iphone + sound machine = blade runner

Pictured above, Deckard swipes his iPhone and orders some Chinese.  Now you can use your precious iDevice to immerse yourself in the world of Blade Runner with an app called Sleep Machine, a neat little program meant to help you sleep by generating ambient sounds like wind, rain, surf and crickets.  Now that’s great if you want to pretend you live out in the middle of nowhere, but can it relax the futuristic city dweller, looking to close his eyes and get lost in the soothing sounds of a dark, yet shimmering urban landscape?

Of course it can!

Dream Machine’s key feature is its ability to download and mix three simultaneous sounds, allowing the user to become their own “ambient noise DJ.”  For example, by choosing the aforementioned wind, surf and crickets – and then independently adjusting the volume of all three – you can dial in the perfect beachside mix.

But one of the sounds, “Reflection,” stood out like a sore thumb; it’s not a sound effect at all, but a loop of soothing, electronic, ambient music that was clearly created by someone with a penchant for Sushi and Spinners.  Once I heard that, the rest was elementary – blend in a healthy dose of rain and a pinch of wind chimes and voila – instant Blade Runner. 

Or at least a convincing recreation that will loop and play forever (well, until your battery runs out anyway).

Here is a screen shot of the app with my settings for the sounds Reflection, Wind Chime and Rain (Heavy).  These and many others are included with the lite (aka free) version of Sleep Machine, which is really all you need (although if you’re an ambient noise geek you can pay to upgrade and get more sounds and more options).

No, they aren’t sponsoring the blog – but it’s a great app and I have fallen asleep listening to my Blade Runner settings on more nights than I care to admit. 

So please – check it out, let us know what you think and share any cool setting you come up with!