A Soft Murmur – Ambient sounds to wash away distraction

by gabemart • 13 years ago

190 81 13 years ago

gabemart12• 13 years ago

I haven't found a way to make it work on iOS devices, unfortunately. There are many restrictions on what javascript is allowed to do, and I don't own an iOS device for testing ways around this.

james332• 13 years ago

Unfortunately limitations on mobile audio will make this next to impossible to work on mobile for the time being. I wrote howler.js (http://howlerjs.com) to solve this issue, but I'm guessing your source audio files are too large to use Web Audio reliably on mobile (this would be the only way to play multiple sounds at the same time).

wavefunction4• 13 years ago

There is another way actually, use an HTML5 Audio tag and Base64 encode the audio files, then load that data via JavaScript into the Audio tag.

I really should probably write this up on my blog... I will - and post it on HN but here's a quick overview. I'm doing this for a JavaScript library I'm working on for form-validation for the visually-impaired (coming soon!)

I dynamically create a pool of audio tags via

var audioTag = document.createElement("audio")

then

audioTag.setAttribute("autoplay","autoplay");

then

audioTag.src = strSound;

You don't even have to attach them to the DOM either from my experience so far (cross-browser!), just maintain the reference in memory.

Then I do some eventing magic for forms and validation stuff, loading the audio from strings of Base64 encoded mp3s or wavs. This way I can package the audio I use inside the JavaScript that hooks up all the form events. And make it easy for others to override my audio samples with their own just by over-writing the strings in memory via their own .js file include.

scaphandre• 13 years ago

What do you mean impossible on mobile? I've been listening to this on a Nexus 5 for 30 mins. It played straight away on Chrome. Continues playing in background tab right now.

allannienhuis• 13 years ago

I've successfully used a phonegap wrapper (iframe works just fine in the cases I tried) to work around the IOS auto-play and other sound restrictions. Auto play html5 audio elements 'just worked'. This might also be an alternative for whatever restrictions you're dealing with. Of course it's an app not a website, and you still need an IOS device and an apple developer account to build the app, even with 3rd party services like build.phonegap.com.

gabemart12• 13 years ago

Thanks, I'm going to look into this.

hobo_mark• 13 years ago

Another amazing noise generator was featured here a few weeks ago and I've been using it ever since

http://mynoise.net/

sadly, does not work on mobile either (somewhat on firefox for android which is too slow on my underpowered phone)

wylee• 13 years ago

I love this site, especially how it goes into some depth explaining the different sounds. I had no trouble with it on my S3 in Chrome.

soundscapes• 13 years ago

It's a little hard to setup, but the python powered neverending soundscapes you can get at http://boodler.org/packages/ are pretty awesome...

Boodler FTW!

amolsarva• 13 years ago

This is real.

It is why airplanes are such great places to concentrate and work.

Also lower light and fewer people "induce the zone" better too.

Havoc6• 13 years ago

It is why airplanes are such great places to concentrate and work.

I think the fact that you really really can't get up and go do something else also helps. ;)

sgustard• 13 years ago

Also the "occasional terrifying jolt" keeps the mind focused.

leeoniya• 13 years ago

i actually work best in coffee shops.

1. silence or some monolog/dialog on tv = BAD

2. lots of people talking & background noise = GOOD

brain is weird.

3stripe• 13 years ago

When there is background noise, it feels to me as if focusing on a task drowns it out. Eg noise provides an incentive to concentrate on your work?

audiosampling2• 13 years ago

http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/babbleNoiseGenerator.php

Havoc6• 13 years ago

I get the feeling this varies greatly from person to person. e.g. If I'm in a coffee shop I pick up fragments of conversation and can't help but try & isolate specific voices. I've tried - I can't block it out. Fragments of conversation to me aren't noise...they're fragmented info requiring more brain power to decipher.

This might just be me though - I think in German, read in English and hear Afrikaans in coffee shops. So I'm all kinds of messed up anyway when it comes to spoken language.

sirsar• 13 years ago

You might like Coffitivity.

http://www.coffitivity.com/

pgopalan• 13 years ago

I've used this one before http://coffitivity.com

michalstanko• 13 years ago

I use it too, and sometimes http://raining.fm as well.

pan692• 13 years ago

I love this.

I would be great if you could a) download your mix as an MP3 and/or b) open your mix in a popup window.

Love the sound of rain and thunder. Makes me want to stay indoors and do stuff. I understand that this is at the moment not a problem for North Americans and Europeans but in Australia it's getting pretty hot/sticky at the moment..

gabemart12• 13 years ago

Downloading as an mp3 is an interesting idea. It would be a good excuse for me to learn some backend stuff. This is the first thing I've ever written but I enjoyed the process a lot.

The popup window idea is also good and should be much easier to implement. I'll look into it. Thanks!

wahnfrieden2• 13 years ago

You can encode an mp3 and have it as a downloadable file all in javascript, just FYI.

pan692• 13 years ago

Also, having a global volume might be handy so you push the entire sound to the background without having it affect the sound if you happen play a YouTube video or whatever.

aaronem5• 13 years ago

This is the first thing I've ever written

Talk about hitting a home run on your first at-bat. Well done!

brianbreslin• 13 years ago

is there a pandora/spotify/rdio station anyone recommends for this?

any studies on what types of noise actually induce deeper sleep?

dded• 13 years ago

The most soothing, easy-to-sleep-to sound for me is the sound of the forced-hot-air furnace in the house I grew up in. Other furnaces in other houses are OK, but nothing tops the original.

