Instadreams
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Wake up to a tune, not a beep.
Every Instadreams alarm rings with a melody written for the first minute of the day: a tune you could hum, starting almost silent and building. Hear fifteen seconds of each one.
Tap any circle to listen. One plays at a time.
The full melody rings in the app. Every tune is instrumental.
Why a tune wakes you better than a tone.
Most phone alarms are a single note on repeat. The research on waking up points the other way, so the melodies are written to it.
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A melody clears the fog faster.
In a field study, people woken by a melodic alarm made fewer lapses and false starts on an attention test than the same people woken by a plain tone. A rhythmic alarm with no tune did nothing.
McFarlane et al., Clocks & Sleep, 2020 -
105 beats a minute, in C.
That is the tempo and key the study tested. The newest melodies are written to it, with the tune in the range a phone speaker carries best. The first albums sit slower, for anyone who wants a softer start.
Volume Two and later albums follow the brief exactly. -
It starts quietly.
A gradually rising alarm left people in a better mood on waking across a fourteen-night home study. Every Instadreams melody fades in over its first twenty seconds.
Yang, Cera & Pauletto, Forum Acusticum, 2026
Morning Light
Seven melodies, included with the app. Slow, quiet and clear: a koto, a handpan, a fiddle, a bassoon. Each starts almost silent and brightens over its first twenty seconds.
About this album-
Paper Lantern Dawn
Solo koto, five quiet notes and long decays 2:48
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Softly Brightening
Felt piano and marimba, brightening slowly 1:34
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Circles of Light
Solo handpan, warm and rounded 1:02
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Northern Window
Bowed fiddle over a low harmonium 1:09
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The First Stretch
A playful bassoon with sparse harp 2:12
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Early Train
Analogue synth plucks and a soft kick 1:26
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Sunny Morning Alarm
Melodica over mellow reggae guitar 3:08
Volume One
Ten slower mornings for people who want a soft start: tango, gospel organ, bossa nova, a waltz. Sixty to ninety beats a minute, no drums, nothing sharp.
About this album-
A Little Hope
Hammond organ answered by a gentle guitar 2:49
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Buenos Días
Bandoneon, nylon guitar and upright bass 1:59
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Coffee Before Words
Hollow-body jazz guitar trio, brushed 2:31
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Countryside Morning
Fingerpicked steel-string and pizzicato cello 1:59
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Courtyard Sun
Two interlocking nylon-string guitars 3:03
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Garden Gate
Low wooden flute answered by a lute 2:51
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Manhã de Café
Bossa nova guitar with whisper-soft brushes 2:47
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Morgenwalzer
Clarinet and plucked cello, in three 2:12
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Peach-Coloured Sky
Chorus guitar, warm bass, a half-time groove 3:11
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Shoreline Awakening
Lap steel guitar sliding over acoustic chords 3:16
Volume Two
Ten melodies written to what the research found: a hummable hook stated in the first bar, 105 beats a minute in C major, the tune in the register a phone speaker carries best, starting alone and building.
About this album-
Vibraphone Sunrise
Vibraphone, woodblock and marimba bass 2:39
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Kalimba Kitchen
Kalimba with fingerpicked guitar and shaker 2:39
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Clear Blue Morning
Felt piano doubled by glockenspiel 2:39
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Tin Whistle Tea
Low tin whistle, guitar and bodhrán 2:39
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Ukulele Porch
Melodica over strummed ukulele 2:39
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Steel Pan Daybreak
Tenor steel pan with nylon guitar 2:39
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Marimba Tram
Two marimbas and brushed cajón 2:39
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Bright Side
Muted trumpet, felt piano, walking bass 2:39
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Nylon Daylight
Two nylon guitars with a glockenspiel 2:39
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Music Box Dawn
Celesta, pizzicato strings and harp 2:39
Christmas
Ten December mornings to the same brief: celesta, low handbells, a muted trumpet by the fire, a fiddle in a snowy cabin. Original tunes, no carols you already know, and no sleigh-bell clatter. Two of them are free.
About this album-
Snow on the Sill
Free Celesta, pizzicato cello and a far-off sleigh bell 2:39
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Sleigh at Seven
Free Vibraphone, low sleigh bells and upright bass 2:39
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Cinnamon Morning
Nylon guitar answered by cello, with accordion 2:39
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Candle in the Window
Felt piano, a soft string quartet and harp 2:39
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Mittens and Cocoa
Melodica over ukulele, hand claps, low glockenspiel 2:39
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First Frost Waltz
Clarinet, plucked cello and harp, in three 2:39
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Gingerbread Groove
Clean guitar, Hammond organ and brushed snare 2:39
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Starlit Carol
Low handbells with warm strings 2:38
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Fireside Hour
Muted trumpet, felt piano, walking bass 2:39
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Reindeer Tea
Fiddle over harmonium and nyckelharpa 2:39
Set one as your alarm.
Instadreams is an alarm clock that catches your dreams, coming to iPhone and Android. Leave your email and we'll write once, on launch day.