Mechanical

Diesel Engine

Full brown noise chopped into a 1.4-second throb, like a big engine idling nearby

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

About This Sound

Diesel Engine is the heavy, chugging idle of a lorry or a fishing boat, felt as much as heard. The throb is quick enough to read as a motor turning over, and the brown color keeps it entirely in the low end with no hiss, so it sits like a vibration in the room.

The color is full brown at 4. A very short envelope loop attacks in 0.1 seconds, decays over 0.2 to an 80 percent sustain, holds for 0.8 seconds and releases in 0.3, for a cycle of 1.4 seconds. A triangle pulse at 1.4 Hz is locked to the same rate, sharpening the chug. Grey EQ is off.

This is a niche pick for people who sleep well on boats or in trucks, and for sound design. Furnace is a slower, roaring relative at 3.7, and Electric Hum is the brighter, faster buzz of mains electricity at 3.2. Use it at low volume if you want the vibration without the noise dominating the room.

Best Used For

Try this: Lower the pulse to 0.9 Hz and lengthen the duration to 1.2 seconds for a slower, older engine.

Technical Details

Noise Color
Brown (4)
Envelope
0.1s in, hold 0.8s, 0.3s out (1.4s cycle)
Modulation
1.4 Hz triangle (1.4 cycles per second)