For arbitrary ambient sounds, http://www.ambient-mixer.com/ is great. You can create your own mixes or just listen to premade ones. And you can individually adjust each 'effect' on mix board: http://weather.ambient-mixer.com/light-thunderstorm
Show HN: Increase your productivity with ambient noise
81–90 of 213 posts
Re: Show HN: Increase your productivity with ambient noise
#82I ran into a similar thing today, focus@will:
https://www.focusatwill.com/about/
More than specific patterns they offer, I found interesting that they they claim unfamiliar music is better for productivity:
"And the single most important factor to consider when choosing a genre is what kind of music you usually listen to for fun and entertainment when you are not trying to be productive. And then, counter-intuitively, it's best to select the very opposite kind of music when using focus@will. Why? Because your brain gets pleasure, releasing dopamine when it hears music you like and listen to a lot, and music that is associated with good times or strong memories of any kind will reduce the focus enhancing effects when used as a productivity tool."
Unfortunately, I can't try them out because I'm not in the US.
Re: Show HN: Increase your productivity with ambient noise
#83Very interesting, but I find I get much the same effect with the right types of music (which are also more aesthetically pleasing, to me). Also, recorded environmental sounds always have a certain degree of annoyance for me. There's nothing on earth I love more than the sound of rain or a crackling fire, but recorded versions just don't cut it (for me). This seems to fall into the same category.
Any recommendations on specific music that helps you (artist/album)? I find that Radiohead/In Rainbows is good for me
Anything from Explosions In The Sky. They're awesome and without vocals. Most of their music has made it to YouTube.
Re: Show HN: Increase your productivity with ambient noise
#84"Research shows it's pretty hard to be creative in a quiet space." I'm sure that research is accurate for some people, but it's definitely not accurate for me. Quiet, aside from any noise I make myself, is the only way I can be truly productive.
I make gross noises, which is exactly why I like background noise.
Re: Show HN: Increase your productivity with ambient noise
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe my recordings are shitty mate, but in general they're REALLY good. There is another one called Holophony, which is a patented technique of recording binaural audio, (by some guy named Hugo) which is multitudes better than plain binaural recordings! I want you to check out if you feel the same way for these PROFESSIONALLY recorded holophonic recordings too: 1) Amazing 3d Matchbox - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
I think your recordings are great, comparing the stereo to mono version with VLC is really impressive. But it still sounds located close to my ears to me. Might be that my headphones are bad, or I have unusual ears? I would really love to have a truly immersive audio experience, but so far I haven't found it.
I'm given to understand that binaural recording works much better if played from actual speakers. Headphones end up placing the sound "in your head" too much. See this recent New Yorker article:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/01/28/130128fa_fact_...
Headphones bypass our pinnae, which I suspect may be an important part of how we place sound (along with all the other important parts).
I've heard of lengths one can go to to get truly accurate 3D sound from headphones, but those involve taking an impression of your ear - I forget if it's the canal, or the pinna, or both - and then running some sort of further audio processing based on their topology.
Re: Show HN: Increase your productivity with ambient noise
#86I favour trance (e.g. Armin van Buuren). They usually have dreamy female vocals & the electronic feel makes all the notes sound the same, so it doesn't distract (OCD style). The mixes are often 1hr+ long so need to worry about track selection. I find it offers a good mix between not boring & easy to tune out (flow).
Example:
Ana Criado & Omnia No One Home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOSgtpbnCeI
Re: Show HN: Increase your productivity with ambient noise
#87I favour trance (e.g. Armin van Buuren). They usually have dreamy female vocals & the electronic feel makes all the notes sound the same, so it doesn't distract (OCD style). The mixes are often 1hr+ long so need to worry about track selection. I find it offers a good mix between not boring & easy to tune out (flow). Example: Ana Criado & Omnia No One Home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOSgtpbnCeI
These are great. I also like listening to Tiesto's Club Life -- both his and Armin Van Buuren are actually BBC radio shows recorded into podcasts.
Re: Show HN: Increase your productivity with ambient noise
#88Interesting. I find I get a ton done with ear plugs but it might be due to some traffic noise right outside my window.
I've also tried white noise which works pretty well.
I'll give this a go, but I'm not sure any music will work, the music itself can't be too enjoyable or engaging or it can become a distraction.
Somafm.com is a great station for this kind of music that you can leave running in the background where the music is good, reasonably unfamiliar,etc.
Re: Show HN: Increase your productivity with ambient noise
#89Very interesting, but I find I get much the same effect with the right types of music (which are also more aesthetically pleasing, to me). Also, recorded environmental sounds always have a certain degree of annoyance for me. There's nothing on earth I love more than the sound of rain or a crackling fire, but recorded versions just don't cut it (for me). This seems to fall into the same category.
Any recommendations on specific music that helps you (artist/album)? I find that Radiohead/In Rainbows is good for me
I agree with a number of these, also want to add:
Brian Eno, any of the Ambient series
Either of the Fripp and Eno albums
Oval
Windy and Carl
Re: Show HN: Increase your productivity with ambient noise
#90Very interesting, but I find I get much the same effect with the right types of music (which are also more aesthetically pleasing, to me). Also, recorded environmental sounds always have a certain degree of annoyance for me. There's nothing on earth I love more than the sound of rain or a crackling fire, but recorded versions just don't cut it (for me). This seems to fall into the same category.
Any recommendations on specific music that helps you (artist/album)? I find that Radiohead/In Rainbows is good for me
My favorite so far is Phillip Glass's soundtrack to Kundun. Really interesting but not so much that it's distracting.