Ambient Soundscapes for Mental Calm and Focus
Ambient soundscapes are an incredibly effective tool for many people to ease anxious thinking, calm the mind, and assist with sleep. According to a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald, more people are turning to ambient sound for relief during this especially anxiety-provoking era. Below is a compilation of good sources for background sound, city or social noise, nature sounds, and albums for sleep.
MyNoise Custom Sound Generator
MyNoise is a customisable sound generator built by Belgian signal processing engineer Stéphane Pigeon. The site allows a unique sound experience via 10 color-coded sliders that allow the user to adjust different frequencies to their preference and create ‘animated atmospheres’. Explore a huge range of soundscapes here.
Recommended: Irish Coast, Twin Black Lodges (inspired by Twin Peaks), Osmosis (meditation drone mix), Rain Noise, White Noise, Grey Noise (“noise that feels perceptually flat across all frequencies”), Primeval Forest, and so many more.
Browse and explore MyNoise.net / Follow the MyNoise channel on Spotify
Coffivity
This app offers the background sounds of a cafe. Aimed at those who enjoy working in cafes, and/or surrounded by people, this is probably a helpful one for the self-employed who suddenly found themselves confined to their home offices all the time, versus the cafe (or co-working space). It’s also designed to stimulate productivity.
Open Window New York City Soundscape at Night (YouTube)
If you’re a longtime city mouse, then the frenetic hum of voices, vehicles, the low oceanic roar of urban density may appeal more than nature sounds. This 3-hour video from the Nomadic Ambience YouTube channel, below, emulates that. According to the caption, the video was taken from “Midtown New York City in binaural audio…is not looped and [was] recorded on location.”
Additionally, this 10-hour video from the same channel has more complex and defined sounds (definitely a City during the day soundscape).
Forest Sounds | Woodland Ambience, Bird Song, Nearby Village (YouTube)
From YouTube channel The Guild of Ambience, this 3-hour track is a a calming forest background, with windy tones and birdsongs. Even-tempered and soothing.
Another great forest-themed option is this album on Spotify from ASMR Rain Sounds.
Rain Sounds (10 hours) (Spotify)
Rain and water soundscapes are likely some of the most-sought ambient soundscapes for calm and mental health; and according to science, the rhythmic nature of water - from rain, to rivers, to crashing waves - helps the mind to relax, like a lullaby. The following are Rain and Ocean sounds on Spotify for relaxation and sleep.
Ocean Sounds for Deep Sleep (Spotify)
This playlist is a mix of different Ocean sounds, any tracks of which you can put on a loop, or let them play through.
Thunderstorms - Sounds of Nature (Spotify)
Each track here is almost 10 minutes long, and offers variations of thunderstorms - each a little different in tone or intensity, all very pleasing to listen to. Mixes the soothing rhythm of rain with often-comforting distant rolling thunder.
White Noise Sleep Sounds (Spotify)
White noise is defined as “a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density.” It is essentially ‘basic background noise’, with an even tempo and frequency. It can also help with tinnitus, when used in moderation, to moderate the perception of high-pitched or erratic noises produced by the hearing condition.
Related: this short film by Vice’s column on music and sound Noisey, called ‘Grounded’ (2016), explores ambient music as a tonic to anxiety. Narrated by Noisey's Associate Editor Ryan Bassil.