I assume this is something deep in my psyche, implanted when I was very young.

MichaelGG• 13 years ago

I relax the best when there are other people at my house, doing their own thing. I remember from being 5 or so when my parents would have company over and it was a very reassuring feeling of hearing other people carrying on. Unfortunately, as an "adult", it doesn't seem to be very socially acceptable to throw parties then stay upstairs and hope your guests enjoy things by themselves.

This motivation is very deep inside me: I went as far as giving out two free rooms to benefit from the comings-and-goings of two more people. And for a while I shared a house with my in-laws (8 people total) and found it quite enjoyable.

elliottcarlson• 13 years ago

Personally I have http://RainyMood.com and http://SimplyNoise.com (on brown noise, medium oscillation) running 24/7; it helps me concentrate as well as sleep.

arjn• 13 years ago

Thank you, I love this. I've been using rain sounds from Youtube on my tablet at night to help me sleep. This seem better and more configurable.

Havoc6• 13 years ago

Best ambient sound site I've encountered so far. I love the DIY mixing approach. :)

Gabriel - please add wind. It goes well with the rain/thunder thing. The rain sound track - it sounds realistic, but I think for this specific purpose a bit less emphasis on high frequencies might make it blend into the background better. It sounds a little too hissy. Might just be my sound setup though. I'd also suggest adding a "true" white noise track - I'm guessing much of the tech crowd would love to use that as a baseline and then add specific noises on top.

gabemart12• 13 years ago

Thanks for the feedback!

Wind would be a great addition I agree. I've had a hard time finding good audio that has the right feel, but it'll be added at some point.

White noise is on the todo list. What I really need to do is make the audio loading more modular. At the moment it's very naive and everything buffers at once. I want to create a system where there's a core set of sounds that load by default, and then a menu of sounds that expand and load when selected. This would mean I could support a lot more sounds. At present, to add another sample I'd have to remove something already there, because performance is a little flaky even with just the six current samples.

carbocation• 13 years ago

My thoughts on wind:

1) Rustling leaves in an aspen grove.

2) Wind-whipped snow covered mountains (howling winds)

Both quite different but pretty cool in the right mix.

Havoc6• 13 years ago

then a menu of sounds

I really wouldn't change the layout to anything menu like. Its got the clean & simple thing going for it. Maybe rather add a button that opens "advanced" options i.e. more sliders coming into view - white noise etc. Seems a bit artificial but it gives you a way to split off less popular and weird stuff like artificial white noise. Plus delayed loading of those sounds. Adding a drop down or similar would kill the clean layout in my view.

Since you reacted positively to the initial feedback:

- The share mix button at the top looks wildly out of place. Its outside of the main rectangle and looks weird as a result.

-I'm allergic to the word "share" tbh...consider replacing it with "publish"/"broadcast" or similar. Sounds a bit presumptuous...but "share" has become a seriously craptastic word online - even erotic sites have a "share on facebook" button. If you must have it rather move it as far down as possible - so that users can first toy with the sliders a bit & get a feel for things before being asked to vouch for it to friends.

- The colour scheme (stark black white) is not conducive to the tranquil vibe you're trying to convey. Best bet is adding some colour hint to it I think. Keep the basic idea, but add some faint highlight colour(s). Think earthy warm colours.

- The humans track is way too loud. If you set all the sliders to mid then all you hear is humans. Either lower it as a whole or dampen the 600hz-700hz frequency range gently (assuming my ears aren't failing me on that freq guestimate).

I've had a hard time finding good audio that has the right feel

Yeah. Wind is a bit of a biatch in this regard since most microphones are engineered to specifically block wind noises. And those that aren't distort wind sounds like mad. Maybe something like this (bit short):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__O0RRiWcpk

g0lden• 13 years ago

soundcloud is a great place to look for sounds of nature. plenty of recordings under creative commons

tptacek• 13 years ago

Once you said that rain sounded hissy, I immediately noticed it. If I turn rain almost all the way down and waves just a little bit up, I get a muffled rain sound that sounds a little bit like rain falling on a tent that I'm inside, which I now realize is one of my favorite sounds. So add that sound too!

codequickly• 13 years ago

This is great, and I'll use this while working. I love certain sounds, but not every types of noise, so it's great to be able to choose the combination.

There's a lot of ASMR youtube videos, which I find very relaxing and helps to get in the zone. However, sometimes it also helps me to fall asleep, which is bad when I want to work. Anyway, ASMR puts me in a state that is highly focused and relaxed at the same time.

ben0x539• 13 years ago

Aaaaah, the fire has some irregular loud crackling sounds that are fairly distracting! This imaginary beach campfire party of mine isn't an ideal working environment!

merraksh• 13 years ago

A Soft Murmur – Ambient sounds to wash away distraction

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