Let’s Talk About Colored Noise.

Sofie Dooley & Angie Kidder

Have you ever found yourself sitting before your homework, wondering what music to play to accompany your studying? Classical feels too intense, but everything with lyrics is too distracting. What if you could listen to silence… but louder? This is the phenomenon of colored noises, which are becoming more popular for sleeping and studying, with a quick YouTube search resulting in a rainbow of hour long noise videos. But what exactly are these noises and where do they come from?

The concept of colored noises came from 19th-century studies of signal patterns. During the Cold War, countries were trying to find discreet ways to induce harm to enemy forces. In France, the “infrasonic generator” was established as a deadly weapon with such claims later being shut down by French authorities. 20th-century scientists discovered that the different radio frequencies were due to white noise and that the clarity of the radio audio could be improved with its presence.

But there still is the question, what really are these noises in the first place? Black noise is a term coined in telecommunications consisting of the near absence of frequencies with the exception of a few random frequencies lying at the top range of our hearing abilities. Gray noise has equal loudness, white noise has equal power and violet noise is the same as white but sits at a higher audio frequency. Pink noise was made in an attempt to correct the meaning of true equality, as the equality of loudness for the listener depends on both what the noise is being emitted from and the original hearing ability of the listener. It is said that the best noises for sleeping are white and pink. Brown and red noise often leave listeners feeling a sense of grounding paired with the absence of thought. Blue noise is a scientific term that is defined by the increasing of power at specific rates often heard in nuclear processes.

As noise enjoyers ourselves, we will now analyze a few of the most popular noises:

Red Noise: It’s like traveling on a road trip as a little kid, and you just had too much McDonald’s. You’re in the back seat on your iPad playing Stack The States while trees surround you. Overall, it’s relaxing but just a little bit uncomfortable.

White noise: Sounds like your ears before they pop at the end of a flight while you are looking down at land getting closer and closer. Calming, but also a little bit sad. Maybe a little melancholy like a trip coming to an end but happy to be coming home.

Black noise: A very scary noise. Reminds me of a failed space mission, being ejected from the spaceship and floating in space all alone with an unknown fate.

Brown noise: At the bottom of the pool at night, where you are sitting trying to hold your breath. Maybe even the sound of being buried alive after a very fulfilling, peacefully lived life.

Pink noise: Sounds like heavy winds on top of a mountain that are so loud you can’t talk to anyone next to you. Very annoying, not a fan.

Green noise: Little bit of bias from the name, but this sounds like trees in a forest brushing against each other.