User:Zeno3c/myNoise

= myNoise = myNoise is an ambient noise generator website created and maintained by Stéphane Pigeon. Some of its popular sound generators include Rain, Waterfall, and Café Restaurant. These generators are mainly used to facilitate focusing at work, relaxing, or falling asleep. myNoise has been online and receiving updates since 2013 and is also available with limited features as a mobile app for Android and iOS.

Ambient noise generators
myNoise hosts over 200 official sound generators, including Irish Coast, which mixes sounds of wind, waves, and rain ; Café Restaurant , which mimics sounds of a coffee shop; and Rain On A Tent. Each generator is a combination of 10 isolated sounds which can be individually tuned. For instance, the Irish Coast generator contains separate volume sliders for wind, shore noise, rain, and water. Moreover, every generator page includes features such as a Pomodoro bell, a meditation timer, and presets for mixing the isolated sounds.

Aside from the official ones, over one thousand community-created generators are available. These noises are unmoderated but dynamically managed, as users can give stars to their favourite generators and leave comments on their pages. An example of a custom generator is "Cyberpunk", which combines synthesizer sounds to create a futuristic ambience.

The purpose of ambient noise is to mask irregular or distracting sounds while boosting productivity, increasing focus, and facilitating sleep. However, research on its effectiveness is controversial. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reports that ambient noise may worsen stress levels, blood pressure, and migraines. In contrast, a study suggests moderate levels of ambient noise may promote creativity.

Stéphane Pigeon
Stéphane Pigeon is the creator and sole maintainer of the website. He is a Ph.D. electrical engineer and sound designer from Brussels, Belgium. Pigeon graduated from the Université Catholique de Louvain with a specialization in signal processing. Aside from myNoise, he also maintains other websites for music and sounds, such as Rain.today and Noises.online.

Sampling sessions
The majority of sounds available on myNoise were recorded by Stéphane Pigeon. To record these sounds, he travels to different countries with sound equipment. To date, he has performed sampling sessions in over ten different countries. In 2017, he visited the Kyoto Area, in Japan, to record atmospheric sound around shrines and temples. In the spring of 2019, he visited Finland to record sounds of a traditional sauna and different natural biotopes.

After sampling, all the sounds are mixed manually and combined into soundscapes.

Funding
The website is kept alive via donations from patrons. Both one-time and recurring donations are accepted, and everyone who contributes any amount is compensated with “lifetime privileged access”, which includes access to premium sound generators, extra features, and the ability to download MP3 files. The project also maintains a page that ranks current levels of donations on a scale of zero to five stars.

Part of the donations received are used towards carbon offsetting. The website commits to offsetting the carbon footprint generated by traffic from all its visitors. More specifically, it commits 10 grams of CO2 per megabyte of traffic, resulting in an annual footprint of 600 tons of CO2. To offset CO2, myNoise donates to Graine de Vie (Seed For Life), an organization that plants trees in developing countries. To date, myNoise has planted a total of 18,000 trees, equivalent to USD 5,250.

Since its inception in 2013, the website has been featured on The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal , and The New York Times. Each month, the site receives over 250,000 unique visitors. In October 2021, it reportedly served over two millions pages.