SonicSenses

Build my soundscape

Start from what you need it for - sleep, focus, calm, reading, meditation or covering noise - then shape it layer by layer. Everything is generated live in your browser, so there is nothing to download, nothing to sign up for and nothing leaves this device.

Build my soundscape: how this works, in words

What it does
Turns a goal, or a short phrase you type, into a layered background soundscape that keeps playing until you stop it or the fade-out timer ends.
What it accepts
A goal (sleep, focus, calm, reading, meditation or noise masking) or a plain phrase such as rain on a cabin roof. The phrase box is a keyword matcher running on your device, not a language model, so the same words always build the same mix. No audio is uploaded and no file is needed.
What you control
Goal selection, the phrase box, per-layer volume, mute and solo, a master level, a fade-out timer, saving a mix to this browser and copying a share link that encodes the mix in the URL.
What changes
Audio only. Each matched keyword adds a layer you can then rebalance; the fade-out timer lowers the master level to silence over the period you set. The active layers and their levels are listed as text.
What it illustrates
How a soundscape is assembled from independent layers, and how steady broadband texture behaves differently from sparse intermittent detail when it is sitting in the background.
What it does not claim
Steady background sound is a listening preference that many people find makes a room feel less distracting. That is not a medical treatment, and nothing here is claimed to treat insomnia, anxiety, ADHD or any other condition.
Keyboard and screen readers
Goals are labelled buttons, the phrase box is a normal text input, and every layer exposes a named range input plus mute and solo buttons with pressed state, so the whole mix can be created and adjusted by keyboard. The current mix is described in text, not only by fader positions.

0 layers active - synthesised in your browser, nothing streamed or stored.

What is this for?

Or describe it in words

Recognised words map straight to layers below.

Starting points

Layers

Ambience

Continuous beds and textures.

Rain
Ocean
Forest
Thunder
Fireplace
Wind
Coffee shop
Night
Birds
River
Snow hush
Campfire
Temple
Library
City
Space
Mountain
Brown noise

Creature voices

Intermittent calls that layer over any bed.

Barred owl
Loon call
Frog chorus
Cicadas
Wolf howl
Whale song

Save this mix and turn it into a prompt

Open Studio

Raise one or more layers to build a mix and generate a prompt.

Choosing a starting point

Sleep

A steady, low-contrast bed. Sudden peaks are what pull people back out of light sleep, so this mix leans on continuous texture and keeps intermittent creature calls out of the way.

  • Keep the master level just loud enough to soften the room, not to dominate it.
  • Use the fade-out timer so the mix does not run all night.
  • Avoid thunder and creature layers if you wake easily.

Focus

Broadband texture with a quiet room underneath. The point is predictability: nothing in this mix asks for your attention, which makes it easier to keep attention on the task.

  • Set it once and leave it - re-adjusting the mix is itself a distraction.
  • If speech nearby is the problem, raise brown noise before raising anything else.
  • Take a listening break every hour or so.

Calm

Slow, rolling movement. Water layers give a gentle sense of motion without a beat, which suits unwinding, stretching or a long exhale between tasks.

  • Slow layers pair well with slow breathing - let the swell set the pace.
  • Add a little fireplace for warmth if the mix feels thin.

Reading

A soft, bookish room tone with rain outside. Enough texture to mask a noisy household, sparse enough that it never competes with the sentence you are on.

  • Keep creature layers at zero - intermittent calls break reading flow.
  • Rain plus room tone usually beats music for text-heavy work.

Meditation

Wide, slow and open. A reverberant space with very little event density, so there is room to notice your own breath rather than the soundtrack.

  • Lower is usually better here - the mix is a room, not a performance.
  • A 10 to 20 minute fade-out makes a natural end to a sitting.

Noise masking

Continuous broadband energy sits across the same range as speech and traffic, so intruding sounds stand out less. It does not cancel anything - it raises the floor so the peaks are less noticeable.

  • Raise the level until the intrusion stops standing out, then stop raising it.
  • Brown noise covers low rumble; rain adds cover higher up.
  • If you need it loud to work, treat the room instead - see our listening safety guidance.

Common questions

Does building a soundscape use an internet connection or an AI service?
No. Every layer is synthesised locally by your browser's audio engine. Nothing is uploaded, generated in the cloud, or streamed.
How does describing a scene in words work?
The phrase box is a plain keyword matcher that runs on your device. Words like rain, cabin or frogs map directly to layers. There is no language model and no API call, so the same phrase always builds the same mix.
Will a soundscape help me sleep or concentrate?
Many people find steady background sound makes a room feel less distracting, and masking noise can make intrusions less noticeable. That is a listening preference, not a medical treatment, and results vary between people.
Are my mixes saved anywhere online?
No. Saved mixes stay in this browser's local storage. A share link encodes the mix inside the URL itself, so no account or database is involved.

Where to go next

The same engine powers the Sound Blender, where you can browse layers by category, and the Sound Library explains where each sound comes from. To experiment with noise colours, tones and stereo placement, try the SonicSenses Lab. Keep the master level comfortable and see our listening safety guidance.