Sound design

How this was made

In 10 seconds

ElevenLabs APIs used

Sound Effects API POST /v1/sound-generationMusic API POST /v1/music

Sounds generated: 40
Sounds shipped: 34
Credits used: 10,252

Key decision: generated once and shipped with the app, so the live app makes zero ElevenLabs calls — no running cost, works offline, plays instantly.

ElevenLabs API used

Sound Effects API

POST https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/sound-generation

Model eleven_text_to_sound_v2, output mp3_44100_128. Used for the 12 ambience loops (loop: true, 30 s — the API maximum), 16 accents, and 3 options each of gong, bowl and chime (one of each kept; the unused takes still count in the totals). Credits read from the character-cost response header: 5,302.

Music API

POST https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/music

Model music_v2_5, force_instrumental: true, music_length_ms: 120000. Used for the two break tracks and the focus pad. This endpoint returns no cost header, so credits come from the account usage report: 4,950.

Total: 10,252 credits for 40 sounds generated (34 shipped), on 2026-10-31.

How the layers mix

Gong

Ambience

Sea A

Sea B

Sea C

Sea A

→ Rain

Accents

Chime ×2

Focus pad

pad

Bowl

Break music

by category

0′10′20′30′40′45′50′60′

Focus 0–50 min · heads-up at 45 · break 50–60. Loops crossfade every 10 min over ~20 s; accents fall every 45–120 s.

