Rainy Mood is a simple website that plays sounds of rain and soft thunder. The background image is that of a misty translucent window on which water droplets slowly slide down. It is owned by Plain Theory, "a boutique marketing firm specializing in Google AdWords, pay-per-click, social media, lead generation, and strategy". As of this writeup, Rainy Mood has a presence on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. There even exists a Rainy Mood app on the App Store and Google Play.
The site is based on the observation that the sound of gentle rain is both soothing and relaxing. Its simplicity means that one could simply leave a tab or window open in the background while focusing on their task at hand. It is ideal for studying, or for those who love rainy days, and it is entirely free to use. Of course, it isn't meant to replace the beauty of an April Shower, but it does provide a way to relive it, if only in sound.
Rainy Mood does have one very interesting feature, and it is this feature that makes it stand out. The site allows you to listen to both the rain and an audio from a YouTube video simultaneously. In fact you can find a suggestion named "Today's music", which changes periodically. Clicking it will play both the sound of the rain and the suggested music, which tends to be of the calm, relaxing sort. However, you can choose to use whatever music you desire to go with the rain. To do so:
- Find the YouTube video you wish you listen to
- Copy from the URL everything starting from the "v=" up to an ampersand (if it exists), e.g. in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omK5H4_giSo, extract the string v=omK5H4_giSo
- Append to "http://www.rainymood.com" the string "/watch?" and the string from the previous step, e.g. http://www.rainymood.com/watch?v=omK5H4_giSo
- Enter the URL you built in the previous step into your favourite browser and enjoy
My personal favourite combinations with Rainy Mood are:
Prowler by Bohren & der Club of Gore
Marunae Pi, Isunova Pi and Lavanya, to name a few slow pieces by E.S. Posthumus
Honey Bee by Steam Powered Giraffe
Lotus Feet by Shakti
Lacrimosa by Mozart
Sources:
http://www.rainymood.com/
http://www.plaintheory.com/rainymood.html
https://instagram.com/rainymood
https://www.facebook.com/rainymood
https://twitter.com/rainymood
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/rainy-mood/id566752651?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.TailoredMusic.RainyMood