Focus, relax, sleep: The science of sound and music

Ever noticed how music can change your mood or trigger a memory? Well, science shows it can do a lot more! Sound has a profound impact on us, affecting basic physiological responses, like heart rate and blood pressure, as well as concentration, and sleep quality.

Put on your lab coat, and let’s deep-dive into the science!

Endel takes the scientific understanding of sound and brings it to you using patented AI technology.

The result is real-time, personalized soundscapes, designed to help you focus, sleep, and relax.

Focus

Endel’s Focus soundscapes support your productivity throughout the day, adjusting to your energy levels in its sound character and intensity. It’s designed to keep you feeling, calm, concentrated, and in a state of flow.

Steady beat, steady mind

The effects of beats on humans has been utilized for centuries, but now there’s scientific data³ that proves that a regular beat can help humans to concentrate for prolonged periods of time. It’s also the basis for all of Endel’s productivity soundscapes.

Stimulating, but never distracting

Endel Focus is designed to shift your mind into a state of focus. While regular music can be distracting, Endel uses carefully balanced arrangements that stimulate concentration without pulling you away from the task at hand.

Following your productivity cycles

Humans aren’t meant to work non-stop. Your body’s energy cycle, known as the Circadian Rhythm, naturally waves between periods of productivity and rest. Endel supports this with evolving sound intensity, depending on your current energy cycle.

Finding your ‘Flow State’

Flow is a concept introduced by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, psychologist and author of best-selling book ‘Flow’. He defined Flow as a state of mind in which a person is fully absorbed in and focused on an activity, leading to increased creativity, productivity, and well-being.

It is the calm, focused state of mind familiar to ballerinas, scientists, potters, and all of us who get carried away while doing our thing.

Endel’s Focus soundscape has been designed with the Flow concept as its backbone, based on the ideas of Dr. Csikszentmihalyi.

Personalized sounds beat playlists and silence

Endel’s Focus soundscape has been scientifically validated⁴ with a peer-reviewed study in 2022. It conclusively showed that Focus allows for and ×7 better, more consistent focus than productivity music playlists and working in silence.

The study, conducted by Arctop, measured participants engagement with a range of activities using cutting-edge brainwave-scanning technology. It compared their focus level with activities such as working, reading, or watching a video. It found that listening to personalized soundscapes while working increased concentration, compared with focus-themed playlists or silence.

Focusing with ADD/ADHD

Sound has been shown to be an effective tool in managing symptoms of Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD)⁵. Endel’s unique soundscapes can help people focus and reduce distractions. It is non-invasive, and has no known side effects, making it an appealing alternative for those seeking to manage their ADD/ADHD symptoms.

We’re open to collaboration with scientific institutions who can help us gather scientific data on how Endel’s Focus help mitigate the symptoms of ADD/ADHD.

Please drop us a line if you’re interested in involving Endel in your ADD/ADHD-related research.

People living with ADD/ADHD confirm that Endel has improved their quality of life

Dr RTL
★★★★★
Most Frequently Used App
As a professor, an author, and a consultant, maintaining balance and focus are key to me. A full night sleeping is pretty important, too. I find myself using this app multiple times throughout the day to help with my productivity and at night to help with peaceful sleeping. It has become an critical component for helping maintain my productivity levels.
Dakoda88
★★★★★
I have never write a review and felt compelled to tell you this app is incredible. After the first two nights of sleeping with Endel I woke up more calm and remained that way for a lot of the day. The hibernation setting is great for chilling at night before bed. Then switch to the sleep setting. It is really weird to me that this is able to have such an impact on my actual life just using sound. 🤩
wanbunga
★★★★★
Helps with my ADHD brain and insomnia
All I can say is - wow. I used the app for the first time last night after really struggling to sleep, saw the ad and downloaded it (I usually ignore ads but for some reason the ad on this app really caught my pique). I love how minimal but unique the application is. The moving patterns are beautiful as well. I managed to sleep immediately yesterday and I actually played it throughout the night and had a wonderful night sleep. It helped calm my racing thoughts at night and I was surprised at how easy it was to fall asleep.
Svtton W
★★★★★
Highly skeptical, made me a believer
I am highly skeptical of anything making claims like this app does, but I tried it and I'm actually blown away to the point where I HAD to leave a review, which I almost never do. I thought best case scenario it may help with my sleep but I was sure it would be minimal or the difference wouldn't be noticeable, but both me and my girl have used it falling asleep for a couple nights in a row now, and all I can say is wow. Fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, wake up feeling GREAT, and the difference we have felt is truly measurable and more than noticeable, it's profound. Well done
Grzgrzgrx
★★★★★
It's like your drawn to sleep by some magical spell, that you cannot resist.
Dakoda88
★★★★★
After the first two nights of sleeping with Endel I woke up more calm and remained that way for a lot of the day.
bookworm101254
★★★★★
What's wrong with it?
I have always had a hard time sleeping, and with me being anemic it makes it harder, and the first time I tried this I had such a good night of sleep! I woke up even before my alarm! I recommend it to anyone and everyone! This app works miracles!
biz/study-guy
★★★★★
Perfect sleep sound
The sleep sound is perfect. Sleep sounds never work for me, they always end up being more of a distraction. This however is perfect. It starts with a gentle tune to que your brain to relax then proceeds to a very soft white noise—loud enough to break the silence but quiet enough that you don't notice it. It's quite remarkable. My seven year old daughter also sleeps better with this. I highly recommend it for this feature alone. But the Move soundscape is also quite incredible—great for walks when you need to get yourself grounded and centered.
Vonnie&elissaMyfamilyis
★★★★★
I have major Sleeping issues but I got Endel. It really helps Me a lot!

