Endel
Endless adaptive atmospheric soundscapes?! Sign me up!
Whether at work, reading, or winding down before bed, I have always enjoyed an ambient soundtrack playing in the background. So over the years, I have collected curated playlists of some of my most preferred ambient artists and tracks. In 2020, I added a lifetime subscription to the Calm app for their collection of soundscapes. And in 2021, I rediscovered Endel, an AI-powered app that creates endless and personalized ambient soundscapes.
Endel appeared on my radar when Apple announced it as the Apple Watch App of the Year for 2020. Though I downloaded it, I never gave the app a fair shake and quickly forgot about it on my device. But a few weeks ago, I opened up the app again and started using it daily. And two weeks in, I can't begin to say enough positive things about the experience so far!
Unlike any other ambient music, the team at Endel claims that their AI model creates real-time soundscapes that adapt to conditions like the amount of natural light, current weather conditions, motion, and heart rate! The algorithm takes all this input and crafts a personalized soundscape for sleep, focus, or relaxation. Though with just two weeks of testing, I'd be lying if I told you I had observed any significantly apparent changes to the soundscape during my various sessions of the app. Notwithstanding, I've found the stream produced by Endel to be delightful and effective for winding down before bed, focusing on work, or relaxing in general. This entire entry was written with the ‘deep work’ scenario playing in the background.
Endel has three primary modes: Relax, Focus, and Sleep, although it's beginning to partner more with artists to marry their signature sounds into the AI model. These efforts have produced an additional sleep mode called 'AI Lullaby' in collaboration with Grimes, and a 'Deeper Focus' mode by Plastikman. Endel states that they continue to work with additional artists to bring more of their work to the platform. And in addition to these five modes, Endel also offers nuanced short-term soundscapes it calls Scenarios that range from 5-120 minutes that provide nuanced soundscapes under themes such as chores, commute, power nap, or deep work.
And if you're into this sort of stuff, Endel makes various claims about the research that goes into their AI-generated soundscapes. They report that their app is backed by studies to show that their soundscapes facilitate sleep & focus, use the Pentatonic scale to create notes found to be physiologically pleasant, and that their soundscapes mirror the body's circadian rhythms throughout a day. I can't verify the degree to which this all matters, though I can give the app high praise for doing a fantastic job of matching the mood I want to have and never generating a playlist that I didn't vibe with.
Endel offers a 7-day trial to experience the app, after which it's available for $5.99/month, $49.99/year, or an $89.99/lifetime subscription (the $89.99 Mac App Store lifetime subscription is cheaper than the $249.99 price on iOS). It's worth noting that a lifetime purchase on the Mac App happens to also unlock the lifetime license on iOS 😉).
Misc:
I haven't used the track specifically to fall asleep with but have used the sleep soundscape in the final 30-40 minutes of my evening when I am winding down for the night.
Endel offers an automatic timer that can be added to any of their endless soundscapes to end the audio after 5-240 minutes.
I'd be lying if I said the idea of listening exclusively to AI-driven audio didn't somehow feel deceitful to the many artists who have crafted some remarkable soundscapes. So to assuage my weird guilt about it all, I still like to balance Endel with some of my favourite artists like Brian Eno, Loscil, Harold Budd, Stars of the Lid, and Max Richter.
