Ah, yes. Sousa definitely cranks up the attention level!

I'm a pretty auditory guy, so music, alas, is usually more of a distraction than a help.

When I have to hunker down at the office, I use an application that channels the soothing sounds of stream water through my noise-canceling headphones. It's either that or some version of white noise: I'm fond of "brown noise" at home and "pink noise" at work. Either way, the app is a lifesaver.

If the task is downright mindless, I put the iPod on shuffle, which means plenty of U2, Indigo Girls, Ella Fitzgerald, and (I'll admit it!) showtunes.

I didn't use to be able to listen to music while writing or editing. If the music was good, it distracted me from concentrating on the work -- and why listen to bad music?
Now I find I can listen to instrumental music -- nothing with words, please -- and preferably solos or small groups. String quartets, keyboard (especially Bach), small group jazz (Monk or Miles).

Somehow, music (even without lyrics) occupies the verbal parts of my brain, so I can't listen to music and write unless the music is completely filtered out.

Copeland is good, especially "Fanfare for the Common Man."

...and, of course, I meant to misspell Copland. Sheesh.

Depends on the time of day.
For the wake-up call (mornings at work) it's E. Power Biggs blasting out Bach on the organ. That will clear your sinuses!
For the tasks that requires being in the zone, choral music does it; a plaintive Kyrie followed by a fire-and-brimstone Dies Irae sure mixes things up.
When a contemporary beat is on order, it's either show tunes (yes, more vocals) or bagrock - rock bands with bagpipes, bodhrans and fiddles in addition to the normal guitars and drum kit.

I do computer work, not editing, but filling in Canadian postal codes is a soporific task that benefits from powerful musical assistance at times.

No one - with the possible exception of Pierre Boulez - listens to Stockhausen. And of course almost no one listens to Boulez.

For relaxing sturf, maybe some Bach. Sousa might work, but I lean towards some more contemporary music, like Sarah McLachlan. Her voice is great.
But when its really crunch time, maybe three fingers of Knob Creek.

Oops, my apologies. That was supposed to be "stuff".

The most basic thing for me is that there must be no words in the music if I'm working with a text. Doesn't matter if it's opera in a language I don't speak; I can't manage two sets of words at once.

I also am partial to baroque when working, and will often listen to the same CD of, say, Mozart concertos over and over again until a particular project is complete.

John, I have to say i am more taken by your observation that headphones and earbuds obscure one of the essential responsibilities of the slot person -- eavesdropping in order to apprehend trivia such as (in my experience) moveups not otherwise communicated to the desk.

I like "sturf."

I prefer wordless music for editing, and guitar is the least distracting. When Leo Kottke or Johnny A. come up on the shuffle, I switch it to play in order. No music for writing. Loud music for housework, so I can bust some moves while I tidy.

Forgot to say that the housework music is rhythm & blues.

I'm definitely a product of the rock and roll era. My favorite "gotta bang it out now" writing music (I'm the sole writer/editor at this job) is the band Boston.

I put on Gaelic Storm. They distract me no end from the task at hand, which is usually exactly what I need. After indulging for a bit, I get back down to business. That's the ticket.

I'm with MelissaJane and Ol' Scrapiron on this one. Instrumentals only. I cobbled together a small playlist within my laptop's iTunes library for this purpose. The playlist includes, among others, Jim Chappell, Gustav Holst, Richard Elliot, the Rippingtons, George Gershwin, and Bernie Williams. I'll be adding some Wayman Tisdale in the near future.