Midlife Engineering is a sound therapy tool for the creatively restless. Craft ambient soundscapes to ease stress, sharpen focus, and spark creativity. It’s like therapy without the talking — boosting mood, brainpower, and well-being, no motorcycle required.
Thank you for bringing this fine tool to us. Surprise of the day. 🙏🏼
Midlife Engineering
Thanks Koen — glad to have surprised you 🙌
Midlife Engineering
@koenvandamme_be We have an update and you might love the new autoplay feature:
Midlife Engineering v2.0 has escaped the lab.
It’s now on Awwwards and Framer’s 100k awards.
If you’re inclined to vote, that would be quietly appreciated.
Links below. Go gently.
Awwwwards: https://www.awwwards.com/sites/midlife-engineering
Framer Awards (heart to vote): https://www.framer.com/community/@leeblack/post/7iofXKfey12s/
You should create a physical product out of it. Love the design.
Midlife Engineering
@jsteneros It's based on a real physical product. It was the inspiration to make this a simple (anyone can make music) sound tool :)
Thanks for your feedback and happy you love the design.
Midlife Engineering
@jsteneros We have an update and you might love the new autoplay feature:
Midlife Engineering v2.0 has escaped the lab.
It’s now on Awwwards and Framer’s 100k awards.
If you’re inclined to vote, that would be quietly appreciated.
Links below. Go gently.
Awwwwards: https://www.awwwards.com/sites/midlife-engineering
Framer Awards (heart to vote): https://www.framer.com/community/@leeblack/post/7iofXKfey12s/
Stress and creative blocks are real challenges, and Midlife Engineering seems like a great tool to address them. How do you balance user control with automated sound adjustments to maintain an effortless yet effective experience for relaxation or focus?
Midlife Engineering
@diyani_ka We have an update and you might love the new autoplay feature:
Midlife Engineering v2.0 has escaped the lab.
It’s now on Awwwards and Framer’s 100k awards.
If you’re inclined to vote, that would be quietly appreciated.
Links below. Go gently.
Awwwwards: https://www.awwwards.com/sites/midlife-engineering
Framer Awards (heart to vote): https://www.framer.com/community/@leeblack/post/7iofXKfey12s/
Shram
What an absolute delight. I can listen to this for hours.
Midlife Engineering
@ojasvika_sahu Great to hear you're delighted. I hope you find peace and calm in your day through the sounds of Midlife Engineering. Future feature will allow you record your own soundscapes directly from the machine. Then you can listen offline. Thanks again :)
Midlife Engineering
@ojasvika_sahu We have an update and you might love the new autoplay feature:
Midlife Engineering v2.0 has escaped the lab.
It’s now on Awwwards and Framer’s 100k awards.
If you’re inclined to vote, that would be quietly appreciated.
Links below. Go gently.
Awwwwards: https://www.awwwards.com/sites/midlife-engineering
Framer Awards (heart to vote): https://www.framer.com/community/@leeblack/post/7iofXKfey12s/
Abode
this is so so so so so dope!
amazing work Lee!
Midlife Engineering
Thanks Alex — really appreciate your nice words! I hope you find peaceful moments using it.
Midlife Engineering
@aliszu Hey Alex! We have an update and you might love the new autoplay feature:
Midlife Engineering v2.0 has escaped the lab.
It’s now on Awwwards and Framer’s 100k awards.
If you’re inclined to vote, that would be quietly appreciated.
Links below. Go gently.
Awwwwards: https://www.awwwards.com/sites/midlife-engineering
Framer Awards (heart to vote): https://www.framer.com/community/@leeblack/post/7iofXKfey12s/
Helpdesk by LabiDesk
This is awesome! Thanks for making this! ♥️🚀
Midlife Engineering
@aleksbchkv Nice to hear. Thanks!
Midlife Engineering
@aleksbchkv Hey Aleks! We have an update and you might love the new autoplay feature:
Midlife Engineering v2.0 has escaped the lab.
It’s now on Awwwards and Framer’s 100k awards.
If you’re inclined to vote, that would be quietly appreciated.
