audiosampling

Hi HN — I'm Stéphane, the maker of BidWix (and myNoise, if that rings a bell).

I'm a sound designer. For years, I've licensed sounds and music to people whose budgets I couldn't see. You send a quote, close the laptop, and spend the next hour wondering: was that embarrassingly low, or did I just kill the deal? The core problem is simple: when there's no market price — think a logo, a photo license, a domain name — neither side wants to go first. So both bluff, both guess, and the final price often has nothing to do with what would have been fair.

BidWix fixes this with a sealed-bid mechanism. Both sides submit their honest number in secret. If there's overlap, the deal price is the geometric mean of the two — the point where both sides gain by the same proportional factor. If there's no overlap, no deal, no hard feelings.

If the seller's floor is $100 and the buyer's ceiling is $900, the geometric mean gives $300: both sides gained by a factor of 3.

The mechanism is also incentive-compatible: since you only get one shot and never see the other side's number, your best move is to submit your true boundary. Bluffing can only cost you the deal.

It's free, no account needed, and intentionally minimal. Happy to discuss the game theory, the geometric mean choice, or anything else.

Noise cancelling headphones still have a residual noise, that you will hear, because our hearing has an incredible dynamic range. Adding a faint background noise of your choice, to cover that residual noise, is a good idea.

Then, these crafted noises do exist because of the exact nature of the life around you. For many people, the "life around you" is what they want to escape, exactly.

Exactly. Plus, creating your own "audible" comfort zone, is very tricky. A given sound that some people like, e.g. frogs in a nature soundscape, can be the sound other dislike, or are even afraid of. Offering level control over every audible elements in a soundscape is very important, and not available on YouTube.

Thanks for the kind mention!

I am Stephane, the person behind that website/project. I see a lot of people having concerns about the title - Background Sound Canceller - and they are right. That title is not mine, but poster's own.

I describe my project as "Background Noise Generators", or sometimes as as "Non-Distracting Noises and Music".

They are not sound cancellers but sound maskers.

The idea is to create a noise you like, to mask a sound that you don't want to hear. Your colleagues, tinnitus, ... anything.

Because these noise generators are designed to be non-distracting, there is a big chance that your brain will not even hear them after a couple of minutes... but they will keep masking the nuisance you wanted to het rid of in the first place. That is the magic exploited by the project. Create these sonic "focus bubbles".

Happy listening.

The myNoise pub is actually already open : https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/jazzBarNoiseGenerator.php

I did the same thing, a week-ago. The interface may be more spartan; all the efforts have been put in the sounds themselves. These sounds have been carefully designed to put the listener in the focus zone, for those who associate the noise of their office with focus (everyone is different; most people actually want to block open office sounds... but a minority is actually missing them, when their environment is too quiet).

Here is how it sounds like on myNoise : https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/openOfficeNoiseGenerator.p...

I wish I had access to a CS-80! Tough I understand what you mean, the thinning is also due to EQing, as each slider must provide room for the others in the mix (so they each are equalized, similar to mastering). So, it was deliberate from me. The middle slider, for example, is anything but thin : https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/november2019SoundscapeGene...

Iconic movie Blade Runner (1984) takes place in a dystopian future which was imagined to have happened by November 2019. So, I had the plan to come with a sonic tribute on that date. And here we are. You can play with the varied tracks - even animate the sliders. Among others, you will be able to recreate the mood of the opening scene in the original movie, and classic Vangelis moods. As the different stems loop with different timings, the whole creates ever changing variations. The iconic Yamaha CS-80 sounds have been recreated using the modern Moog One - an all-analog synthesiser too. This soundscape goes really low in frequency, good headphones or a subwoofer, are highly recommended. Enjoy!

Composite generators are web specials at the moment, but as soon as the mobile app developer - who reads us here on hacker news, I am sure - finished struggling with the Android app, he will probably implement these composite generators on the mobile apps too. It shouldn't be too difficult, it's more a data parsing issue, than actual programming.

November 2019 is the goal, of course!

Each platform is independent and tries to fund itself. If I was working/forcing subscriptions, it would be different; I would likely offer a universal access to subscribers. Currently, each platform is friendly priced. On the web, users donate what they want; on mobiles, price is fixed around USD 10 for a lifetime access to all sound generators, current and future (currently 200+). The difference is that I program the web myself and it is my responsibility to live from donations. Mobile apps are subcontracted to a professional coder, hence the difference in models. I know, it is not easy to understand, when you don't know where the project comes from. I can understand your frustration. Feel free to send an email to me if this answer leaves you unsatisfied.

Yes, there is that Deckard's Dream project that already exists; Yamaha is also considering making a modern re-issue of the CS-80, and so does Behringer. Any good analog synth with with two filters in series per voice - a high-pass and low-pass modulated by the same envelope - can come quite close to the CS-80 (though purists will say it won't). Here where I am at the moment : https://soundcloud.com/audiosampling-1/november-2019-is-comi...

