About the recording
Of the six cricket recordings we compared for the app, this was the most even: from moment to moment its level varies by less than a decibel.
Crickets are a high sound. If you find them sharp, turn them down and put brown noise underneath, or try the river, which has the same steadiness lower down.
| Recorded by | felix.blume on Freesound, “Crickets during the night, close to the beach in Mexico” |
|---|---|
| Licence | CC0, a public-domain dedication |
| Here | A 60-second loop, crossfaded so it turns without a seam |
| In Lalai | The full 8½-minute recording, with a subscription |
Pair it with
In the app you can layer up to five sounds and set each one’s level. These go well with crickets:
- A beach at night. Also recorded near the sea at night.
- Brown noise. A deep bed under the crickets takes the edge off them.
- A slow river. Running water and crickets: a summer night by a river.
In Lalai’s sleep stories
Lalai’s hour-long stories have their own sounds under the voice. You’ll hear this kind of sound in:
- Houseboat on the Slow River: crickets in the long grass once the boat is moored
- Observatory on Mallow Hill: the last few crickets of autumn at dusk
- Caravanserai on the Salt Road: the warm night insects of the dry country
All night, with the screen off
A browser tab usually stops playing when your phone locks or the tab goes to sleep. In the Lalai app, the full 8½-minute recording keeps playing with the screen off and fades out on the timer. You can layer up to five sounds, put slow original music underneath, and keep everything on your phone for nights with no signal.
Free to try for seven nights. Crickets comes with a subscription, $24 a year or $3 a month, and new subscribers get seven nights free. The mixer, the timer and a free sound in every category are free for good. No ads, no account, no analytics.
Listening safely
- Start low. Set your device volume low before you press play, and turn it up only as far as you need. The loops here are mastered quietly on purpose.
- Not too close. A phone on the bedside table is closer to your ear than it seems. Avoid falling asleep in earphones at volume.
- Use the timer. It fades the sound out rather than stopping it dead, so the quiet arrives gradually.
Lalai is for relaxation and enjoyment. We don’t claim that this or any sound changes how you sleep, and if poor sleep goes on for weeks, please see a doctor. More on protecting your hearing.
