Understanding coloured noise: How different sounds boost your overall well-being

Would you be surprised if we told you that ‘noise’ could be one of the best forms of healing? While we’ve had to compromise on a good night’s sleep and get stressed out because of some jarring sounds around us – not all noise is problematic. You may have heard of ‘white noise’ but did you know about the widely followed concept of ‘coloured-noise’ – sounds that can actually improve your focus, sleeping patterns, how you feel and much more? Each coloured noise has a different energy and frequency that blocks out unexpected or disruptive sounds that hinder your sleep or cause any other distractions. Here’s your ultimate guide to different types of coloured noise, what they sound like and their numerous benefits.

What is coloured sound therapy?

Simply put, coloured sound therapy is a holistic healing technique to soothe your physical, emotional as well as spiritual well-being. In a conversation with The Washington Post, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, the director of the Neuroscience Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, mentioned, “Different colours of noise emphasise different frequencies over others. They have energy in different parts of the sound spectrum.”

Barbara added that these sounds have a quality that’s ‘boring’ to the brain and make others noises ‘less perceptible’. So, when you fill your room with coloured noise as you sleep, it masks disruptive commotion that might disturb you.

Each type of noise has its unique characteristics, so let’s explore them in detail!

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Your guide to different types of coloured noise

White noise

An amalgamation of all the noises in the spectrum, white noise or broadband noise sounds like TV static, a vacuum or a hair dryer. Hearing white noise is like hearing all the different sounds at once and is great for blocking unwanted sounds like that of your neighbours quarrelling or phones in your vicinity ringing incessantly. Just imagine the sound of a radio that is not tuned to any station, that’s white noise for you!

Benefits:

• Helps sleep better: Various research has shown that white sounds lulled people to sleep for ages. As it possesses all of the frequencies any person can possibly hear, it can block out any outside sound. For those suffering from insomnia or ADHD, white noise works wonders.
• Soothes babies: Parents are often recommended to try out white noise when sleep training their children. Apparently, the sounds babies are exposed to in the womb are very similar to the ones produced using white sound machines. White noise has been shown to reduce babies’ crying as well as reduce pain during infant vaccination.
•  Treats
• tinnitus (ringing in ears): White noise machines, which often produce static sounds or environment sounds like that of falling rain or ocean waves are an effective treatment for tinnitus. Even masking devices worn in the ear produce a continuous, low-level white noise that suppresses tinnitus symptoms.

Pink noise

Pink noise is deeper and warmer than white noise. It’s a mix of high and low frequencies similar to the sound of gentle rain, leaves rustling or a steady heartbeat. It is very close to white noise as it contains all the frequencies humans can hear, however, the lower frequencies are more powerful than the higher ones. The deeper pink noise helps relax and reduce stress, with its sound-blocking capability ridding you of all jarring sounds that can wake you from sleep or meditative states.

Benefits: 

• Boosts productivity and focus: According to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, experts think pink noise waves may trigger a part of the brain called the hypothalamus to transfer messages to and from the brain faster. This helps you function more effectively.
• Improves mental functioning: Various studies also show how pink noise is directly related to better judgment and speed in mental performance tests as well as enhanced work efficiency. It also helps improve memory retention in older people.
• Better sleep quality: By blurring unwanted sounds like that of a door slamming, a car horn honking, or someone snoring and more, pink noise may help you fall asleep faster and keep you in a deep sleep longer.

Brown/ red noise

A deeper version of pink noise, brown/ red noise is made up of low-frequency bass tones. With its deep and steady sound, it gives a much stronger power density when compared to pink noise. Think of roaring frequencies like distant thunder or waterfall – that’s brown noise for you!

Benefits:

Boosts concentration: According to a study in the 2017 issue of Applied Acoustics, brown/ red noise reduced disturbances that hindered workers’ concentration in an open-plan office.

Useful for sound sleep: With the ability to minimise external noise stimuli in our brain, brown noise is especially helpful for city dwellers who can’t sleep amidst the mayhem at night.

Green noise

A refreshing sound representing the ambience of nature, green noise is fresh on the coloured sound scene. Despite not being an official colour of noise, green sounds have come to be known as one of the most relaxing tones helping you in your snooze sessions. To get an idea of the sound, think of a tranquil forest or the gentle babble of a brook. Therapeutic, isn’t it?

Benefits: 

Calming effect: Green sounds can have a calming as well as centring effect on the nervous system. For someone who gets flushed with unbridled thoughts or anxiety at night, green sounds can really soothe your soul. After all, the noises of nature can be very calming to listen to.

Blue/ purple noise

Blue/ purple sounds exude very high frequency which can be really annoying, so you probably can’t (read shouldn’t) use these at home. However, it’s still a vital coloured noise which is often used by audio engineers for ‘dithering’ – a process wherein they intentionally add noise to a production (like a song remix) to smooth out the sound recording. The best way to describe blue noise is the sound of a hissing garden hose. Not too soothing, right?

Benefits: For those of you who can’t hear high-pitch sounds very well, blue noise helps in masking heavy outside sounds.

Conclusion

Adding coloured noise to your environment requires a bit of trial and error. Different people react differently to each sound based on their sensitivity to frequencies and how susceptible they are to distractions. To ease your confusion, there are many coloured noise playlists on YouTube and Spotify as well as apps like myNoise, Dark Noise and more. Once you find the noise that has consistently helped you fall asleep or relax, you can even consider buying a sleep sound machine that offers great quality and sound definition.

Hope you discover your go-to coloured noise soon!

(Hero image credit: Fernando Serna Dávila/ Pexels)

(Feature image credit: Mohammad_usman/ Pixabay)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• What is the best-coloured noise to listen to?

White noise, pink noise, green noise as well as brown noise are some of the most therapeutic noises.

• What is each coloured noise good for?

While white, brown and pink noises help induce quality sleep and soothe your mind, green noise helps calm your nervous system and keeps anxiety at bay.