Well spotted! If you read the introductory text on that one, it is meant as a teaser for the upcoming one. The difference is that 'Electric Sheep' is made of sound sources taken from other myNoise generators, while the upcoming one will come with its own original sources.

Very nice diversion (with a great sound quality). BTW, if you like that Gregorian song, here with individual sliders control : https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/gregorianChoirGenerator.ph...

The creator of the website here. Thanks for your kind comments! Just wanted to add that I am currently working on a tribute to the original Blade Runner soundtrack... as the action of that movie takes place in November 2019 (!) Now re-creating the sound of the legendary Yamaha CS-80 (played by Vangelis) by programming varied analog synthesizers (I do not own a CS-80). Stay tuned!

Meow-generator when the last slider is set to Meow-y ;-)

iOS requires a touch on the screen to start playing a sound source.

Makes sense. Trying to mask an acoustic signature around 50-60Hz, by using a sound that ressembles to a whale.

Here is my take on dithering, with online demos : http://www.audiocheck.net/audiotests_dithering.php (still 8-bit though, because at 16-bit, it is barely noticeable, and it won't serve educational purposes very well)

Amen! (Disclaimer, I am the person running AudioCheck.net)

Small : http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/fanNoiseGenerator.php

Big : http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/dataCenterNoiseGenerator.ph...

;-)

It was not about getting the cats close to my microphones, but getting the microphone close to the cats :D

To serve as a noise blocking white noise machine (that is the main use of the site) but only with natural sounds, this one is my favourite (try with the Animate feature) : http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/windSeaRainNoiseGenerator.p...

In general, all the latest ones have my preference, as I am perfecting my skills, day by day. I am quite happy with the last one added two weeks ago: http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/circularBreathSoundscapeGen...

Check this one if you like sung voices: http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/himalayanVoicesSongGenerato...

Based on real recordings, but with a lot of processing.

Yes, in the works. Maybe its dev will show up here little later today...

I agree with you, it doesn't sound as real as I wished it to be. Cat Purr was a request of many early myNoise users. At beginning, I kept explaining all the reasons why the myNoise sound player was not designed for playing a cat purr (it was initially designed to play random-phase and flat spectrum noises such as white noise and rain) and why I wouldn't implement a cat purr. Then, I gave up and programmed it, just to stop people asking :D It is not the myNoise sound I am the most proud of, but it seems that people like it (or the concept).

Dev here. So surprised to hear my cat purring a lot this morning, and then realised it was featured on HN today! :) To celebrate this, the Cat Purr IAP on myNoise's iOS App has been set to Tier 0, so you can all enjoy the same sound on your iOS device for free as well! (https://itunes.apple.com/be/app/mynoise/id813099896?mt=8)

I have just reduced the level of the underlying white noise that plays along the rain samples. Please try again. Hit the television icon to increase the level of that white noise.

But please understand this is a white noise machine too. The rain sounds that have been selected - especially the heavier rain sounds - do include a high level of white noise, naturally.

Dev here! What a surprise - and honour - to find my website featured here, this morning.

I just want to add a comment: because the sounds are drawn randomly, everyone hears something different! So, comments like "it does sounds more like a brook" may be right, but just for one particular user, and particular occurence.

Today, the average visit duration time is about 30s... and it takes my engine about that same time to evolve from one sound to another. If you think that you are not hearing something that does sound like rain to you, either reload the page (it will start all over again with a new draw) or give the generator a longer listen, like two minutes (I know, this is a lot of time, on the Internet). Then, you will understand why this rain noise generator is different from others. It really shines over longer listening sessions.

How it works? Basically, I have sounds in four categories: Light Rain, Heavy Rain, Thunder, and Water sounds (like those occurring once the rain has stopped). The generator starts by choosing one of these categories (with higher probabilities for the rain, but sometimes, it can start with the water sounds - hence that user comment). For each category, there are dozens of different recordings. So, even if you keep playing rain from the same category, it will keep changing. Staying in the same category or switching to another is governed by a very simple transition probabilities matrix.

Also, you can change the spectrum of the rain (white/pink/brown) by means of the pencil (this setting affects the next draws, so its effect is not instantaneous). Being able to change the color of a natural noise, is an interesting feature, IMHO.

Cheers,

Stéphane

Nice find. I put a lot of efforts, indeed. But I can't take it bad when pros like you are finding workarounds, to make the generator play despite of my poor coded restrictions. I know that you are the same people that are contributing anyway, once you have realised the amount of work behind the scenes. FYI, all generators turn public after a while. Including the Star Trek one. Unfortunately (for me), the link has been shared a bit to early. I may reconsider displaying such a message. Because, I totally agree, it is very frustrating for someone who doesn't know the site, and hit such a page as an entry page. He probably will go right away, without noticing that 90% of the generators are already available to him, for free.