anything trance, mainly Tiesto

-Caribou (Manitoba)

-Architecture in Helsinki

-Frou Frou

-The Faint

-world music - no artists in particular as I just listen to last.fm radio channels.

Based on this list you may also like dextro http://www.dextro.co.uk/ also Mike Sheridan is great, I've had one particular album of his on repeat for quite some time http://www.discogs.com/Mike-Sheridan-I-Syv-Sind/release/1473...

It depends what state of consciousness I'm currently in and what state I'm trying to get into. I think though that the best way to hack your state of conscious is by selectively engaging or disengaging all of the senses at once. There is actually a machine that was at least patented to do this for you, although I'm not sure if it ever actually went into production or not:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sec...

Lately I've been liking Analogue Bubblebath and Selected Ambient Works Volume II by Richard D. James, AKA Aphex Twin. I play the tracks softly when coding and I feel it assists my concentration.

When I really listen to a few songs, at certain parts, I get an intense tingly feeling all over my body that feels awesome.

Yes - Close to the Edge (when the organs come in) Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture (the finale)

These two do it basically every time. Anyone know anything about this? Do other people get this awesome tingling sensation?

I also find that harpsichord music is good for concentrating as well as music by Can. In particular, I'll often put on Can's Tago Mago when I need to get work done.

The music that alters my state tends to be the kind of music that creates an atmosphere:

* Anything by Gas (but mostly Zauberberg and Königsforst)

* Eno and Fripp

* Burial

* Montauk

I'm with you. These two are great too:

* pole

* biosphere

Sahib Teri Bandi by The Derek Trucks Band: http://www.songite.com/#c30f63

(Disclosure: I built Songite a few weekends ago)

Wow, I'm really liking Songite. Great work keeping it simple -- not enough of that these days.

Edit: Just noticed something playing around with it. Is there a way to correct its results if it doesn't happen to get them right? For example, I searched for All That You Are by Mudvayne, and the only result that gets queued is an 8-second intro.

I like the "I'm Feeling Lucky" simplicity, but there should probably be a way to fix the choice -- e.g., a button on the song for "not the right one" that expands a list of search results.

Thanks. I'm definitely thinking about ways to correct songs that are wrong - my current idea is a button next to each song that pops out a list of alternatives.

Oh, nice one.

I just updated my original post with a songite link. It's a very nicely designed tool!

(I had trouble finding a sharable version of Weather Report's Palladium. Any way you can give me choices when I want/need them?)

OT: some feedback, I'm on a 1200x800 screen and there is a scrollbar that serves no purpose. I changed the margin of #container to margin:50px auto auto; and the scrollbar is gone. Or you could make the top margin like 5% to behave better on bigger screens. Not much else to say except nicely done!

Thanks for pointing that out.

Ratatat usually gets me going.

Here's a Spotify collaborative playlist with some suggestions from the above...

spotify:user:niallsmart:playlist:2Y7iDJaEoozuBDj4Npbm7L

Thanks Niall this is awesome. Syncing right now for the week ahead :)

Happy hacking :) Hopefully you're more productive as a result.

Not so much a particular piece, but many albums -- I rarely listen to single songs, just albums and full discographies.

  Iron & Wine, particularly Woman King
  Splashdown and Universal Hall Pass
  Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream and The Incident
  Agents of Mercy
  The Flower Kings
  The Decemberists

Apparat's Walls album. If there is a way to hack consciousness, Walls does it: http://www.lala.com/#album/1513490949824332234/Apparat/Walls

Try Fractals part 1 and 2. It really does feel like the audible equivalent of a fractal!

Love the album.

As an aside, if you're an Ableton Live 8 user, you can go download Fractales (both parts) as an Ableton Live Set -- part of their 10th anniversary celebration. It is fun to tease apart the track and figure out what makes it tick.

http://www.ableton.com/able10-artist-packs (see Apparat)

Fractals part1 and 2 now on my playlist - thank you!

http://searchyc.com/submissions/ask+hn+music

This one I think is an interestingly specific question. I'm not upvoting it, but I'm not flagging it, either: It might lead to interesting answers.

Steve Reich's Music For 18 Musicians does it for me. It's a beautiful, pulsating piece, with every movement focusing on a single chord, with no progressions for minutes at a time. It's one of the most unique classical pieces I've ever heard, and it gets my mind in a relaxed mood almost instantly.