Every sound

	Name	API	Prompt	Duration	Credits
	Gentle waves on sand, soft breeze Ambience loop · sea	Sound Effects · loop	Gentle small waves softly washing onto a sandy beach with a light soft breeze. Calm, peaceful, steady relaxing ambience. No seagulls, no crashing waves, no sudden sounds.	30s	330
	Calm sea lapping on rocks, light wind Ambience loop · sea	Sound Effects · loop	Calm sea gently lapping against rocks with a light wind. Quiet, peaceful, steady ambience. No seagulls, no crashing waves, no sudden sounds.	30s	330
	Distant soft surf, breeze through palms Ambience loop · sea	Sound Effects · loop	Distant soft surf on a beach with a gentle breeze rustling through palm leaves. Calm, warm, tranquil steady ambience. No seagulls, no sudden sounds.	30s	330
	A very distant seagull Accent · sea	Sound Effects	A single very distant seagull call, faint and far away over a calm sea. Soft and quiet.	4s	44
	Faint sea birds far away Accent · sea	Sound Effects	Faint sea birds calling very far away in the distance. Soft and quiet.	4s	44
	A soft gust of wind Accent · sea	Sound Effects	A soft gentle gust of wind rising and fading smoothly. No harshness.	4s → 3.8s	44
	A gentle small wave washing in Accent · sea	Sound Effects	A gentle small wave softly washing in onto sand and receding. Quiet.	5s	55
	Light steady rain on leaves Ambience loop · rain	Sound Effects · loop	Light steady rain falling on leaves, soft gentle patter. Calm and relaxing. No thunder, no sudden sounds.	30s	330
	Soft rain on a window, gentle drips Ambience loop · rain	Sound Effects · loop	Soft rain on a window glass with gentle drips, cozy indoor perspective. Calm. No thunder, no sudden sounds.	30s	330
	Distant light rain on a roof Ambience loop · rain	Sound Effects · loop	Distant light rain on a roof heard from inside, soft steady muffled patter. Peaceful. No thunder, no sudden sounds.	30s	330
	A single water drip Accent · rain	Sound Effects	A single soft water drip into a small puddle. Gentle and quiet.	2s	22
	A soft gust through wet leaves Accent · rain	Sound Effects	A soft gust of wind through wet leaves, gentle rustle. Quiet.	4s → 3.9s	44
	A gutter trickle Accent · rain	Sound Effects	A gentle gutter trickle of rainwater, soft and quiet.	4s	44
	One distant bird Accent · rain	Sound Effects	One distant bird call during light rain, soft and far away.	3s	33
	Sparse morning birdsong, quiet garden Ambience loop · birds	Sound Effects · loop	Sparse morning birdsong in a quiet garden, a few gentle birds chirping softly with calm pauses. Peaceful. No loud or sudden sounds.	30s → 28.5s	330
	Soft tropical birds in the distance Ambience loop · birds	Sound Effects · loop	Soft tropical birds singing in the distance, gentle and sparse. Calm warm morning ambience. No loud or sudden sounds.	30s → 28.5s	330
	Gentle dawn chorus, light breeze Ambience loop · birds	Sound Effects · loop	Gentle dawn chorus of birds with a light breeze through leaves. Soft and peaceful, not loud.	30s	330
	A single thrush song Accent · birds	Sound Effects	A single song thrush singing a short soft melodic phrase, slightly distant.	5s	55
	Doves cooing softly Accent · birds	Sound Effects	Doves cooing softly. Gentle, calm and quiet.	5s	55
	A soft wing flutter Accent · birds	Sound Effects	A soft wing flutter of a small bird gently taking off.	2s → 2s	22
	One clear distant chirp Accent · birds	Sound Effects	One clear distant bird chirp. Soft.	2s	22
	Costa Rican cloud forest, leaves & insects Ambience loop · forest	Sound Effects · loop	Quiet Costa Rican cloud forest ambience, leaves gently rustling, soft distant insects, misty. Calm and peaceful. No sudden sounds.	30s	330
	Forest with a small babbling stream Ambience loop · forest	Sound Effects · loop	Calm forest with a small babbling brook, gentle flowing stream water. Soft and relaxing. No sudden sounds.	30s	330
	Soft wind through tall trees Ambience loop · forest	Sound Effects · loop	Soft wind flowing through tall trees, gentle rustling canopy. Calm, steady and peaceful. No sudden sounds.	30s	330
	A distant twig snap Accent · forest	Sound Effects	A distant soft twig snap in a quiet forest, muted and far away.	2s → 1.7s	22
	A single bird call Accent · forest	Sound Effects	A single tropical bird call in a cloud forest, soft and slightly distant.	3s	33
	Leaves falling Accent · forest	Sound Effects	A few dry leaves gently falling and landing softly on the forest floor.	4s	44
	A distant frog Accent · forest	Sound Effects	A single distant frog croak in a quiet forest. Soft.	3s → 2.7s	33
	Gong Signal 3 options generated, option 3 chosen	Sound Effects	A single deep Tibetan gong strike with a soft padded mallet, warm and round, gentle attack, long natural resonant decay fading to silence. Calm and meditative, not loud, no harshness.	10s	330 3 × 110
	Singing bowl Signal 3 options generated, option 1 chosen	Sound Effects	A single soft Tibetan singing bowl strike with a padded mallet, warm gentle tone, long smooth shimmering decay fading to silence. Calm and meditative.	8s	264 3 × 88
	Crystal chime Signal 3 options generated, option 2 chosen	Sound Effects	A single very soft crystal chime note, gentle, pure and delicate tone with a soft fade out. Quiet and calm.	4s	132 3 × 44
	Break music — calm piano Music	Music	Calm, slow solo piano with warm soft ambient pads. Peaceful and reflective, gentle sustained chords, no drums. Consistent mood from start to finish with no intro build and no ending, so it loops seamlessly. Instrumental, no vocals.	120s → 116s	1,650
	Break music — upbeat acoustic Music	Music	Light, upbeat instrumental at about 115 BPM with fingerpicked and strummed acoustic guitar and soft percussion: brushed drums, shaker and light hand drums. Positive and energizing but relaxed, never intense. Steady groove from start to finish with no intro and no ending, so it loops seamlessly. Instrumental, no vocals.	120s → 113s	1,650
	Focus pad — last 5 minutes Music	Music	A soft, warm, sustained ambient synth pad. No melody, no beat, no percussion, no rhythm. Slowly evolving gentle texture, calm and enveloping, constant level throughout so it loops seamlessly. Instrumental, no vocals.	120s → 107s	1,650
Total					10,252

Duration shows what was requested → what ships after loop trimming (music loops lose their fade-out tail). Signal credits include every option generated, not just the one kept.

Design choices

Generated once, not at runtime. Generating on every visit would cost credits forever, add waiting time and need a network connection. Shipping files makes the app free to run and instant.
Layers and random accents instead of one long track. Three 30-second seamless loops crossfade every 10 minutes, and a soft accent lands at a random moment every 45–120 s with a slight random pan — so a few minutes of audio never sounds like a repeating recording.
Calm first. Prompts ask for no thunder, no crashing waves and only distant gulls. Every file was checked for clicks at the loop point, loudness-matched, and sudden peaks were gently compressed; accents always play well below the loops.
One audio clock. All of a block's sounds are scheduled ahead on a single Web Audio clock, so the gong, chime and bowl land on time even when the tab is in the background.

Generated on an ElevenLabs paid plan (commercial license).