I generally don’t like music much—especially while working—considering it an intrusion on my thoughts. None-the-less, I find it necessary to drown out background noise to cope with my predilection to distraction. I tried white-noise and found it harsh and hiss-y and inevitably just as maddening as music.

So I looked for different types of music and sounds. First, I found brownian noise, much more acceptable than white noise. Then, I found these alleged binaural beats for tuning your conscious state. Then I read about it compared to the Mozart effect, which while unsubstantiated for long-term effects, certainly had an immediate mood-altering effect, which did result in a documented performance-boost which, which happened to be no different than… drum-roll please… music.

So with the research experts saying that music can have the exact opposite effect of the distraction I had been experiencing, I went on a Google and iTunes hunt, and came up with a series of classic works that is exactly “in-sync” with my working rhythm, and not a distraction at all—MUCH better than white noise.

And all of them by the same composer, Leroy Anderson! The Typewriter, The Syncopated Clock, Fiddle Faddle. I’m sure this playlist would drive a lot of folks insane (as my wife pointed out to me), but it really reflects that “hound on the hunt” feeling that drives me to solve difficult problems while programming—reinforcing the belief that what’s right in front of me is more interesting than anything going on around me!

If anyone knows of any other works that carry the same upbeat caffeinated rhythm laced with humor, let me know!