About this sound machine
Sounds to work, rest and sleep inside: three colors of noise—white, pink and brown—and steady rain on a roof. Your browser’s audio engine shapes them live as they play, so each one carries on for as long as you leave it running. Set the volume low, choose a sound, and let it hold the room; the sleep timer can fade everything out after 15, 30 or 60 minutes.
Questions
What is the difference between white, pink and brown noise?
White noise spreads its energy evenly across all frequencies and sounds bright, like static. Pink noise tilts toward the low end and sounds like steady rain. Brown noise leans lower still—closer to surf or a distant waterfall—and many people find it the easiest to sit inside for hours.
Where does the sound come from?
Your browser synthesizes it the moment you press play, shaping each color live from raw randomness. Because the sound is computed rather than recorded, it carries on indefinitely and never loops.
How is the rain made?
It is synthesized live like the noise colors—no recordings. A bed of filtered noise breathes slowly underneath while random bursts, each a few milliseconds long at a random pitch, fall through it as droplets. Because every drop is drawn fresh from randomness, the rain never loops—which is also why it does not sound quite like a recording of any one real roof.
Will it keep playing if I switch tabs or lock my phone?
In a background tab on a computer, yes. On phones the operating system may pause web audio when the screen locks—keep the page in the foreground, or use the sleep timer and let it fade out on its own.
Is it safe to fall asleep to?
Keep the volume modest—comfortably below conversation level—and use the sleep timer, which fades the sound out gently after 15, 30 or 60 minutes so it doesn’t play all night.
More instruments: a breathing exercise, a fullscreen clock with pomodoro and a blank page to write on—or see all of them. From the writing: On Silence.