With Spring upon us, the soothing sounds of nature are emerging, bring us us sense of calm and renewal. There’s nothing like these authentic, all-natural white noise sounds, captured on CD and mp3 downloads, that you can play anytime, anywhere, without the hassle of a white noise generator or machine.

That’s the beauty of nature sounds from PureWhiteNoise.com. Take a moment to listen the the wide variety of nature sounds available at this website, and you’ll be amazed as to many sounds and nuances of sound that each nature CD or download offers you.

Take the machine out of white noise, and enjoy nature sounds as they were meant to be.

On Thanksgiving eve, I’m thankful to Mother Nature for the soothing sounds she provides to help us cope with the noise and stress of every day living.

Problem is, many of us are caught up in the hustle-bustle of daily living, and don’t have the time to relax to sound. Or, if you live in the city, you might say “what nature sound, friend?”

Fortunately, modern technology provides a very simple recipe for a ’sound’ solution:
1) Nature Sounds on CD and mp3 downloads. My website features an extensive array of true, authentic nature sounds that have been carefully recorded and digitally mastered to deliver relaxing sounds of nature. We offer relaxing sounds with music, or just the plain soothing sound of nature witout any music at all — it’s your choice!

We don’t use sound effects (known as SFX in industry jargon). Your ears and my integrity as a sound specialist would know the difference!

2) Today’s mp3 players, iPods® and other portable devices let us listen to sounds anytime, anywhere. Just download our nature sounds to your stereo or player, plug in your headphones, play, and relax.

Even if you work in a city or don’t have the time to relax, take just a few minutes during a break or lunch hour to listen to nature’s relaxing sounds. You’ll be amazed at how refreshed you’ll feel!

Listening to nature sounds before you go to bed is a wonderful way to transition from your day’s activities to the relaxing “ahhhh” phase of your go-to-sleep regimen.

So let yourself enjoy the wondrous sounds of nature for relaxation. It’s a sound solution that’s good for your health.

Mother Nature offers a variety of water sounds, which I’m pleased to share with you in the water sounds department on my website.

The great thing about our water sounds — available in long-playing CD and mp3 download formats — is that you can go to sleep without wasting water or getting wet. Just play the water sound on your stereo, mp3 player or iPod®, and you’ll be amazed how it will relax you so you can go to sleep!

I never realized until I got into the nature sounds recording business that water sounds came in a variety of tones and rhythms. For example, there are flowing water sounds, such as what you’d hear in a flowing river, a babbling brook or a gentle waterfall sound.

Ocean sounds are among the most popular water sounds: ocean waves lapping along the shore. Slow waves of the surf at midnight for an exquisitely calming inner peace. The combination of ocean sounds plus music…now that’s a calming water sound if I ever heard one!

While not strictly nature-made, then there are soothing water sounds around the house, including a soothing bath shower and running water out of a faucet.

So the next time you have trouble going to sleep, listen to the amazing sounds of water!

The simple answer is to trust both your ears and your gut to answer these questions:

For what purpose do you want nature sounds — sleeping? relaxation? create a particular mood? block out noises?

Which nature sound(s) appeal to your senses?  Some people love the sound of chirping birds and crickets; others may feel soothed by steady water sounds of a flowing river or waterfall.

What is the quality of the nature sound you’re listenting to?  Does it sound real or are they just nature sound effects?  Your ears can tell!  Don’t be fooled when you first listen to any nature sound online.  Yes, your computer’s speakers may not be the best.  However, your ears and eventually your mind can hear the difference between authentic nature sound recordings vs. those generated in a sound effects studio.

Do you want nature sounds with music or without music?  Again, it’s a personal preference depending upon your mood and wants.  For some, the addition of music complements the calming sounds of nature.  For others who just want to feel like they’re back in nature without leaving their home, music may not be desired.

