Living in an urban suburb with well-connected public transport and convenient commercial services has been a luxury in my life over the last few years. The benefits come with a few costs—noise pollution being the one which has inspired the soundscapes found on my website that I use regularly to mask unwanted noise. In this post I will talk about the components of sound design that I used to create these works.
Brownian Noise
You may already be familiar with long-form ‘coloured noise’ soundscape videos on YouTube – often referencing ‘Brown noise’. The Wikipedia article on Brownian noise is quite an interesting read if you’re that kind of nerd but it’s worth noting that the noise used in most of these videos isn’t ‘true’ brownian noise. Rather they are variations of differently processed low-passed white noise. Think of television static, but extremely ‘muffled’ – with creators tweaking full-spectrum noise in different ways to achieve these rumbling sounds. I quite enjoy this one set in the sleeping quarters of a spaceship as the low-frequency rumble of the machine accompanies visuals that provide a sense of speed through the cosmos… It’s quite comforting.
My soundscapes feature quite softly mixed brownian-style noise that has been processed with an audio effect that spreads different frequencies to the sides of the stereo field which creates a sense of immersion and depth if the listener is using headphones or a stereo sound system.
Rain
Image by Nicky ❤️🌿🐞🌿❤️ from Pixabay
My hobby as a music producer gives me access to a lot of high quality sound files and the means to process them in ways that I like. I spent HOURS fussily procuring different stereo rain sound effects, processing and mixing them together to layer on top of the brownian noise prepared earlier. The mixing process was performed mostly on ‘vibe’ – according to my taste but the following points summarise what I was aiming for:
- Feels ‘comforting’ and pleasant to hear for long periods
- Well controlled high frequency ‘sparkly’ rain sound (these can be super annoying if they stand out too much)
- Is able to mask unwanted sounds in the environment (comes mostly from mid/low-mid frequency bands)
- Can be easily ignored (no noticeable repeating sounds in the rain loops)
Why does this work?
The sound of gentle rain is comforting for a lot of people, but I have listened to a LOT of these soundscapes that I don’t believe get it ‘right’. It’s my job as a sound designer to exert control over the 0-20kHz frequency spectrum and create sounds that people find useful/enjoyable. The main requirements for succesfuly achieving this is having a trained ear and knowledge of audio tools.
On the other hand this is a bit of a psychological endeavor. I believe these soundscapes are so popular because they distract your busy mind with a persistent and pleasant sensory experience (accounting for personal preference) which is helpful for overthinkers and anxious people. They also mask the sound of hubbub and activity outside of your self which keeps your mental experience focussed on your own present moment.
I hope my take on the ‘relaxing soundscape’ and this accompanying write-up has been at least somewhat interesting – I’d love to know if my work has been able to help you at all. Take care and sleep well.
Sam Hawke 