You might find some other Reich tunes equally powerful, then. Among the best I've found for programming: Electric Counterpoint, Tehillim [Original ECM recording], You Are (Variations), Eight Lines (the re-instrumented version of Octet), and Music For A Large Ensemble.

(Reich has also written some wonderful music that I find harder to listen to in a programming context, including the landmark Different Trains [try the recording that also has Electric Counterpoint], City Life, and the Desert Music [try the San Francisco Symphony recording])

I'm a huge Reich fan. City Life is incredible.

Also check out Terry Reiley...

I've heard that before. Where would you recommend I start with him.

I like A Rainbow in Curved Air, but it may be a little distracting for programming work.

That's okay: I'm not a programmer.

You're not? What are you?

[edit: that came out wrong]

Uncertain. Definitely not a programmer.

If you like Reich, try "In C". Not sure that I could code to it though. Maybe. PS: It's Terry Riley.

A lot of Psybient music:

Shpongle, Bluetech, Entheogenic, Phutureprimitive

A lot of Dubstep:

XeNMaSTA, Cookie Monsta, Bassnectar, 16Bit, Logik

Ambient space music:

Steve Roach, (quite a few here, too lazy to look em up)

Classical Guitar:

Jesse Cook, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Zabuca, Linstead

Steve Reich?

Never heard of him, Steve Roach does really awesome ambient music though...

Anything instrumental and epic sounding. Right now my favorites are:

* Explosions in the Sky

* Red Sparowes

* British Sea Power's Man of Aran Soundtrack

I'd also recommend a band called Souvenir's Young America which sounds like the soundtrack to a zombie/western movie.

You would like Crippled Black Phoenix -- not entirely instrumental, but similar influences. Linked is their recent double album, Night Raiders opens with their post-rockiest track.

http://rapidshare.com/files/177917402/CBP_-_2009_The_Resurre...

http://rapidshare.com/files/177890387/CBP_-_2009_Night_Raide...

Do Make Say Think works wonders for me. and also Egberto Gismonti.

I find trance music extremely unobtrusive and yet motivating. Almost everything else is distracting.

I am a sworn procrastinator, yet as soon as I turn on one of Armin van Buurens radio sessions, I can do an entire days work in two hours.

The Bladerunner soundtrack has worked wonders for focusing my mind since about the age of 15. Gastr del Sol's Camoufleur LP also performed admirably during my arduous PhD write-up.

I really like stuff without lyrics that's fairly repetitive. Some examples: http://www.songite.com/#c1f21f.

Most of the soundscapes from WildSanctuary (http://bit.ly/2IHocS) have a pretty amazing effect on my productivity.

I just discovered NatureSpace [http://www.naturespace.com/]. They call is "Holographic Sound", and its pretty amazing. Check out their website (there is a preview on their landing page, and I strongly recommend having a pair of stereo headphones/earbuds on ;-) )

They have a free iPhone app, well if you have an iPhone, and want to try it out.

[Update - Seems they have options for the Android too]

I particularly like arch carrier, by autechre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYikLIMPHSs

The later works of Scriabin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Scriabin

Prince (the old stuff) I have tons of music but that's realy the best stuff for getting me to focus and make me feel energized.

Stars of the Lid

Rachmaninoff. Also, look at "pink noise" tapes: rainforests, oceans, all that new-agey crap. It actually works.

Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons Project, New London consort, Slash's Snakepit... and many many many more

vocal trance http://di.fm/vocaltrance

Right there with you. DI vocal trance has ushered me through many a tight deadline.

http://di.fm/trance is really good on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Global DJ Broadcast and Corsten's Countdown are awesome.

That's an interesting question!

But please post full links rather than shortened ones.

For me, it depends on the day. Today, I put on some 90's ska. It's not usually that.

Jean Michel Jarre

Shpongle

recommend Boards of Canada

The Future Sound Of London, especially their old radio sessions

I like any upbeat mowtown or stax records jams.

Ratatat Kelley Polar Bon Iver The Knife

I love Bygdin, esp the Setesdal track.

fateh ali khan

(p.s. unless you need to meet a text message minimum, don't use url shorteners)

phish

grateful dead

john coltrane

trance, rock

Thanks for all the great answers HN...inspired by NiallSmart (see comment) I created a playlist of all the music mentioned in this post - it features one track of every artist listed in the comments. Specific track was used when referenced.

spotify:user:zen53:playlist:5JtUZrhOvBV0IqySyhoDwF thanks again!

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