Experimental

Cicadas

Blue-white noise buzzing at 8 Hz through resonant peaks at 4, 5 and 6 kHz

Preview plays right here. The generator adds a sleep timer, full controls, and WAV export.

About This Sound

Cicadas is a hot afternoon in a dry field: a shrill, pulsing insect chorus that seems to come from every tree at once. The resonant filters give it a whistling, tonal edge and the fast tremolo makes it shimmer, so it reads as living creatures rather than a machine.

The color is 1.5, between blue and white. Three resonant bandpass filters at 4000, 5000 and 6000 Hz with a Q of 8 and a 50 percent mix ring the noise into a bright insect-like tone. A sine pulse at 8 Hz throbs the level eight times a second for the buzz. The fade-in is three seconds and there is no envelope loop.

It is popular for summer atmosphere and for people who grew up with the sound. Wind Chimes in the textured category uses resonant filters on a similar color but at musical pitches with a slow envelope, and Mountain Wind is the same brightness without the tonal ring.

Best Used For

Try this: Lower the pulse to 5 Hz and raise the filter Q to 12 for a slower, more piercing species.

Technical Details

Noise Color
Blue (1.50 on the 0–4 scale)
Fade In
3 seconds
Modulation
8 Hz sine (8 cycles per second)
Resonant Filter
4000, 5000, 6000 Hz, Q 8, 50% mix