Websites that provide background noise for concentration

Rainy drops on my office window glass.
Raindrops on my office window glass. Image from my Instagram gallery. [València. 3rd July, 2014]
It is known that background noises like rain or a coffee shop allow for better concentration. I’ve gathered some useful websites that provide different kinds of background noises, and, in some cases, relaxing image slideshows. I find them useful when working on my computer.

Here is the list:

  • Rainy Mood — It’s a classic. Just the sound of rain, with optional relaxing background music.
  • Noisli — My favourite at the moment. It lets you create your own blend of relaxing sounds, including rain, wind, forest, seaside, coffee shop, and white, pink and brown noises (more on this here and here, for instance), with the background colour of the website constantly changing. It also provides predefined blends and offers the possibility of saving your favourite blends. As a bonus, it includes a timer and a simple distraction-free text editor. I also recommend checking out their blog.
  • ZenCast
  • A Soft Murmur — Also allows for mixing different sounds. Moreover, it has a meandering feature, which makes sounds go louder or softer at random.
  • Coffitivity — Different coffee shops sounds, some of them premium-only available.
  • Soundrown
  • xoki.com — This one is about random background colours. It lets you create and share playlists of colours.
  • Raining.fm — Different rain sounds, with nice background slideshows, or a raindrops effect on your screen.
  • Rainy Cafe — Rain and/or coffee shop.
  • PianoAndRain.com
  • PianoAndWaves.com
  • JazzAndRain.com — Has partner sites such as ‘Epic Music Time’, ‘Relaxing Beats’…
  • Calmsound
  • MoodTurn.com
  • rainfor.me
  • SimplyNoise
  • SimplyRain
  • August Ambiance

There are some studies supporting the theory that a moderate background noise boosts concentration and productivity. To mention just a few of them:

Some other interesting links on this subject:

Bonus

In addition, I recommend the Classical Relaxation and Classical Concentration channels in AccuRadio. I use them a lot as background music to get focused.

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Vicent

Associate Prof. at the Dep. of Statistics, OR and Quality of the UPV, Spain. Interested in Optimization in Quality Control and Clinical Biostatistics.