White sound is low volume electronically created sound or radio sound of equal intensity over a wide range of the spectrum.
The adjective "white" is used to describe this type of sound because of the same way white light works. White light is made up of all of the different colours (frequencies) of light combined together (a prism or a rainbow separates white light back into its component colours). In the same way, white sound or white noise is a combination of all of the different frequencies of the sound spectrum. You can think of white sound as 20,000 tones all playing at the same time.
White sound contains all frequencies across the spectrum; it is frequently used to hide other sounds and ambient sound. For example if you are in your home and voices from next-door are leaking through into your house or room, you could turn on a fan to drown out the voices. When you look at your television and it is not tuned into a specific station or when the analogue signal goes off air you are looking at the visualization of white sound.
The application of white sound.
White sound has a number of applications from medicinal and safety, Suffers of tinnitus and other ear problems often use white sound machines to ease their discomfort an re-sensitize their ears.
Our white sound reversing alarms (click here for an example) are easily locatable and are directed at a specific area, aimed directly behind the reversing vehicle making the outdoor working environments safer and a more pleasant place to work, with less sound pollution inflicted on the surrounding areas. The broadband sound it emits dampens the surrounding noises making the alarm sound easier to locate. White sound can also be used to mask other unpleasant sounds in working environments for example.
White sound has also been used in a sensory deprivation capacity for torture and interrogation by various governments by depriving the suspect of all ambient and background sound.
You may also have heard the term used in conjunction with the near death phenomena or EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena), two major motion pictures have been made White Noise and White Noise II – The light where an individual communicates with the dead through white sound and white light.
