Wake up the Secret Agent sleeping in you!
Short wave radio transmissions are used by spy networks, among others. These particular radio waves reflect from the ionosphere, travel and reach the entire world, making it difficult to localize their source. The receivers that are used to listen to these transmissions are widely available too: these are the little analog 'world receivers' that were in use not such a long time ago, before the advent of internet radios. Their inconspicuous appearance allows them to be owned without betraying your
belonging to a spy network.
The so-called Number Stations transmit codes agents abroad. Deciphering keys are transmitted either as spoken numbers, words, or Morse code-like pulses. Number Station frequencies are always changing, and transmission schedules are unknown. It requires patience to discover one of them during activity, although collaborative sites such as Priyom.org make this task easier.
I would like to thank myNoise user Christian Brown (@PriusPilot), who spent a lot of time collecting the communications heard in this soundscape! All recordings are genuine transmissions, that went into the air around the second half of 2014.
Purists may wonder why this soundscape has been made stereophonic, when the original transmissions are monaural. Not only does it sound cooler, but invites you to experience what military radio operators from counter-intelligence are hearing when monitoring multiple communications simultaneously. Stereo-spreading techniques are used to improve intelligibility and reduce fatigue.
Published by Stéphane on February 3rd, 2015
User Stories
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Haha! This is brilliant. Hooked it up to my rig, scared a few kids off their walkie talkies. Well done!
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LJUBLJANA
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7624
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This and Code Breaker go so well together!
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Listening to radio chatter is very comforting, and makes me feel more productive. I love the heck out of this generator. This plus Flying Fortress' ATC Comms are my go to generators.
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Numbers stations are oddly cozy for me, even tho most people find them creepy. For this generatorI like to zero the 4th through 10th sliders and use sq0 animation, it's like curiously turning the dial.
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When you try to calculate numbers that are far beyond than your bad calculator.
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The little red fox.
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My custom noise helps me create sneak peeks for players in my roleplay community to decode.
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TF2 intel room.
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Hello, if you decoded this then it means that you are smart enough to talk to me. Otherwise please leave a message at the corresponding email.
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It helps put my mind off things, despite the sound being very creepy, and it's really fun to try to listen to find out what the codes are. It also is interesting to listen to multiple voices at once without getting distracted as much I used too! (I may be a secret spy who knows)
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I don't know why but the noises remind me of the animatronic noises from FNAF :D. It's weirdly calming for me. This is an amazing noise generator. thank you for this.
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I am a radio nerd, and these sounds beautifully express the magic that is radio; layered, enigmatic, a sense that something is "out there" riding the radio waves, but just out of reach. Love it.
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Since I was a little kid I loved the cool noises that a shortwave radio made. And I used keep logs of frequencies of cools noises and stations. I revisited them around a week ago to find out that 90% of them stopped broadcasting. I genuinely love this.
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This generator is perfect for when I'm trying to work in a place with a lot of talking! For some reason all the overlapping voices in it make everything just background noise, and as a bonus I feel like a cool spy.
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This is a great noise when paired with Warp Speed: it makes you feel like you are living on a spaceship!
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Best spy simulator ever after that Sim Spy game.
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Listening to this generator brings back good memories of recording these sounds... It's always strange to hear the occasional sound that I recognize! My favorite is E07. This is a good mix of number stations and data sounds that mixes well with the Spaceship generator. Hope to make some more projects with you, Stephane, please keep up the fantastic work! -Christian
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First I noticed that as expected there were numbers being said in English. Then I tuned out the English and heard numbers in Russian (my native language). I think I may have heard some romance and/or asian language too. I wonder what languages have been mixed in to this whole jumble.
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Nice! This generator is quite realistic, especially when animated, because signals fade in and out, kind of like they do as HF propagation changes. It's a bit like my first cheap shortwave receiver back in the '70s with wide IF filters, so you hear lots of signals at the same time. One morse channel is a numbers station, the other is part of a German radio ham conversation, repeated over and over.
