Programming vs Music

Anything Really. Just keep it clean!

Moderators: Dorian (MJT support), JRL

Post Reply
User avatar
JRL
Automation Wizard
Posts: 3497
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 6:22 pm
Location: Iowa

Programming vs Music

Post by JRL » Fri Jul 26, 2013 3:01 pm

I started playing acoustic guitar 40 years ago. Though I'm no Chet Atkins, I keep myself entertained.

I wrote my first computer program in high school way back in 1969. It was seventeen lines long and we used pre-punched cards that we pulled from boxes and boxes of cards. The card matched your line of code so I used 17 cards. My program multiplied a few numbers. Our teacher took the rubber banded punch cards to the local university where they had an IBM 360 computer. The program results came back the next day printed on 15 inch wide, fan fold, green bar paper. My program worked. I got an A. Didn't write another "program" until the mid eighties when I started using batch files. That said, I'm no Marcus Tettmar, but I manage to keep myself entertained.

I have always felt that there is some sort of connection between programming and playing a musical instrument. I just can't put my finger on what it is exactly. I posted a while back about the programmers "Zone" and that music and programming can both evoke that state. But that's not what I'm referring to. Its more about the logic, the sequence of events, the deviations from the logic and sequence of events that are still somehow logical and sequential.

Anyone understand what I'm getting at and perhaps capable of putting it into words?

User avatar
Phil Pendlebury
Automation Wizard
Posts: 538
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:00 am
Contact:

Post by Phil Pendlebury » Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:05 pm

Yup. Totally. I am a professional musician, producer, performer, composer etc. etc.

A big part of what I do involves natural musical ability, not taught, having a great "ear" and not just reading other people's work.

To me it is all to do with connections and automatically planning routes. (ie. where you are going to put your fingers next which equates to where your code is going to lead you).

I have an aptitude for learning languages both verbal and programming, they just make sense to me. It is all related to the way my "musical" brain works.

Wow - there's one for the autobiography... LOL.

I rushed this, it is a huge and complex subject.

:-)
Last edited by Phil Pendlebury on Mon Jul 29, 2013 6:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Phil Pendlebury - Linktree

armsys
Automation Wizard
Posts: 1108
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2002 10:28 am
Location: Hong Kong

Re: Programming vs Music

Post by armsys » Fri Jul 26, 2013 9:53 pm

JRL wrote:I started playing acoustic guitar 40 years ago. Though I'm no Chet Atkins, I keep myself entertained.
I wrote my first computer program in high school way back in 1969. It was seventeen lines long and we used pre-punched cards that we pulled from boxes and boxes of cards. The card matched your line of code so I used 17 cards. My program multiplied a few numbers. Our teacher took the rubber banded punch cards to the local university where they had an IBM 360 computer. The program results came back the next day printed on 15 inch wide, fan fold, green bar paper. My program worked. I got an A. Didn't write another "program" until the mid eighties when I started using batch files. That said, I'm no Marcus Tettmar, but I manage to keep myself entertained.
You and I may have the same age. I learned my Waterloo Fortran and PL/1 on IBM 370 with scores of boxes of 80-column Hollerith cards back in Ohio.
Music seems always helpful in enhancing intellectual pursuit. Albert Einstein is a perfect example. Perhaps Marcus is a music lover as well.
Thanks for starting the interesting thread.

User avatar
Meryl
Staff
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 1:53 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

Post by Meryl » Mon Jul 29, 2013 1:50 pm

My husband is also strong in music -- was even in the famous Aggie Band. He works in IT ... but not programming. He went to the dark side ... hardware. He absolutely had no interest in programming.

Odd, eh?

Fascinating discussion.

Post Reply
Sign up to our newsletter for free automation tips, tricks & discounts