How slow or fast should the sound be?  Should the pitch be high or low?  Again, it’s a matter of personal preference, depending upon the mood you’re in, or wish to be in.  You may find that a sound with a fast rhythm and higher pitch may lift your spirits, or that a slow, low sound can help you relax or fall asleep.

Here are several examples of nature sounds available online. As you listen to the sounds, notice the richness of actual nature sounds and pay attention as to how each one appeals to your senses:

		Nature Sound	Nature Sound Description
		Restful Rain	Rain sound, no music
		Rain Song	Rain sound with music
		Distant Thunderstorm	Rain sound with low tone rumbling thunder
		Midnight Surf	Ocean wave sound, no music
		Sea of Serenity	Ocean wave sound with lush music
		Babbling Brook	Running water, low pitch
		Beautiful Morning	Running water, slightly higher and brighter pitch

For more all-natural sounds with or without music, please be sure to visit the Nature Sounds collection on my website.

Terry, an old friend of mine, has 180 acres about an hour’s drive from town where he has a big barn and stables for his horses and land for hunting. He mentioned to me on several occasions that I should come out to his property where he keeps his horses, and go into the woodlands there to record nature sounds. He rides his horses there and says the afternoons are particularly nice when there is a gentle wind blowing through the pine trees, the insects sing and the birds high in the trees call to each other.

So what could be bad about that site for nature sounds? Let me tell you…

So not being able to turn down an invitation to do some nature sound recording, one lazy summer day, I took him up on his invitation and loaded up the equipment and headed to his “farm.”

After entering the combination to the gate and entering the private fenced property, I followed an old dirt road deep into the woods. Soon I pulled off to the side of the road, turned off the truck and rolled down the windows to listen to gentle forest sounds accompanied by a quiet breeze. I gathered all the recording gear and took off into the woods to find the perfect area with the right combination of nature acoustics I was looking for. I soon found “the” spot and set up the gear. An hour later after making sure the microphones were set correctly and I had enough recording space to grab 3 or 4 hours, I hit the ‘record’ button and headed back to the truck.

I spent the next several hours visiting with my friend, where we ate lunch and talked before going back into the woods to gather my recording gear, which would be recording all the glorious nature sounds while I was away.

When we finished, my friend wanted to go back with me and see the site where I had decided to record, as well as help me gather up all the equipment and take it back to the truck. So I drove us down the little dirt road again and pulled over, parked the truck and we got out and begin to wade through the brush and make our way to the spot where I had left the equipment recording about 3 hours earlier.

I didn’t recognize the spot. since I was looking for two big microphone stands with microphones covered by big furry wind screens. I didn’t see any. Maybe I was in the wrong place. No, this was the right place. But no microphones!

Upon closer inspection, I saw the microphone stands on the ground and they, along with my recorder they were cabled to, had been dragged through the brush and dirt about 20 feet. Amazingly the recorder was still recording!

One of the microphones was severely damaged. The big furry windscreen looked like a wet rag, off the microphone and covered in dirt. The metal mesh screen at the top of the microphone was broken off and crushed. The microphone itself was not too badly damaged, but there were indentions all over it, had dirt stuck to it and looked kind of slimy.

What had happened? Did someone stumble on my recording gear and vandalize it? Or maybe they were going to steal it and when they heard us coming, they ran off? But this was private property encased inside a fence and had a locked gate to get in. We were deep into the woods. What are the chances someone would be on the property and out of the 180 acres, find this little secluded spot? None of this added up or made any sense.

My only hope to answering this question was that the recording itself would yield some clues.

In the recording studio, I pulled up the recording and with my favorite headphones began to listen to each minute. As I came to the 50-minute mark into the recording, I heard some kind of rustling sound and listened as it came closer to the microphones. This was it! I was capturing whoever (or whatever) it was as they came onto the scene. From what I could hear, it actually sounded like two people. I could tell from the brush being trampled that they were walking around the equipment. Maybe they were deciding what kind of gear it was and if it was of any value to them! Then I heard them walk right up to the left microphone and bump up against it.

