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The music of chess (or, at least, of games)

Okay, not counting the musical, Chess, and not counting Murray Head's One Night in Bangkok (from said musical) or any of its remixes; is there any music which you've found helps or hinders your play? Does it help some styles of play and not others?

In my last game (the start of the 90/30 tournament) I was listening to this for a good portion of it:

soundcloud.com/bongo-chief/life-in-a-swing

I think I turned it off somewhere around move 30, though, but that game was a little intense.

What are other people's experiences with music and chess (in an environment where it can't upset your opponent or the tournament organisers)?
Honestly, I never thought about music and chess as a thing. Like, I never considered it to be a somewhat productive combination. For instance going back to high school, when I had these long sessions against my books, I needed complete silence, and the lack of it inevitably resulted in loss of concentration and an overall futile attempt to learn/memorize anything I was aiming at learning/memorizing.

That being said, however, I've been listening to music while doing similar task as of late. I've been experimenting mostly with classical. One of the best pieces that I've found so far to be consumed by is Tchaivosky's 1812 Overture. Despite its innate tempo and emotional nature, I am absolutely able to maintain a laser focus posture throughout most of time. And that is, of course, considering that if you're hearing the music, your mind is focused on it instead of the other task at hand and viceversa, which makes the whole process a bit weird to understand.

However, I found that Pink Floyd worked miracles. "Wish you were here", "Comfortably numb" and "Time" made the overall experience that more enjoyable and fertile. I eagerly recommend that you try it if you happen to be into psychedelic rock!

Cheers.
Generally I find music while playing to be just a distraction, but occasionally (unusually) I put it on anyway. I'm not sure the particular style of music makes much difference, but I'm more likely to put metal on when I play bullet.
Just anything upbeat for me. It's pretty common for me to listen to music while playing. If I feel like playing tactically, it'd probably be something like this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cYQV62WhkM

Or if I feel like being aggressive it'd be something more rock centered.

There's a lot of personality in chess, and there's a lot of personality in music. I tend to be pretty cheesy and play music that suits how I plan on playing.
I think I play better chess when I'm listening to music at the same time (just music I like, I don't think the genre matters much). I think that's just because I play better when I feel good.
SeitoVlad:

I do have The Delicate Sound of Thunder here, but I always catch myself listening for the little Doctor Who theme riff at the start of the second disc.

Classical is always very helpful when trying to do creative things or find a point of equilibrium. I get the 1812 thing, but for me it's more Bach, sometimes Beethoven and, of course, you can't go past Mozart's Requiem.

Claymore:

Yeah, I can see how that would work. Perhaps try After The Flesh by My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult in a future bullet match, it ought to be fast and aggressive enough for that style of play.

http://youtu.be/k204KtjZRs8

Moralintentions:

Yep, I'm much the same, though I do have to stop it occasionally too. The genre depends entirely on my mood and where I'm trying to get to with the game (or whatever else I'm using it for), so I'm a bit like Clarkey in that respect.

By the way, great handle there.

Clarkey:

Dude! Are you trying to make me suffer a flashback here?! :)

Fine, I will see you and raise you: http://youtu.be/4B_UYYPb-Gk

And before you recover, there's this: http://youtu.be/JAIOzM7SsMo
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