Most of us are familiar with white noise, the static sound we hear from phone apps or noise machines that cancel out background sounds and help lull us to sleep. White noise isn't the only sonic hue though; pink and brown noise are able to play across all frequencies like muffling blankets of sound.

In Sci Show's video, “Colored Noise, and How It Can Help You Focus,” host Michael Aranda explains color sounds are designed based on the physiology of human hearing. Because of human evolution, they can be useful when we're trying to focus or fall asleep.

White noise gets its name because it contains sounds from across the frequencies we can hear, ranging from around 20 to 20,000 hertz or wave vibrations per second. These frequencies are played in a fast random succession, and the brain combines this into a fuzzy hiss of static, making it sound high pitched. Unlike white noise, pink noise contains random frequencies, but the volume of higher frequencies is dampened making it a deeper, more balanced listening experience. Meanwhile, brown noise saps more volume from higher frequencies to create a more bassy rumble, which sounds like a large waterfall or distant traffic.

Some colors of the rainbow can be used to describe special sounds.

Click on the video above to learn more about the color of sound.