Did You Know There Are Green, Pink, Brown Noises? It’s Not Just White

I was doing a search for something this week and green noise came up as helpful trick for helping improve sleep. That led me to look more into what’s out on the internet or research for the many benefits of sound. White noise isn’t the only sonic hue. Different colors affect listeners in different ways. “The different ‘colors’ of noise simply refer to the bandwidth of frequencies included in the noise. Most of us are aware of white noise or at least we lump most noises like the following in white noise category that can possibly lull someone to sleep such as riding in a car, an air conditioner, a fan, etc. Pure white noise sounds like that hissy “shhh” that happens when the TV or radio is tuned to an unused frequency. It’s a mixture of all the frequencies humans can hear (about 20 Hz to 20 kHz),

Actually if you listen closely and know what to listen for then you will begin to hear the different colors.

Without actually getting to boring and long winded for this post I’m simply bringing it to your attention with broad strokes. Here’s a few points taken from different sites I’ve seen online.

Green: Its frequency range is not particularly high, at only about 500 hz, and its positioning at the center of the frequency is what causes those nature-like sounds. Because it reminds you of that soothing feeling of hearing waves crash on the beach, or a waterfall, it can be used as a sleep aid. Not only can green noise help you get a better night’s sleep, it can also be helpful when you need to get things done—particularly if you’ve got a pile-up of work tasks, or you have a huge essay to write for school the next day. Green noise is great for blocking outside noise that may distract you, also known as “sound masking”.

Brown/Red: Participants in a 2017 clinical trial for tinnitus, or ear ringing, retraining therapy (TRT) preferred brown/red noise to white and pink noise, comparing the sound to a “shower or rainfall.” Brown noise is certainly having a moment. TikTok is full of testimonies to its alleged mind-quieting powers, and the hashtag #brownnoise has received 72 million views as of August.

Pink: The energy in pink noise drops off by half as the frequency doubles, so every octave has equal power, which sounds more balanced.

Here’s a link to you tube video with 8 hours of brown noise. Sounds like beach noise to me.

Here’s pink noise. Sounds like rain or a a windy day.

Here’s green noise. Sounds like a waterfall, louder than pink noise.

Let this just be different noises for different thoughts as in food for thought but different.