Block Out Distractions With This Excellent Selection Of Background Sounds
Can’t focus? Studies show that the right amount of background noise can increase creativity, and web app Noislilets you mix and match several sound sources. See if audio like rain, coffee shops, and more helps you concentrate.
Silence can be distracting, and so can the sounds around you. The need for something more neutral is why we’ve outlined avariety of sites that help drown out noise. Some provide nature sounds, some give you a coffee shop ambiance, and others provide consistent coloured noise.
Noisli is different because it gives you all these sounds and more, which you can combine however you like. It also provides a basic Markdown editor, but we’ll get to that later.
Click To Create A Soundscape.
The real charm of Noisli is simplicity. Head to Noisli.com and click a few icons. The sounds will start immediately.
Note that you can turn on as many sounds as you like, and for the most part everything stacks nicely.
If you can’t decide what you want, there’s a “Random” button.
There are also “Productivity” and “Relax” buttons if you’d like to try a few pre-built mixes – be sure to click these buttons multiple time to cycle through different combinations.
The real fun, of course, is designing your own perfect soundscape. Here are the sounds you can use to do that:
- Rain – exactly what you’d expect, the soothing sound of rain falling.
- Thunderstorm – softer rain sounds, but with occasional thunder.
- Wind – feels like something’s coming this way, which for some reason makes me want to work.
- Forest – mostly bird songs, but there are some other sounds mixed in there.
- Leaves – the rustling of leaves, sounds like autumn.
- Water stream – a nearby babbling brook.
- Seaside – rhythmic waves, with a hint of seaside birds.
- Water – more subdued water sounds, almost like something’s swimming in a nearby pond.
- Bonfire – if that campfire sound relaxes you, try this.
- Summer night – lots of crickets, the occasional owl, and more.
- Coffee shop – mingled conversation, but nothing you can make out, along with the sounds of coffee being made.
- Train night – something about the sound of wheels on rails is very relaxing. It’s probably the rhythm.
- Fan shop – this is pretty close to white noise
There are also a few colours of noise to choose from. These are basically steady sources of sound, so try them out.
- White noise
- Pink noise
- Brown noise
Some people swear by one of these three sounds and decry the others; I’m not going to make a comment. Try them out for yourself.
Comes With A Lightweight Writing App
If you want to get some writing done, Noisli might be the only website you need to have open. That’s because in addition to offering the background sounds you need to concentrate, this web app also provides a simple text editor. Just click the lines at right to get started:
You can write using Markdown, and preview how your text will look rendered.
It’s not the core feature of the site, at all, but it works well if only for one reason: colours. Noisli’s background colour changes frequently, with a slow fade. This is supposed to help prompt creativity, and it’s soothing if nothing else. Combined with the right sounds and this site might be what you need to push through that project you’ve been putting off.