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The "Butterfly's Whisper" Blog

Welcome to my blog. I hope by sharing my own misophonia experiences, others who are frustrated with misophonia sensitivities will discover that they're not alone. I also hope that people who may not have misophonia will gain some insight about what it's like to have this condition.

Please feel free to post any comments or use the "Contact Us" page if you have any questions/comments you don't want to post online.

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The "Colors" of Noise...

3/31/2013

4 Comments

 
And no, I'm not talking about synesthesia.... Yes, fellow reader... Evidently noise has colors.

I was inspired by a comment to my 2/27/13 post on noise generators as coping tools to write a post on the "colors" of noise. (Thanks Sarah!) Up until the day when the doctor who diagnosed my misophonia suggested that I use noise generators to help mask my surrounding sound triggers, I only knew  of "white noise," probably from my days as a kid where there were many channels on TV that played static. (Long before cable was around. LOL!)  The doctor mentioned "pink" and "brown" noise too, but I still didn't quite understand the differences between the sound variations. When I did an online search to better understand how they differ, I discovered even more color variations. Who knew static could be so diverse?

If you go to the Wikipedia page on the colors of noise, it not only includes sound bytes where you can listen to a variety of sound "colors," but it also illustrates the the different noise variations as pictoral wave diagrams.  If I were to over-simplify what I perceive to be the differences between the different sound colors when I listened to them, the "warm" red/brown/pink noises have a much softer quality to the sound than the harsher "cool" white/blue/violet noises. On top of those variations, there's also the unofficial "black noise" which Wikipedia refers to as "silent noise." Now how's THAT for an oxymoron? (By the way, if you have trouble listening to the Wikipedia sound clips, try installing the free VLC sound application download. It can play any sound or video clip. In fact, a former I/T colleague once said to me, "If VLC can't play it, then nothing can.")

If you'd like to download an mp3 file of pink noise to play on Windows Media (or other) Player on a continuous loop, I found this website: http://www.pinknoisemp3.com/ You can even play a ten minute clip of the pink noise directly on their website too. I also found this other website, called SimplyNoise, that not only has sound files of white, pink, and brown noise, they also have apps: http://simplynoise.com/ that not only play white/pink/brown noise, but have a timer to automatically shut the sound off. (Looks like it's not a free app though.)

Another white noise sound generator that might be of interest is something I saw on Dr. Oz's 13 Miracles for 2013 episode. You'll have to sit through a plum advertisement and the description for miracle #3, but miracle #4 is another free app that you can download from Google Play called White Noise Lite. It has 40 looped sounds ranging from rain and waves to white noise and a fan blowing. It even allows you to set a sleep timer.

Regardless of whether the sounds are white/pink/brown noise or melodious  music played through noise cancelling earbuds., if they help to cope with misophonia triggers, I'm all for them!
4 Comments
Jenn@You Know... that Blog? link
4/5/2013 08:09:48 am

Hi! I found you by following a link someone put in the Facebook Misophonia group, and I'm glad I did. It's terrific to find you and read your insights on dealing with this... crap. I just wanted to say that I've got the Simply Noise app on my iPhone, and it's worth EVERY penny. I respond best to the lower "brown" noise. The pink and white set my teeth on edge; they're too sharp.

Anyway, I'll be following you from now on - thanks for sharing yourself with your blog.

Reply
Emlyn Altman link
4/6/2013 12:45:04 pm

Hi, Jenn. Thank you so much for your post. I'm glad you found my blog posts helpful. Who would've thought there would be so many different variations of "static" noise. I'm glad you found one that worked well for you.

If SenseHaven.com and my blog can help even one person to cope, connect with other sufferers, or even promote more awareness about misophonia in general, that makes it all worthwhile to me.

What can I say? It took over 30 years for me to discover I was not crazy and alone with my suffering senses. There's no reason why others have to suffer in silence for so long; especially if people can benefit from my experiences. We misophonians have to stick together. LOL! :-)

Stay well and thanks for your feedback. Have a great weekend!

Reply
Roman Jane link
6/25/2014 11:28:38 pm

Hey, Firstly Thanks for your article, I got so much new information from your article... but same as you I only know about White Noise... So how can I find someone who suggest me which color of noise is better for me.... According to my doctor I have Sensory Processing Disorder.
Thanks!!!

Reply
Emlyn link
6/29/2014 10:02:40 am

Hi Roman (or is it Jane?),

Perhaps your doctor or an audiologist can offer suggestions (perhaps someone who specializes in SPD or even synesthesia) but in my opinion, I don't think a person can suggest which color of noise is better for you. We all have different triggers and different methods that help us cope. There may be some science to it, like if the doctor can figure out which wavelengths bother you and determine which "colors" counteract those sound waves. I feel that figuring out which color of noise will work for you is a personal choice, since only you know what you hear and how you react towards certain sounds. You might need to try a few different "colors" to find the one that works best for you. Some people find that masking noises help but the only way I've gotten relief from them was to play the noise sounds so loud that no other sounds can get through. I don't know if that defeats the purpose or if it's too extreme; but for me, I have to either use earplugs or play extremely loud music to cope with my triggers.

Perhaps if you download an app that offers multiple "colors" of noise (like the http://simplynoise.com/ site to which I refer in the blog), or find a device that plays multiple masking noise sounds, it would give you the flexibility to try different sounds under different conditions so you can find the one(s) that work best for you.

I wish you luck!

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    About the Author

    Emlyn Altman has been suffering with misophonia for over 40 years, even though she only found out about the actual medical condition much more recently. As frustrating as the condition has been over the years, her heightened sensitivities across all the senses considerably influenced her talents within the visual fine arts (particularly sculpture), music (singing, piano, and many other instruments), writing, and culinary backgrounds, as well as professional achievements as an architectural lighting designer. Her goal in developing this website is to promote more awareness about misophonia and help other sufferers as well.


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