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Probably not the best for math homework...
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This combined with a music generator is really nice, it's like when you're in between two or three stations. It reminds me of being on road trips when I was a kid.
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I love number stations!! This is so great, I only wish you added the intro music most of them use as well. I recorded the Entertainer off of one, the ice cream truck song, it's creepy as hell at 3am. This generator is right on the money though, besides the music of course. One even has Yosimitty Sam and Bugs Bunny, I haven't found it twice but it was cool too. Thanks for this!
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For months, I have been searching for radio chatter similar to the communication between spacecrafts and Houston. This is the next best thing, and I feel like I am somehow connected to the people around me, but still invisible like an individual in a crowd, even if I am totally alone. Sitting at my desk. It is comforting.
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Sometimes when I pray, I feel like my prayers aren't being heard, they are just lost in the ether somewhere... God is there but I'm not connecting right now... too much interferences... it's weird, but somehow listening to this was both comfortable and familiar.
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The numbers, Mason, what do they mean?!
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That helps me feel myself, for some reason, a very cool hacker, even when I'm programming some very easy stuff!
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If this doesn't bring back memories for you, then you don't know what it's about. This is easy sleeping music to me.
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825, 825, 825, 1, 67077. These are really cool. I just found this website a few minutes ago and I love it. This helped me with studying, for some reason, lol.
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Should be renamed to "Sleeper Agent Simulator". Also, reminds me of Alex Mason from Call of Duty Black Ops.
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Flying Fortress + Number Stations + Mr.Rhodes = Me listening to this everyday.
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1....4....67.....97.96.....545.5....4.32....45.24243434345345 lol
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While roaming around the post-nuclear wasteland, I found this weak but distinct distress call on the radio. It might be automated message without a sender. Otherwise it might be a bait set up by the marauders. But I need to find the source of this signal. I need to find the other survivors.
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I absolutely love this generator. During school when I am working, my mind always returns to the noises of this generator. Superbly done. 10/10 would recommend!
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This sounds like the epitome of "alone." Haunting.
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This setting sounds like absolute chaos in the form of numbers, but I like it. I have no idea why.
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← "Decoding a Mystery". This noise I made reminds me of UVB-76 :). If you heard of this number station, this might remind you of it. It's very thought provoking when you think about it.
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Really cool generator. Makes me feel like a spy during the cold war.
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One of my RPG characters I play online is a numbers nerd, an intelligence officer, and a crypto-geek, so this is the noise generator I put on when I need to get into her head space. I particularly enjoy on animate.
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Number stations scary in an odd way. The mysterious sound patterns and fact that their sources are a mystery is creepy. Like if you found an isolated number station sending signals and it was abandoned. Creepy. And how they are a symbol of war, specifically nuclear war, like when spies used them in the Cold War. And I love them.
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YAY, a number stations generator! Over the last year or so, these have really peaked my interest and gotten my into short wave radio. I have long awaited the release of this generator and I was not disappointed in the slightest.
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I love number stations, and I love this generator! I like being able to set up something that sounds authentic but doesn't threaten to startle me with random bursts of static.
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I'm schizophrenic and often hear radio babble or other noises in my head. I was concerned at first that this might make things worse but I've found the opposite. This actually helps me control the random noises I hear in my head.
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This is so cool! I really enjoy this generator, especially on animate. It makes it seem more authentic somehow. I can't wait to try and mix this generator with others! SO COOL!
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← Killer generator. Makes my mind slide right into a state of ethereous bliss ...
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Combine with the locomotive sound in the railroad generator, and you have a secret agent desperately trying to break a code while travelling! (To where is up to you)
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This is so cool! I love that the noise generators serve different purposes; some are relaxing, some are mood-setting, and some are just amazing to explore. This has definitely reawakened my interest in numbers stations, and the almost ghostly spookiness they have...