A keen noise for ambience

May 15, 2014 7:10 AM

myNoise.net uses audio synthesis cleverness and the HTML 5 Web Audio API to give you a vast array of ambient soundscapes and background noises right in your (recent) browser. Each generator is highly customisable and users can share customisations with each other.
posted by vanar sena (21 comments total)

Completely unrelated bonus: A less-restful application of the Web Audio API.
posted by vanar sena at 7:21 AM on May 15, 2014 [3 favorites]

Spoooooooooooooooooooooky.
(neat!)
posted by Katemonkey at 7:33 AM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Trigger Warning for first comment link: "Gangnam Style". Try purging this out of your mind after listening for a few minutes . . .

OP - love your link. Overtone Throat Singing is doing it for me.
posted by nostrada at 7:33 AM on May 15, 2014

Also, I'm now combining Church Atmosphere with You Are Listening To's Numbers Stations (with the SoundCloud part turned down), so now it's like I'm stuck in an abandoned church at the end of the world with just a crackly CB radio to keep me company.

Which is awesome.
posted by Katemonkey at 7:47 AM on May 15, 2014 [14 favorites]

So basically you're partway through Fallout 3?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:54 AM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

...must...resist...
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 8:12 AM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Uh oh. Goodbye, next couple of hours.

Must listen to ALL the noises now.
posted by greenish at 8:36 AM on May 15, 2014

This is great, though my old laptop can barely handle it. Or maybe that's because of the 9000 tabs I have open in the browser.

I made something kind of like this myself, using thousands of language pronunciation guide audio files found on wikipedia. Sounds kind of like wandering through a cocktail party at the UN.
posted by moonmilk at 8:54 AM on May 15, 2014 [3 favorites]

Ooh, it's like a web version of Boodler ...
posted by scruss at 8:55 AM on May 15, 2014

I love this; thank you! Just spent the last hour listening to Canyon, set on "animate," so that it is a gradually changing soundscape.
posted by Atrahasis at 8:58 AM on May 15, 2014

I just checked out both of KateMonkey's links (did they nail the background image on the deserted soundscape one or what?) and KronosToEarth's link.

I had to look up what isochronic tones are, and then I read this, and... I've thoroughly creeped myself out and now I kinda want to burrow into the couch with all of the lights on. *hums X-Files theme*
posted by cardinality at 9:07 AM on May 15, 2014

I've been getting into HTML5 Web Audio and javascript recently and playing around with the API. It's really good stuff and there's a lot of great applications like this one out there using it effectively. My favorite is still the HTML5 Theremin (previously), but I found a page full of Web Audio Demos that are worth playing with too!
posted by TwoWordReview at 9:59 AM on May 15, 2014

I got quite excited about using this for some ideas... but you're Not Allowed. Viz:

"I receive licensing inquiries almost every week, asking to acquire the rights to use myNoise sounds within games, mobile apps, videos, or podcasts. These inquiries arise from the misconception that myNoise relies on sounds that are available for licensing. Sounds are only one part of the myNoise experience; the other part relies on the unique myNoise custom sound engine. Both are optimized for each other, with a lot of serious engineering behind the scenes. It is the interaction among the sounds, the player, and the listener, that turns the myNoise website into a unique sound experience. Although it is technically possible to record myNoise sound output, such a static recording wouldn't show justice to myNoise's philosophy: creating a privileged interaction between sound and the listener.
This is the reason why commercial use of the sound recordings emanating from this website is not welcomed, and no license for such use is readily available."

So there. Apparently, recording the noise sullies its purity and lacks respect.

I don't think this is my kind of thing, somehow. Shame.
posted by Devonian at 10:34 AM on May 15, 2014 [3 favorites]

A few years ago I was diagnosed with some moderate-to-severe hearing loss (the kind associated with exposure to loud noise). Are these supposed to be audible without loading my hearing curve into the presets because I can't hear any of the ones I've tried without it. (And even with it loaded I can't hear the underwater sounds at all.)

Also, I brought the cat in to listen to the purring and he appears to be in a trance!

I'm looking forward to playing around with this tonight to see if it helps me go to sleep. Fascinating stuff, thanks.

Spoooooooooooooooooooooky.

!!

"This sound generator is not intended for therapeutic use. If you are suffering from anxiety problems or any other disorder, don't listen to it."

posted by Room 641-A at 10:43 AM on May 15, 2014

This makes a great background as I write code, thanks much!
posted by idiopath at 11:07 AM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Ohhhhh yeahhhh... It's the audio equivalent of a hot bath. Thanks!
posted by Kevin Street at 11:46 AM on May 15, 2014

Oh my god you can manipulate frequencies yes this is what i have always wanted.
posted by Lutoslawski at 12:14 PM on May 15, 2014

Thank you so much for this! I've used other sounds generators on and off, but the number of generators for this one, how well tuned they are to sound good, and the features around it make this a site I expect to use a lot.

I look forward to making use of it for sleep and meditation too, besides during the work day.
posted by evilangela at 3:13 PM on May 15, 2014

Spoooooooooooooooooooooky.

Sounds like an automated Lustmord generator. Reminds me of a webthing that Boards of Canada put together some years back, which I now cannot find, much to my chagrin.
posted by FatherDagon at 11:03 PM on May 15, 2014

I've been waiting 24 hours now to finally sit down and try this out!

But...all I get is "Bufferloader XHR error" pop-ups (latest Chrome, OSX), so now I'm angry and depressed and not feeling ambient at all.
posted by Jimbob at 10:41 PM on May 16, 2014

Try a different browser, maybe -- it's really excellent, God's white noise machine.
posted by Rash at 11:12 AM on May 26, 2014