Napping while the rest of the house is up
Afternoon rest is hard because everything outside your door is still working, and the first delivery van undoes it. Brown noise is a deep rumble that sits under traffic, a boiler, and bass coming through a floor, which is a fair share of what the middle of a day sounds like. It does little about voices, since those are higher-pitched, and no sound makes speech disappear. The thunder here is weather rather than cover, kept well under the rumble so it reads as a storm several streets away. Nothing starts until you press play.
Set your alarm before you lie down
Decide how long you want to be out and set the alarm first, because a nap that runs long leaves you worse off than no nap. The mix timer stops the sound after 15, 30, or 60 minutes if you'd rather it didn't keep going. Keep the volume low enough that a smoke alarm or the doorbell still reaches you, and listen from where your head will be. If you're sleepy every afternoon whatever you do, that's worth raising with a doctor rather than solving with sound.
If the thunder keeps waking you
Turn the thunder down, or switch it off, and let the rumble run on its own, because adding more brown noise underneath won't make a sudden crack any gentler. If the whole thing feels heavy, take brown noise down to about 55% and bring the overall volume with it. Small speakers often reproduce thunder more clearly than they reproduce deep sound, so the balance you hear can differ from the one the mix sets. Make one change, lie back down, and leave it alone.
Explore the sounds in this mix
Listen to each layer on its own: Brown Noise and Thunder. Or start from scratch in the free online sound mixer.
Frequently asked questions
How often does the thunder come in?
It comes and goes as the recording does, and it starts well below the brown noise so it sounds distant. You can lower it further or turn it off completely.
Can I make it stop after twenty minutes?
Not exactly. The mix timer stops at 15, 30, or 60 minutes, so use your phone alarm if you want a length in between.
What if the storm sounds are too much?
Pull the thunder down or take it out. The brown noise keeps playing and does the covering on its own.