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Make your home sound like a real office during coronavirus quarantine

Interactive noise generator Calm Office lets you bring the familiar sounds of work into your home.

Leslie Katz Former Culture Editor
Leslie Katz led a team that explored the intersection of tech and culture, plus all manner of awe-inspiring science, from space to AI and archaeology. When she's not smithing words, she's probably playing online word games, tending to her garden or referring to herself in the third person.
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  • Third place film critic, 2021 LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
Leslie Katz
2 min read
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Working from home full time means adjusting to a whole new set of sounds. 

Angela Lang/CNET

If you're used to a work soundtrack of printers, clacking keyboards and chatty co-workers, working at home during the coronavirus quarantine might feel extra strange. 

A new interactive background noise generator called Calm Office lets you replicate typical office sounds like copy machines, printers, air conditioners and other humans (remember those?) with sliding bars that let you mix and match audio streams. You can, for example, just turn up the keyboard or talkative-colleague sounds, or mix them together and toss in some scanners and office clocks for the full cacophony. 

There are also preset combinations, like "break time," "the late hours" and "geeks at work," which is just a lot of typing over the sound of air conditioning. Sorry, no background debates on Star Wars versus Star Trek going on in that one. 

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Engineer Stéphane Pigeon records all the sounds on MyNoise.net. 

Stéphane Pigeon

The Calm Office sound generator is a new addition to MyNoise.net, an extensive collection of background noises and interactive soundscapes that range from rain, thunder, ocean waves and Gregorian chants to cities around the world. MyNoise is also available as free iOS and Android apps. 

Calm Office is, of course, particularly applicable now with so many people worldwide working from home. 

"Most people want to cover their open-office sound, with more beautiful and less intrusive sounds, not generate open office sounds," creator Stéphane Pigeon, a Belgian engineer and sound designer, told me. "But now, I understand why some people actually like these sounds." 

The testimonials indicate the sounds are falling on appreciative ears. 

"I still commute to the office since our company is considered an essential business in my city. So you can imagine how quiet the normally active office is right now," one wrote. "This generator has helped out in so many ways." 

Wrote another: "This is so comforting, especially in these times of isolation," one wrote. "I miss the busy hoppy feeling of my colleagues around me, and the energy of a group of people doing work they enjoy. I hope things get back to normal soon."  

Our new reality now that coronavirus has sent the world online

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