Then they grabbed the microphone and after that all I could hear was a popping sound combined with a metal-on-metal grinding sound. Then it sounded as though the furry wind screen was being pulled off, then more dragging and bumping. After a series of loud crunching and popping, there was a sudden silence — the microphone, now damaged beyond repair, had recorded its last sound and fell deathly quiet.

I gathered from what I had heard that the persons doing this could not figure out how to remove the microphone cable from the microphone, and had tried to pull it off or hold the microphone with a shoe and pull the cord dragging the recording deck and the other microphone and cables with it.

As the right side microphone was still active and recording, a minute later I heard it. Could it be? Was I hearing a horse whinny?

Is it possible that one of the horses had stumbled onto the scene? Maybe the horse had gotten entangled in the cables. I thought I had better take a look at what was left of the destroyed microphone.

There it was, plain as day…big horse teeth marks! Apparently a horse had stumbled on the gear, saw the big furry wind screen that was covering the microphone, and started to nibble on it, eventually pulling it off. He then decided to taste the microphone and the popping sound I heard was him crunching on the microphone all while dragging the stand, the other microphone and the connected recording deck with it. Eureka! It was a horse, not a person!

I called Terry and told him what I had discovered and we both had a good laugh. This mystery was solved. I had him check the horses and make sure none were missing any teeth. The microphone and furry windscreen were toast and had to be junked.

Terry has invited me back out to his property but suggested that he would keep the horses in their respective paddocks this next time. And I suggested that when we record again, we take some folding chairs and a cooler and babysit the gear this time.

I learned a lot of lessons from this nature recording outing. Like don’t leave expensive recording equipment out by itself unsupervised, especially at a nature site. And don’t be surprised when Mother Nature plays a joke on you!

The animals aren’t always my friends either. I’ve been chased, bitten, bruised and even had a horse munch on my microphone, all in the pursuit of gathering 100% pure nature sounds so you can sleep easier or unwind after a tough day to a serenade of nature sounds recorded straight from the source.

My friends and family constantly ask me why I don’t just create nature sound effects (or sfx, in recording industry jargon) in the studio, and avoid the nature recording challenges altogether when I’m creating my nature sound CDs and mp3 downloads.

Sure, I could sit in a recording studio and mix up a bunch of frogs croaking or the wind whistling through a stand of pines in the Nicolet National Forest, and you’d probably never know at the conscious level. But I would know, and your spirit would know. And you wouldn’t rest as easily or be as relaxed when you were through.

If I’ve learned anything over my career, it’s that the human ear can discern even the most subtle differences between sound effects and true authentic nature sounds.  And judging from my many nature sound fans all over the world, I know I’m on the right [sound] track.

That’s why I only have 100% genuine relaxing sounds of nature on my Web site. Your mind, body and spirit will know the difference when you listen to my sounds of nature files, available on both CD and mp3 download formats.

Want to hear true nature sounds for yourself? Just click on any of the Nature Sound covers on the right-hand side of this page, or visit the Nature Sounds section of my main web site.

There are many theories, but based on the feedback received from many nature sound users and my own experience, it boils down to nature providing a repetitive, rhythmic and soothing sound that tends to mask or block out distracting noises, whether internally or externally. Sounds of nature can also evoke a pleasant memory or state of mind that helps you relax.

Think about it…when you hear a thunderstorm with rain, doesn’t it make you feel safe and cozy? Or the gentle lapping of the ocean wave…doesn’t it remind you of a vacation on a golden sand beach, without a care in the world? A rustling wind is a quiet yet steady sound that can remind you of gently swaying trees on a breezy day, blocking out the day-to-day noises of life.

For me personally, nature sounds help me block out the many thoughts running inside my head after I finish a long day at work. Instead of “I got to do this…” and “Don’t forget to call…” keeping me awake at night, I play a nature sound on my mp3 player which helps drown out my thoughts and instead provides a steady sound that magically calms me down, preparing my mind and body for a deep restful sleep.

