Maybe it's because the auditory environment in utero is supposedly quite noisy.
"Fetuses are barraged by sensory input, from the whoosh of blood through the mother's arteries to the rocking of her every move."
- Dr. Harvey Karp, Author, "The Happiest Baby on the Block"
Questions, comments, ideas, your own sounds -- please send it all to:
Canton Becker
canton@gmail.com
Web design, music, projects, diary, etc:
• cantonbecker.com *
Very curious to find any real research about white noise as it relates to sleeping aids.
Contact me!
Hi Canton,
Thanks for the free white noise mp3's. I was just wondering, what's the purpose of the volume envelope and is it's frequency important for sleep?Thanks,
Raymond E. Phinney, Jr., Ph.D.
Psychology Department
Wheaton College
Ooh! I'd better answer carefully since this is from the psychology department. :)
My arbitrary non-research based decisions were based on these factors:
* I wanted the noise *waves* to have approximately the same timing/spacing (volume envelope) as human breaths, because I noticed that my newborn slept much more deeply when I'd audibly breathe
* Similarly two of the three noise compositions I made have a sound somewhat like a heartbeat. I've read that the womb is a very VERY noisy place and that heartbeat sounds could be very comforting and familiar to a newborn. For this reason when folks wear their newborns in slings across the chest, an effort is made to place the newborns head against the wearer's heart.
* Myself I couldn't sleep with a non-enveloped wave sound. It would drive me crazy. I think there is also some research out there that pure nonstop white noise can cause developmental delays. I hope waves are better. :)
Finally as for the frequency of the filters applied to the noise, I just used my musical sensibilities for that. I'm primarily an electronic musician and I wanted the resulting 'music' to be pleasing to my ear.
Hope this answers your questions!
- canton