Sitting in silence can be mortifying, but sometimes, listening to music isn’t that much of a help either – even though it can improve how we feel, sometimes it’s too loud and distracting. White noise can be the best options in this kind of situation; it’s an ever-present noise, but nowhere near loud to the point that it becomes overwhelming.
White noise is a kind of ambient noise, which, in short, is any sort of background noise. While white noise tends to sound more like static, ambient noise can also include the sounds of waves, rain, summertime crickets, or the conversations of people around the area. Ambient noise is kind of a reassuring, ever-present comfort, there to remind you that you aren’t completely alone, but gives you the space you need at the same time.
Whether it’s to concentrate on a task at hand or to calm oneself down during a particularly anxious and tense time, there are many places to find ambient noise to play on the computer or phone (Spotify has a number of playlists under the Sleep and Focus genres, and YouTube has an infinite number of hour-long videos). However, for a more interactive experience, A Soft Murmur (a website and an app) allows one to adjust different kinds of ambient noise for a personalized noise that’s just for them. There are ten categories, ranging from rain to coffee shops to a singing bowl, all with different volume controls so some can be louder than others.
Here, the user can pretend they are on a beach, the sound of waves around them with the cackling noises of a bonfire nearby. They can recreate being in a coffee shop during a thunderstorm, people’s voices around them drowning out the rumblings of the thunder. Users can also have some fun and find out what a singing bowl is, blasting it amongst the sounds of rain, birds, white noise, and crickets all at once. Whatever it is, the website not only gives someone what they want to listen to to relax, but also the control that people sometimes need to feel.
Have you talked to your child about what kind of music or audio they can use to relax? Would you consider discussing using ambient noise, or playing it in the house?