As a certification Sleep science coach and mattress tester for five years, I’m no stranger to soothing part of the noise. For some, the perfect soundtrack may be white noise. For others, it may be a completely different color – sometimes streamed on their phones, but usually provided by sound machines. If your sound machine or app offers a variety of different color sounds, how do you know what they mean, or what best suits your brain?
How is noise “color coded”
Let’s give our Sheldon Cooper a minute and determine why some noise is divided into colors. Sound travels like light in the waves. The frequency of a sound wave measured in Hertz (Hz) is the number of waves passing through a certain point in one second. High-pitched sounds have high frequencies (and short wavelengths) and low frequencies (and longer wavelengths). The human ears can distinguish sound from the low-end 20 Hz to the high-end 20,000 Hz.
As for the color? In the part of the spectrum we can see, our eyes treat different frequencies as different colors. By similarly, the “color” of sound is the shorthand way of describing sound quality, which is determined by a specific mixture of sound wave frequency. (People with rare conditions, called synesthesia, do see colors from certain sounds, but that’s a different topic.)
Most people are familiar with “white noise” machines – in fact, they are quite synonymous with sound machines. Just as white light consists of all visible colors, white noise also contains the sound of all sounds. The result is similar to ambient noise, which is the sound background of your daily life. Some liken it to TV static or fan running, which happens to be the key mechanism of one of my favorite sound machines, namely the Snooz (see below).
Hovering back to the 20,000 thousand Lots that humans can hear – white noise, all of which are all. If you live in a louder environment, such as a city or with a roommate, white noise may be useful to you. It won’t “cancel” sounds like Horns Honking, like the headphones encountered by noise, but it can “mask” destructive sounds. Essentially, the frequency of the combination reduces the loud sound so that your brain doesn’t radiate as much in them.
Pink noise
Some people think that pink noise is the best sound for sleeping. Like white noise, it contains all the frequencies we can hear, but it emphasizes lower frequencies instead of putting all frequencies on the same loudness like white noise. This leads to some people describing it as “flat noise”, which is noticeably soft. It is often likened to rain or waves, and some studies have shown that it can promote deeper sleep and calm brain activity, which leads to fall asleep faster.
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Photo: Julia Forbes
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Photo: Julia Forbes
Barberio
Mini speaker
Brown noise
The brown noise is “about the bass.” Like the pink noise, it increases the amplitude of the lower frequencies (OOMPH), so they stand out more, but even more so. The result is a rumble. If you want to fall asleep, listen to a thunderstorm or like loud intervals ProsperityIt can be said that the brown noise may be your color.
Green noise
If you feel like you are as “green” as green as the green noise, you are not far from the outdoors. Instead of making all frequencies work immediately like white and pink noises, the green noise emphasizes 500 Hz, which is considered mid-frequency. If you want to chase a waterfall in your dream (hopefully you can get a reference), the green noise is most like the sound of water and wind. So listen to the waterfalls, waves and styles rustling over the trees to satisfy your inner satisfaction.
Blue noise
All noise types are kept in the low to mid-frequency range at this point. However, blue noise does amplify the dial and give priority to high frequencies. Frankly, depending on the sleeper, it could be more hit or missed. Some may find that sounds (some describe as whistling) work better or stay alert.
Violet noise
Violet noise ratchet ratchet even exceeds blue noise. Basically, this is the opposite of brown noise. Everyone is different, but I can’t imagine being made to sleep with this.
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All the ways in which sounds are used to promote sleep and it affects your brain and health are still being studied and explored. However, you can always try these different noise types and see the most (or rather, the response to this).
