Custom Sounds of Nature Lite
by Eric March on November 1, 2008 at 6:57 pm
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App Name: Custom Sounds of Nature Lite
Developer: Zachary Carter
Category: Health & Fitness
One guaranteed aphorism when it comes to software is that the easier an app is to write, the more of them will eventually turn up, especially if one of them becomes popular. Audio relaxation apps, being essentially nothing more than incredibly simple sound boards, are no exception — in fact, the hardest part is not the code, but finding/creating good samples and looping them seamlessly.
White Noise, the original, did it pretty good, though some of the loops were too short, but for the most part it was well done and provided a nice, relatively sizeable array of sounds by which to chill. So here we have the latest in a run of competitors, this time from Zachary Carter, who has been milking the genre pretty good, given that this is his third entry into the genre, succeeding Custom Sounds of Life, Beach Paradise, and a self-hypnosis thing which I’ll be getting to later.
Where Custom Sounds of Nature taps the others on the shoulder and politely asks them to step aside is the “custom” part of its name. Sounds are grouped into complimentary themes and can then be modified according to which elements you like.
This lite version for example features two themes. The first, Calm Ocean (referred to as “Beach Ambience” in the app description), groups ocean waves lapping up to the beach, seagull calling out, wind chimes, and a foghorn together. Mountain Stream (referred to in the description as just “Stream”) on the other hand gives you a burbling stream paired with bullfrogs, forest birds and day crickets. Each element of each theme can be turned on or off as you like, and their individual volumes can be adjusted in case one or more sounds is too loud or too quiet.
As much as I do like White Noise, I must admit that this is a really good idea, giving you a completely custom relaxation experience based on your audio preferences for each theme. The full version adds three more themes to the mix: Thunderstorm (soft or hard rain, thunder, and wind), Evening Outside the Forest (crickets and other bugs, small bonfire, cicadas, and an owl) and Tropical Rainforest (Rainforest birds, distant monkeys, and a large or small waterfall). Two more themes are planned for future verisons: Underwater Ocean (whale song, dolphins, rolling waves, and underwater ambience) and Animal Mixes (wolves, squirrels, morning rooster, and chickens).
Overall I think this is a great concept, but really needs more themes, and maybe slightly longer loops in some cases. (The loop point for the seagulls in Calm Ocean, for example, is very noticeable.) I’m sure more themes are coming with time, and I’d love to see dozens of themes made available — though for a measly buck for the full version I guess I can’t go expecting a whole lot, can I?
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