In Her Campus’s series The College Try, our writers test out viral wellness, dating, fashion, productivity, and pop culture trends firsthand. This time, Aleyni Ramos gives falling asleep to color noise the ol’ college try.
I have always had a racing, anxious mind, and as you can probably guess, it usually gets worse at night. Throughout my life, I have gone through various phases of falling asleep to bright, loud videos that can completely drown out my incessant thoughts — ranging from Impractical Jokers compilations at such a high volume that my mom could hear the laughter from her room to watching Ryan Trahan’s “I crossed America with $0.01” every night on repeat.
Sometimes, though, I’ve had to push through the discomfort while sharing rooms with my family, friends, or boyfriend, who, unlike me, all go to sleep in complete darkness. Although getting used to the darkness in each new (potentially haunted) room was difficult, I did notice I slept better.
So, you would think I decided to try just turning off the TV in my bedroom at home, right? Wrong. Instead, this realization led me toward even crazier sleep habits where I slept with my TV on, a YouTube video in front of me, AirPods in at a decent volume, and a sleeping mask on to keep out the light I was adding for safety. (I admit this sounds kind of overkill, but it works for me!)
Recently, after learning about the different kinds of noise colors, I decided to finally try something new to improve my sleep habits. For a week, I tried falling asleep to the seven different noise colors — including the ones not advised for sleep — and surprisingly, I think some of them genuinely made a difference.
While using white noise to fall asleep is a well-known technique, I had never heard of pink noise, blue noise, green noise, or any of the others. These colored noises, including white noise, get their colored names the same way colors do in the light spectrum, through different combinations of frequencies. According to BetterSleep, “each color of noise represents a different combination of frequencies and volumes along the spectrum of sound.” So, when someone says “colored noise,” it basically describes a sound that has a specific frequency pattern — so naming it after colors helps sleep experts visualize and remember those patterns easily.
So, after finding 10-hour compilations of each noise color on YouTube (most with a black screen, to my genuine dismay), and figuring out what the frequency was supposed to sound like to ensure it wasn’t clickbait, I finally committed to trying them all out.
Night 1: White Noise
I figured that white noise would be the easiest transition into color noise, since it was the most popular, so I chose to start here. White noise contains all audible frequencies at equal levels, much like the background noise of a fan or air conditioner. While I expected to have a ton of trouble falling asleep, I put in my AirPods, sleeping mask, focused on a prayer, and was asleep so quickly I didn’t finish it. Falling asleep that fast is practically unheard of for me. So when I woke up feeling well-rested, I was genuinely surprised and excited to try pink noise.
Night 2: Pink Noise
Pink noise is also helpful for getting a good night’s rest and makes the lower frequencies louder than the mid- to high-level frequencies. This noise sounds most like steady rain or waves crashing on a beach. Once again, I fell asleep quickly and woke up feeling rested, though not as well rested as I had been with the white noise. Many factors could have gone into this difference, but considering how quickly I fell asleep, I would still argue that the pink noise genuinely improved my sleep quality.
Night 3: Brown Noise
I don’t know why, but this is one of the colors I was most excited to try. Brown noise, also known as red noise, emphasizes low frequencies and makes high frequencies much less audible than they were with pink or white noise. This color sounds most similar to thunder or a crackling fire. As you could probably expect by now, I fell asleep quickly, imagining the brown noise was the sound of a calming, cozy, crackling fireplace. That morning, though, I wasn’t sure there was a real difference in how rested I felt compared to after using pink noise. Still, I was sure I preferred the sound of brown noise over pink noise.
Night 4: Green Noise
With green being one of my favorite colors (I can’t pick; I’m just a girl), I was looking forward to sleeping with this noise color. Green noise emphasizes mid-range frequencies, while the high and low frequencies are barely heard, making it sound like heavy rain or driving. Immersing myself in my imagination as the sound mimicked the sound of rain, I fell asleep quickly and woke up feeling just as rested. I would rank this color noise in my top three, right alongside white and brown.
Night 5: Blue Noise
This was the hardest color to find a consistent sound for, as some YouTube videos played much lower or higher frequencies and still called it blue noise. Blue noise is recommended more for improving concentration and alertness while working than for sleep, and it makes higher frequencies more pronounced than lower ones. It sounds most like a hissing hose or a computer fan, and because of that higher-pitched noise, I had a slightly harder time falling asleep.
Still, it put me to sleep quicker than the usual YouTube video, even though it wasn’t a sound meant for sleep. Upon waking up, I realized I’d slept through my alarm and was late for work, so I couldn’t analyze how I felt. However, I did jump out of bed and get to work rather quickly. While that was likely due to pure adrenaline and the stress of being late, maybe the hours of blue noise improved my alertness during that sprint to work. Who knows?
Night 6: Violet Noise
I had been dreading this color all week. Having used it to study earlier in the week, as it is supposed to help with studying by improving focus and memory, I finished the study session with a buzzing feeling in my head, which I learned was normal when listening to violet noise for prolonged periods. Violet noise sounds like a high-pitched sizzle or a running faucet, emphasizing only high frequencies, which is why it is sometimes used to treat tinnitus. While I was still able to fall asleep to it, I had to set it at a much lower volume. When I woke up at around 6:00 a.m. to it still playing, I was extremely irritated by it and quickly turned it off. I would recommend this noise for studying, but it is definitely at the bottom of my list for sleep.
Night 7: Grey Noise
Last but not least, grey noise, which was honestly anticlimactic. Grey noise sounds like TV or radio static, but emphasizes the low and high frequencies more and the mid-range frequencies less, making it sound more balanced. I didn’t hate this noise like I did violet noise, but, for me, the static sound reminded me of The Ring, which was anything but calming. Still, I fell asleep to it relatively quickly and woke up feeling about as rested as I had with blue noise. I would only rank this noise above violet, and I just can’t stop seeing grey noise as the annoying little brother to white noise. So, while it wasn’t terrible by any means, I personally wouldn’t use it for sleep again.
After trying all of the seven color noises, I’m honestly surprised and happy to say that some of them improved my sleep. I was even able to romanticize it by imagining scenarios with what each noise sounded most similar to (except for grey noise, obviously, there is nothing cute and cozy about The Ring). Still, everyone’s bodies and sleep needs are different, and the only way to thoroughly find out what works for you is to try it out. Even if you hate it, at least you can say you tried. Although I’m not sure I’m ready to ditch the TV light and sound yet, I am 100% sure this won’t be my last time falling asleep to color noises.
