Ambient sounds for focus and sleep: what works and how to mix them

A steady background sound can make a noisy room easier to work in and a quiet bedroom easier to fall asleep in. It works for a simple reason, and once you understand it, building a mix that suits you takes a couple of minutes.

Why background sound helps

What disturbs us is rarely the overall volume. It is change: a door closing, a voice rising, a car passing. A constant, featureless sound raises the floor, so those sudden changes stand out less. This is called masking.

There is a second effect. Sounds such as rain, a stream or wind are steady but never exactly repeat, and they carry no words or melody for the mind to follow. Most people find them easy to ignore, which is exactly what you want from a background.

Research on noise for sleep and concentration is mixed, and people differ a great deal. Some sleep better with sound and some worse. Treat the advice below as a starting point and trust your own experience.

The colors of noise

You will see steady sounds described by color. The names refer to how the energy is spread between low and high pitches.

• White noise has equal energy at every pitch. It sounds like a hiss, and is the best masker but can be harsh.
• Pink noise has less energy in the high pitches. It sounds like steady rain.
• Brown noise is weighted further toward low pitches. It sounds like a distant waterfall or strong wind, and many people find it the most restful.

Natural sounds are mixtures of these. Rain is close to pink noise, wind to brown.

Mixes for focus

For work, you want sound that covers distractions without drawing attention to itself.

• Start with rain at a moderate level as the base.
• Add a little stream for texture if the rain alone feels flat.
• Leave out anything with distinct events, such as a bowl or crackling fire, if you find yourself listening to it.
• Keep the volume just high enough that you stop noticing the room. Louder is not better.

Mixes for sleep

For sleep, lower pitches and lower volume tend to work best.

• Use night wind or a low rain as the base.
• Add fire quietly if you like some warmth in the sound.
• Keep it soft. It should sit under your attention, not fill the room.
• Set a sleep timer so the sound fades out after you have drifted off, if you would prefer silence for the rest of the night.

Mixes for sitting quietly

For meditation or breathing practice, a little sound can make silence less stark.

• A low stream or wind gives a gentle bed.
• A singing bowl struck every so often gives the mind a place to return to. Listen to each note until it has completely faded.

Look after your ears

Keep background sound at a comfortable conversational level or lower, particularly through headphones and overnight. If you have to raise your voice to speak over it, it is too loud.

Try it

The sound garden lets you blend rain, ocean, stream, wind, fire, birdsong and a singing bowl with white, pink and brown noise. It has a sleep timer and a few ready-made mixes. If you want one sound on its own, there are pages for rain, ocean waves, brown noise, white noise and pink noise. Your mix is saved on your device for next time.