Free Online Player
Old Clock
Old Clock is a mechanical clock ticking roughly once a second, with the slightly uneven tick–tock spacing of a real escapement rather than a metronome. A faint hum from the mechanism and the room runs underneath it. Suits reading, writing, and anyone who finds a ticking room companionable.
Ready to play
Put this under rain or a fire, keep the blend you end up with, and play it through the night with your screen off. The Slo app does that on iOS, Android and Mac.
A real escapement, not a metronome
The ticks arrive about once a second, but the gaps aren't equal — tick and tock alternate with slightly different spacing, which is what a real mechanical movement does and the main thing a synthesized tick gets wrong. Behind the ticks sits a low hum, a few steady tones from the case and the room, and that hum is what gives the recording its old, enclosed feeling.
The ticks themselves are bright and sharp, and they sit well above the hum. The sound stays in one place, the way a clock on a wall does.
A pulse you can work to
Some people write and read better with a slow pulse in the room, and others find every tick impossible to ignore; there's no middle ground, and you'll know within a minute. It won't cover other noise — the ticks are separate sounds with quiet between them — so treat it as character, not coverage.
For other mechanical pulses, hear keyboard typing and old vinyl record crackle, or slow right down with heavy church bells; everything is on the sound library index. To soften the ticks, open the old clock and rain blend in the free sound mixer.
Frequently asked questions
How fast does the clock tick?
About once a second, with the slightly uneven tick–tock spacing of a mechanical escapement rather than an even metronome beat.
Is there a chime?
No. The loop contains ticking and a faint mechanism hum only.
Will it cover noise in the room?
No. The ticks are separate sounds with quiet between them, so pick a continuous sound if you want coverage.
Can I set a timer for the ticking?
Yes. Stop after 15, 30 or 60 minutes, choose all night, or leave the timer off.