REQ: High quality freeware nature sounds

[scootgirl.com]

Hi,

I'm looking for some high quality (128kbpm minimum) nature sounds with no
instrumentals/vocals such as rain, streams, the ocean, the beach, etc.. I'm
more in the sounds of weather mostly for its white-noise properties to
block out noise from the street.

Thanks!

Karen
http://scootgirl.com/

 

[Roger Johansson]

I'm looking for some high quality (128kbpm minimum) nature sounds with
no instrumentals/vocals such as rain, streams, the ocean, the beach,
etc.. I'm more in the sounds of weather mostly for its white-noise
properties to block out noise from the street.

Googling for
weather sounds rain
gives a million hits, and it seems like the quality should be enough in
many of these collections.

Aire Freshener at
http://www.peterhirschberg.com/mysoftware.html
is a very good ambient sounds program I have used earlier, with surf
sounds, etc.. Other useful functions in it too. Freeware.

If you know the spectral composition of the noise you can choose a sound
which covers only that part of the spectrum.

If the noise is in the treble you can use a sound file with mainly treble
sounds. But bass noise is a lot more common, because your walls block the
treble sounds very good. White noise is not a good choice.

I created a sound file myself, by opening a Bon Jovi song, Please come
home for Christmas, in a sound editor. I filtered out all treble and made
a sound file with only bass. And that song has a bass voice without pauses.

This sound file masks a lot of the sounds from other apartments and
street noises, and does not disturb me listening to the radio/tv sound,
because the tv sound is in the middle and treble part of the audio
spectrum.

It sounds like somebody is playing a Bon Jovi song I like in another part
of the house, but I have full control over it myself. If I hear more
sounds from the neighbors I raise the volume a little, if I don't
anything for days I lower it again.

This sound does not disturb any neighbors. They cannot even hear that I
am running that sound file day and night, because the volume is low and
the speakers are close to my ears. Don't put the speakers directly on the
floor, so the vibrations are not conducted by the floor to other
apartments.

 

[scootgirl.com]

[snip]

Googling for
weather sounds rain
gives a million hits, and it seems like the quality should be enough
in many of these collections.

Aire Freshener at
http://www.peterhirschberg.com/mysoftware.html
is a very good ambient sounds program I have used earlier, with surf
sounds, etc.. Other useful functions in it too. Freeware.

[snip]



Hi,

yeah I googled before. I should have specified that I'm looking for like
a directory of sorts if anyone knew of a good site like that.

But thanks for the link to that program. I'm downloading it now and will
give it a shot.

The noise that bugs me mostly is low frequency thumps. Some jerk comes by
and parks across the street at 7am every weekend with his sub woofer
blasting away that penetrates my white-noise alarm clock. Every Saturday
and Sunday without fail I'm woken up by it and can't go back to sleep
till he gets out of his truck which he always does after a few minutes
(if it was longer I'd call the cops).

Also, the kids in the neighborhood put a basketball hoop directly across
the street from me and so from 9am on there's the thud of a basketball
which also penetrate my noise maker.

I downloaded this today for use with my computer and its sub woofer:
http://nature-downloads.naturesounds.ca/audio/Thunderstorm_naturesounds-
ca.mp3 and I used mp3directcut to cut out the fade in and out but there
is still slight noise and blank when it loops.

Thanks again for the link, it's here, so I will try it right now.

Karen
http://scootgirl.com/

 

[Roger Johansson]

yeah I googled before. I should have specified that I'm looking for
like a directory of sorts if anyone knew of a good site like that.

I found several collections with nature sounds, but most of the sounds
are more disturbing than any noise. People who collect such sounds are
fascinated by dramatic sounds like thunder or storms.

But thanks for the link to that program. I'm downloading it now and
will give it a shot.

It has lots of different ambient sounds, like rain forest, campfire, and
surf sounds from beaches, which I liked very much.
(but the surf sounds did not mask the bass noise as well as my specially
made bass sound file)

The noise that bugs me mostly is low frequency thumps.

They are the hardest to mask. You need a stereo system with good speakers
which can produce low bass sounds.

I downloaded this today for use with my computer and its sub woofer:
http://nature-downloads.naturesounds.ca/audio/Thunderstorm_naturesounds-
ca.mp3 and I used mp3directcut to cut out the fade in and out but there
is still slight noise and blank when it loops.

I simply cut off both the start and the end of my song so there is no
pause when it starts over. It doesn't matter that the song is mutilated,
I don't listen to it as music. It is just a constant mumbling sound.

If you get used to your favorite sound file and play it day and night you
get a much better immunity against outside sounds. The backside is, of
course, that you have to get used to your own sound file. But in my
experience that is less stressing than to hear sounds you have no control
over yourself. Even if you still hear some thumps from outside now and
then you are not disturbed by them as you are when they contrast against
silence.

 

[xtort]

Those heavy bass-line sounds, such as the reverberation from sub
woofers are the worst thing. Whitenoise sound can mask things like that
thumping of the basketball SG spoke of, but, IMHO, it is hard to mask
that thump of heavy-bass subs.
For whitenoise, I use flatline industrial sounds. (Sometimes a fan,
bathroom fan, range hood, etc.. can work well too.)

<rant>
As an aside...it is too bad that legislators are resistant to
recognizing noise as an environmental issue. Especially that unecessary
noise from car stereos; there is even research out there which suggest
that the boom-car noise can damage development of the fetus -- to which
everything sounds louder:
http://www.lowertheboom.org/trice/reacting.htm
</rant>

 

[Jan Peters]

Am Sun, 13 Mar 2005 21:07:12 GMT schrieb scootgirl.com:

Hi,

I'm looking for some high quality (128kbpm minimum) nature sounds with no
instrumentals/vocals such as rain, streams, the ocean, the beach, etc.. I'm
more in the sounds of weather mostly for its white-noise properties to
block out noise from the street.

Thanks!

Karen
http://scootgirl.com/

Hi,

for those things I use Atmosphere Lite. You find it here:
http://www.relaxingsoftware.com/atmlitehome.htm

Have fun!

Greetings from Germany

Jan Peters

 

[scootgirl.com]

Those heavy bass-line sounds, such as the reverberation from sub
woofers are the worst thing. Whitenoise sound can mask things like that
thumping of the basketball SG spoke of, but, IMHO, it is hard to mask
that thump of heavy-bass subs.
For whitenoise, I use flatline industrial sounds. (Sometimes a fan,
bathroom fan, range hood, etc.. can work well too.)

[snip]


That Aire Freshener tool that Roger recommended was very good.

Unfortunately xtort a plain-old white noise never masked basketball
dribbling because even at its highest level my rushing water sound
couldn't mask me from feeling it. Dogs barking, kids screaming, even the
gardener's 2-stroke leaf blower-arounder - it could handle, but nothing
of a percussion sound.

But this morning, 8am sharp started the dribbling so I turned on Aire
Freshener with the deep sea noise, cranked up the volume - and most
importantly - cranked up my subwoofer, and that masked it. Come Saturday
I will be able to confirm if I will win in the battle of the subwoofers.
The key to masking a subwoofer I feel is white noise from another closer
subwoofer.

Jan, thanks for the link to "Atmosphere Lite". I will try that tool as
well!

Thanks all.

Karen
http://scootgirl.com/