Being a world class insomniac I have purchased a few of those sleep machines in the past. I used them for a week or two and they all ended up collecting dust in junk drawers of yore. The problem was the sounds did not ring true. Maybe it was the quality of the speakers or maybe they were not diligent in capturing accurately the sounds that I knew so well.
Example: Here is a recording of thunder that is pretty much of a standard:
Well that's all good and fine. But that is not what I hear when listening to a storm. When I hear distant thunder it rolls... and the same thunder does not reoccur five minutes later. I have counted thunder that rolled for over 40 seconds. Its not that unusual. Below is an example of our take on thunder and background rain. Note the rain also is binaural.
Relaxing thunder that is long and rolls; and that does not repeat, is what rings true to me and I don't think I will find it on any sound machine. Check out our
Sound of Thunder section!
Feb 20th, 2010
Pure Ambiance
We have just launched a new line of relaxation audio products called Pure Ambiance. While we will always cater to the chronic insomniac there are quite a few people that just want to put our sounds on repeat on their MP3 and bedside CD players. The new line is more conventional in that respect. There is less implied movement and certainly less in the way of visualization. In essence it is sound in it's purest form. We have maintain the spatial quality and audio innovations that we put into all the sleep sounds but also realize that people who have less trouble falling asleep might just like the primary nature sounds that all our products offer.
We will be adding much more to the Pure Ambiance library in the near future.
Enjoy.
Feb 17th, 2010
Brainwaves and Sleeping
Our big human brains run at various frequencies during the day and evening. For an insomniac such as myself the frequency I strive to curl up with at night is called Delta. This is the brainwave that represents deep sleep.
The average human's (and aren't we all?) brainwaves transition from Beta (alert) to Alpha (relaxed) to Theta (daydreams) to Delta (deep sleep) .
I'm just an insomniac. But having owned a recording studio I do know a thing or two about audio. Let me correct a falsehood that has been propagated over the Internet for years. There is no such thing as an audible Delta sleep tone or sound. Besides the fact that brainwaves are simply not audible sounds*; the average human can only hear 20 Hz (cycles per second) to 20 KHZ. Delta brainwaves are represented through EEG's at 0 to 4 Hz . Theta brainwaves; those daydreamy signals that briefly occur right before you fall asleep, range from 4 HZ to 7 HZ . Alpha (relaxing) brainwaves occur at 8 to 12 HZ . All are below the human range of hearing. So, if you happen across any sites that tell you they have Alpha, Theta or Delta tones to help you fall asleep fast... walk away.
There is no such thing.
What we strive for here is the natural induction of Theta brainwaves. I know from personal experience that it is this little talked about brain function that is the key to my nightly sleep quest. When you are in Theta you are not really sleeping nor are you awake. You can liken it to that far away feeling one might get as they stare out a window on a rainy day. Theta brainwaves are the bridge to Delta (deep sleep) brainwaves. The theory behind VirtualDreamer.Com is simple. The combination of natural soothing sounds that induce calming Alpha brainwaves with some simple visualization sequences enhances the natural ability to reach the Theta brainwave state. Ergo, sleep soon follows.
But why? Simply, when we 'imagine' we use some of the same brain functions as when we are dreaming. Specifically this area of the brain is known as the Secondary Visual Cortex and it is active during REM dreaming. In a sense we prime natural sleep mechanisms by lulling the big human brain into thinking it's already sleeping and dreaming.
*Some research suggests that Tinnitus sufferers are actually hearing the high frequency sound of their brain's electrical activity that is normally cancelled out by healthy inner/middle ear functions.