Click on the Nature Sound covers on the right side of this page. What’s your favorite nature sound and why? Let us know!

After doing some research to find a great river location that was close enough to get to in a day’s drive, I loaded up the van with recording equipment and, in the middle of the night I left for the northeast section of Florida near White Springs, Florida. At sunrise, I pulled into Big Shoals State Park to record river souns along the banks of the beautiful Suwannee River. (Yes, the same Suwannee River made famous by songwriter Stephen Foster!)

Upon arriving, I spent most of the early morning walking around the park and trails trying to find the perfect location that had enough “white water” to produce the white noise sound I wanted, as well as give me access near the water’s edge but yet far enough away from “people” noise to get a clean pure recording. My searching paid off and I found the most amazing perfect spot, a gentle curve in the river with just enough white water to make the white noise water sound yet to gentle enough to be relaxing and soothing. So I hiked back to the van to get all the recording equipment and take it back to “my spot.”

I set up all the equipment, positioned the microphones, set the levels, tested, repositioned the mics, made adjustments, re-tested, made more even more adjustments and finally I was ready to record. This was exciting: I was in a great location, the weather was perfect with a light crispness in the air, the sun was shining and the flowing river sounded amazing! And I was finally going to get to use one of the brand new expensive microphones I had invested in, just for this very purpose. This was a good day with lots of promise!

I hit the record button and then settled in for the next five hours on the shore of the gorgeous Suwannee River.  Then I heard it. Was that what I thought it was? Oh no! A plane was headed right overhead and was destined to ruin my perfect river recording. I jumped up, hit pause and waited until the plane and its obnoxious noise had passed by and could no longer be heard.  Then I began to record again.  But it was not the last time a plane tried to squash my attempts of a great recording.  This dance of recording around planes went on all day. 

Later, as the sun began to fade, I finally had to pack it all up and head to the van as the park would be closing at sundown.  My hope was that I had captured enough of the beautiful flowing Suwannee River to make a wonderful white noise river album.  After all, I had been rolling tape for over five hours.

It was almost midnight by the time I got back to the studio and unpacked the equipment.  I was exhausted yet excited, looking forward to getting in the studio the next day to play the raw tape to see if I had indeed achieved my goal.  By this time tomorrow night I could have that perfect white noise river sound I had been chasing. I could even burn it to a CD and try it out tomorrow night at bedtime!

I spent the next day going through the five-hour recording, minute by minute and was unpleasantly surprised to find that there were sounds on the tape that I had not heard when recording.  My new expensive mic was much more sensitive than I had thought.  While it did capture the true dynamics and sonic fidelity of the river, it also captured some birds and insects I did not want in my “pure” recording.  These extra wildlife sounds, if not removed, would be distracting and annoying to someone using the album to fall to sleep…mainly me!  They had to go. It became quite disappointingly clear that I would not be falling asleep that night with my new Relaxing River CD. There was much much work left to do.

Over the next 2 weeks I began to “clean” up the recording, remove birds, insects and any plane noise residue from the raw recording. I was left with about 2 hours of white noise river sound that was clean and usable. I then located the perfect pristine 74-minute section inside the recording for my Relaxing River white noise album. I took this section and touched it up, edited and mastered it for a CD. Then made copies for testing and evaluation purposes and sent them out for my “testers” to try.  After a couple of weeks the reports came back and I had a winner! 

Listen to the calming flowing water sounds of Relaxing River

I still use the Relaxing River for help getting to sleep as well as blocking and masking noise.  I have found it to be especially useful to mask bothersome noises when I am reading.  I have now downloaded the mp3 into my iPod to use when traveling also.

It was a lot of hard work to record, edit and prepare the Relaxing River nature sounds album. But it was so worth it as Relaxing River is a wonderful relaxing and soothing nature sound CD and a great addition to my pure nature sounds collection.

I hope you think so, too and enjoy playing Relaxing River CD or mp3 download for relaxing, sleep, studying and noise masking.