Hack your first sleep session using “Super Mode” in Can’t Sleep App

by | May 28, 2018 | Sleep | 0 comments

Can’t sleep app contains a variety of sounds, presets, modes and features. When you first try out Can’t Sleep App, we recommend you run the app as simply as possible and then increase the musical complexity when you start to find the music boring. The introduction of any new pre-sleep routine can be distracting. This guide will explain how to set up Can’t Sleep App so that it requires very low attention by limiting the musical information for your brain to process.

Summary on how to setup “Super Mode”

  1. If you have the paid subscription version, choose:
    1. 1 Instrument (we recommend vibraphone)
    2. 1 Ambience (we recommend Noise or Rain)
  2. Choose “Sleep mode” and start to play the app 5+ minutes before you go to bed
  3. Volume should be set just above the lowest volume you can hear (for example 2-5 bars).
  4. Use speakers or headphones
  5. Turn off your screen

Choosing the perfect starting instruments

If you have the paid subscription version, we recommend you choose your own “Custom” instruments. Start with only one instrument in “Orchestra” and one “Ambience”. Every time the app changes from one instrument to another (e.g. from Piano to Cello) your brain needs to process this information. By limiting the Orchestra instruments and Ambience to single sounds, we habituate to the music very quickly. We recommend you try out Vibraphone for the Orchestra instrument because it is percussive, has long sustain and is a monochromatic timbre. For the Ambience we recommend you choose Noise (grey noise) or Rain because they are easy to habituate to and cover the hearing spectrum.


Make sure you select “Sleep” because this mode has the slowest tempo, is the least active and the tempo decreases over time. One trick you can try is playing the app 5 minutes before you go to bed, the music will be much slower by the time you try to fall asleep.

Elements of the Music

Simplify the music by disable the following elements: “High Notes”, “Bass”, “Drums” and “Effects”, keeping only “Melody” and “Ambience”. This will drastically change how the music sounds. If you need the music to be more distracting or engaging, you can always add in other elements later.


This requires a little bit of balance. If the music is too loud each musical note can be distracting and if the music is too quiet you will be listening intently to hear what is going on. We recommend you set the volume to be 1-2 bars above the lowest volume you can hear. This might be between 1-5 volume bars.

Headphones and Speakers

Unfortunately, smartphones only have tiny speakers and they are designed to be in the register of a human voice. This means that many of the lower frequencies are lost. Avoid this by plugging your phone into headphones or speaker to have a better fuller and more rounded sound.

Turn off your screen

The bright light coming from you phone screen is detrimental to sleep, so turn it off.

Into the Future

Once you are familiar with Can’t Sleep App and are starting to get bored of the music it’s time to start exploring. You could choose other instruments or ambient sounds? Or you could start including other musical elements such as Bass or Effects. Another signal that it’s time to increase the complexity of the music is if you find your mind thinking of stressful thoughts instead of zoning out to the music. This will change day to day and we recommend you find out what you like and what works for you. Music is a very personal experience and we get that.