white noise for sleeping

[Hink]

A fan resonates, vibrates, gives you something to zone out to, a white noise machine does neither of these.

why I recorded the fan

BTW my daughter just said sarcastically "good job dad, you made a cd that sounds like you fan thing-a-mabob...and why did you do that?" I guess it works

[P.T.]

The mda bundle contains a signal generator that also has white and pink noise.

I use it every night to block out loud startling street noises. It works just fine.

[Arglebargle]

I love my noise machine for sleeping. It doesn't really sound like white noise from a synth though.

[Hink]

I slept good last night

[IIRs]

I made a noise CD for a girlfriend's dad once, to try to drown out his tinnitus when trying to sleep. I made a synthedit patch with pink noise running through randomly modulated notch filters to create a sort of wind / waves kind of sound, then rendered off 80 mins for a CD. AFAIK it did the trick.

[UltraJv]

Its interesting that this is common on KVR. I too sleep with a fan heater on cold blow just for the sound.

[jmh]

I rolled my own soundscapes with SoundBorb. I wish there was something similar with a tad more complexity available.

For me, the soundscape needs both constant static elements like drones or rumbling or noise, and slowly changing, randomly appearing parts. Good old rainforest sounds are amongst the best sources. NASA's Voyager recordings aka Symphonies of the planets worked as well, better than in the original format.
Sunshine soundtrack with a few snippets from the movie is also amazing stuff, I have it on the iPod thingy for zoning out the usual noises while I'm outside.

One of these days it'll be time to do something like at least a 4-channel surround setup with small cheap speakers and make a few surround soundscapes for it, just for sleeping.

[LBN]

http://www.simplynoise.com/

[Shabdahbriah]

Its interesting that this is common on KVR. I too sleep with a fan heater on cold blow just for the sound.

Me too... fan, 24/7.

Though I also need the air movement.

As an aside... I've made custom "noise" tapes/CD's for clients/friends over the years as well. The most interesting (for me) was an 'anxiety/hypertension' experiment with a post quad-by-pass-surgery patient. Did a heartbeat CD, going from 70-bpm down to 50-bpm over the course of an hour.

... worked impressively well.

~S~

[Hink]

some great advice and even better I know I'm not alone sleeping with a fan on, last night worked great again...it's nice being able to turn up or down the volume which you can't do with a fan

[allcentury]

this has been proven time and time again to be a sleeping crutch not an aid. your best bet is to do some reading on how to obtain the perfect sleep (which 75% of it is all the things you do/don't do before you lay down). maybe it's time to get over it instead?

actually I have sleep issues from an anxiety disorder and have meds for it as well as other things, the problem IS noise and when something simple wakes me it becomes very difficult to return to sleeping and I can't keep taking pills. You're right, it is a crutch and sometimes a person needs a crutch. If it were possible "to get over it" I would, if it were possible in the last 16 years the V.A. Hospital would have found a way, therapy, relaxtion techniques, no tv hours before bed, no computer hours before bed, reading something boring, lowering the temp and all of them fail. The mind picks up on cues while we're sleeping, when the mind is overactive from a disorder sometimes you don't "get over it". Like other disorders you learn cope to cope with it which countless times I've been told to sleep with a fan on. I also use herbal alternatives such as chamomile (not as a tea, I make my own concentrated extracts and I use an herbal vaporizer.

About waves from the sea, the wife didn't like it...the A.C. and fans she likes, but not when it's almost December in New England and the clean air machine is not needed at my new apartment like it was at my old one (where I was almost 15 years)

I never thought of using FL, but I did record the clean air machine and added "constant wind" from oddity for it's cycles but it's beyond subtle, what I have now is my first try...I might try 3xosc or the similar next.

i didn't mean to sound unsympathetic but without knowing your whole routine there are too many "if" factors regarding what's keeping you awake or not properly resting. We use to work with a neuro scientist for years on her book launch and it was fascinating how many people sabotage themselves hours before bed time with things like fluids, TV, computer etc that all keep the brain active and ruin all 5 modes of sleep. She had a huge list of things people would do within 2hrs of going to bed that would ruin their night sleep. When I said "clutch" I was really just quoting her stories, I don't know your personal situation but maybe you can change your routine a bit to help you rather than fight this forever. Wish you luck!

[Hink]

this has been proven time and time again to be a sleeping crutch not an aid. your best bet is to do some reading on how to obtain the perfect sleep (which 75% of it is all the things you do/don't do before you lay down). maybe it's time to get over it instead?

actually I have sleep issues from an anxiety disorder and have meds for it as well as other things, the problem IS noise and when something simple wakes me it becomes very difficult to return to sleeping and I can't keep taking pills. You're right, it is a crutch and sometimes a person needs a crutch. If it were possible "to get over it" I would, if it were possible in the last 16 years the V.A. Hospital would have found a way, therapy, relaxtion techniques, no tv hours before bed, no computer hours before bed, reading something boring, lowering the temp and all of them fail. The mind picks up on cues while we're sleeping, when the mind is overactive from a disorder sometimes you don't "get over it". Like other disorders you learn cope to cope with it which countless times I've been told to sleep with a fan on. I also use herbal alternatives such as chamomile (not as a tea, I make my own concentrated extracts and I use an herbal vaporizer.

About waves from the sea, the wife didn't like it...the A.C. and fans she likes, but not when it's almost December in New England and the clean air machine is not needed at my new apartment like it was at my old one (where I was almost 15 years)

I never thought of using FL, but I did record the clean air machine and added "constant wind" from oddity for it's cycles but it's beyond subtle, what I have now is my first try...I might try 3xosc or the similar next.

i didn't mean to sound unsympathetic but without knowing your whole routine there are too many "if" factors regarding what's keeping you awake or not properly resting. We use to work with a neuro scientist for years on her book launch and it was fascinating how many people sabotage themselves hours before bed time with things like fluids, TV, computer etc that all keep the brain active and ruin all 5 modes of sleep. She had a huge list of things people would do within 2hrs of going to bed that would ruin their night sleep. When I said "clutch" I was really just quoting her stories, I don't know your personal situation but maybe you can change your routine a bit to help you rather than fight this forever. Wish you luck!

no prob and thanx

[GeorgeZ]

Yup, know what you mean Hink, I have the same problem with the missus in Winter. I deal with it a lot more low tech though... just flick the night stand radio on static and a quiet-ish db... job done

[susiwong]

Personally I prefer the traditional approach - chili beans for supper.
No need for any artificial noise ...
Ever wondered where the word "chill out" came from ?

Somebody had to mention it ...
susiwong

Seriously, not wanting to downplay anybody's sleeping issues, but as they say, "better lose a friend than a good punch line. "

[robogone]

We use a white noise machine in our daughter's room, but with the intention of removing it when she's a little older. It works very well for her and she gets to sleep quickly.