Sleep

Created in collaboration with SleepScore Labs and Dr. Roy Raymann, Endel’s Sleep sounds are scientifically designed to support you through all the phases of sleep.

Winding down

In order for your body to rest, the parasympathetic nervous system⁶ needs to be activated. Endel’s Wind Down soundscape, co-created with James Blake, is specifically designed to lower your cortisol levels and prepare you for bedtime.

Sleep activation

If you’ve ever suffered from insomnia, or even just had a sleepless night, you’ll know how the precise moment of transitioning to sleep can be a problem. To help, Endel’s Sleep soundscape uses a Pavlovian-like sound effect⁷ to send a go-to-bed message to your brain, making falling asleep easier with regular use.

Drifting off

This is where your body enters the state of sleep. Endel supports this phase with sleep-inducing sounds of rolling waves that smoothly guide you to deep sleep⁸. This phase is called “sleep onset”, and it lasts about 30 minutes, around the average time that it takes humans to fall asleep⁹.

Deep sleep

This is where your body truly rests. It’s essential to reach this phase, and stay undisturbed, in order to feel fully rested the next day. Endel keeps you in this state using colored noises that promote better sleep¹⁰ and filter out external sounds that might disturb you. The latter effect is known as ‘sound masking’¹¹.

Researching the power of sleep sounds

In 2023 Endel’s Sleep is being used in a research on the sleep-promoting properties of sound, commissioned by Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS), the European Commission's research and innovation initiative.

Relax

The ethereal, ambient sounds of Relax are beautifully restorative – and there’s science¹² behind that, too. It’s designed to help you to slow down and feel grounded.

Winding down

What you do before bedtime is just as important as when you’re in bed. In order for your body to rest, the parasympathetic nervous system⁶ needs to be activated. Endel’s Wind Down soundscape, co-created with James Blake, is specifically designed to lower your cortisol levels and prepare you for bedtime.

Simple sounds for complex minds

Endel’s Relax soundscapes make use of simple sound structures that are easy for your brain to process. This helps to detangling your mind from the stresses of the day, reduce brain fatigue, and lower cortisol levels¹³.

Relaxing, naturally

Many of Endel’s soundscapes for relaxation draw from the calming presence of nature¹⁴. These natural sounds are scientifically proven to have a calming effect¹⁵, help evoke specific feelings of cozy. This effect is likely a product of these sounds being wired to our past experiences and memories.

Unlike music, Endel is designed to restore, not entertain. No artistic statement here, just an endlessly adapting backdrop to better your mental state.

Underpinned by the science of biological rhythms

Circadian rhythms are our internal 24-hour biological clocks¹⁸ that regulate processes in the body, including sleep, mood, and alertness.

Disruptions to our circadian rhythms, such as those caused by work schedules, travel, or exposure to artificial light¹⁹, can have negative impacts on our well-being²⁰, including increased stress, insomnia, and decreased productivity.

Endel soundscapes are designed to realign your cycles of rest and productivity to your circadian rhythm.

Generated in real time

All Endel sounds are generated using our proprietary, patented AI engine — Endel Pacific. This is how we get our soundscapes to be personalized to your inputs at all times, and endless — always there for you without disruption.