Pablo Fernandez

I’ve been looking for ages for the perfect music for coding. I’ve asked around and tried new age, Mozart, Bach, and other academic music. I’ve tried instrumental soothing music and instrumental electronic music. Nothing worked until I started to expand my original coding music: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Yes, I used to code to the music of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and I loved it. I started to try others and I’ve found I like coding to these albums:

• Back to the Future II and III (not I)
• The Matrix Reloaded disc II and The Matrix Revolutions (but not The Matrix, see a pattern there? sequels are worse, but get better music)
• Batman Begins (this one so so)

I’m looking for more. There’s a clear pattern: instrumental and fast. It has to be of movies I’ve seen. When I listened repeatedly to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when I was a teenager I would recreate the whole movie in my head. I don’t do that anymore but the music still carries some subconscious meaning. I’ve tried with music of movies that I haven’t seen and it doesn’t work. And some don’t work and I don’t know why. These songs work as isolated songs, but not the whole album:

• L’Enfant
• Blade Runner (End Titles)
• Chariots of Fire

All by Vangelis of course. Star Wars music kind of works, but only some songs. I still have to sit down and select them (6 albums, lot of work). I remember other music like Apollo 13 also worked, but I don’t have it anymore.

What do I mean by work? It seems that music speeds me up. It makes me work faster, concentrate more and enjoy myself more. It makes me not want to stop, like watching a good movie. What do you listen to? Any other movies with great coding music?

Reviewed by Daniel Magliola. Thank you!