How can I make a mechanical white-noise generator (sound conditioner)?
I would like to be able to make a white-noise generator like this one but I do not know how I would start. If anybody has any suggestions, that would be fantastic.
If you do not know how to make a mechanical version but do know how to make an electronic one, that would still work, but mechanical would be preferred.
Discussions
I think that a small stone tumbler would give a pretty good approximation to white noise, although you do get some modulation, much like waves on a beach - very relaxing. After a while you'd have the bonus of nice shiny stones as well.
The "whoosh" of air from a fan is pretty close to white/pink noise. Find one with a quiet motor that doesn't rattle too much, and possibly set up some baffles for it to blow against.. Similarly, the sound from a spray can or other compressed-air source is essentially white noise. Electronically, the standard solution is to use a "noise diode" to feed an amplifier. Circuit diagrams should be fairly easy to find.