Links below. Go gently.
Awwwwards: https://www.awwwards.com/sites/midlife-engineering
Framer Awards (heart to vote): https://www.framer.com/community/@leeblack/post/7iofXKfey12s/
Chance AI: Curiosity Lens
Hey Lee! This is such a brilliant intersection of music, therapy, and creativity! Love the playful twist on midlife crisis - way better (and cheaper) than buying a sports car 😄
The concept of "therapy without the talking" through interactive sound design is fascinating. As someone who often uses ambient sounds for focus, I'm really intrigued by the creative control you're giving users here. The ability to craft personal soundscapes feels like a game-changer for mental well-being.
The perfect early rating suggests you've hit a sweet spot between therapeutic value and creative expression. Really curious about your creative process - what inspired you to combine sound synthesis with mental wellness? Also, how are people using it differently than you initially expected?
Love that you're making this accessible with a free option. In a world where both stress and screen time keep climbing, tools like this feel more essential than ever.
Quick questions:
Do you have any favorite soundscapes you've discovered while building this?
Have you noticed any patterns in how different people approach sound creation for wellness?
Any plans to explore collaborative sound creation features?
The engagement on your launch shows there's a real hunger for creative approaches to mental wellness. Keep innovating at this intersection of tech and tranquility! 🎵🧘♂️
Would love to hear more about where you see the future of sound therapy heading. This feels like just the beginning of something really special! ✨
Midlife Engineering
@xi_z Thanks for your in depth feedback.
The inspiration comes from both a love for music production (my hobby) and the love for ambient music that I've been listening to and sometimes producing for 3 decades as a tool for calm, focus and anxiety reduction. As a 25yr experienced designer, it just made so much sense to combine all the passions together to build something meaningful without money attached to it.
The idea originally was going to be Midnight Engineering as it lined up with my evening music production, however as I started to build a story around what I wanted it to be, and being in midlife myself, the thought of midlife crisis had come up. I had recently gone through 2 of these. First losing my young brother to mental health issues in late 2020, and secondly going through a business partner separation in late 2024. So the idea of engineering my own crisis led to Midlife Engineering — giving a tool to people who can engineer their own mood.
Regarding your questions:
Do you have any favorite soundscapes you've discovered while building this?
Yes, but it's all mood dependent. If I really need focus and calm I go for more of a mix of nature sounds — something like night time sound of crickets with a crackling camp fire. It also drives nostalgia to my childhood playing and making camp fires in the forrest. If I'm looking for hyper focus whilst working, I do more for the sound of drones with soft synths.
Have you noticed any patterns in how different people approach sound creation for wellness?
Not that I've done extensive user testing in this field but I lean on my own experience keeping in mind I build this product for me first. There's a lot of calming/mindfulness sound devices on the market as well as apps but they're often limiting to a few sounds or you can either listen to what you're given.
I wanted to break this mould slightly and introduce the practice of interacting and doing. This is a well known method to break negative cyclical thought patterns — something we're plagued with today due to sensory over stimulation. By doing we shift into a state of focus, and by doing with Midlife Engineering, they see in a way gets to engineer their own mood based on their own tinkering and playing. I say playing because that's also a super important factor. As we get older we lose touch with our inner child — playing as adults has proven to be super beneficial in supporting positive mental health.
Any plans to explore collaborative sound creation features?
Yes, I have plans here. Firstly I'd like to integrate the ability to record and download your own soundscapes. Just makes so much sense for when you're offline, on a stressful underground (crammed in stress), at a football game (noise/crowd stress) and so on. From that there's plenty other features to build on top like social sharing, perhaps even album collaboration that could be sold for charitable mental health foundations and so on.
This is not a money making idea, but rather a health based idea that I hope to make a small dent in a very big global issue. One that is underfunded and under staffed. The current mental health situation is at it's all time highest and I think we as designers/creators hold the power to make for positive change through carefully crafted design led solutions.
This project and topic is close to my heart having fought through adversity growing up and still fighting on today 💪
Midlife Engineering
@xi_z Hey Xi.Z!!! We have an update and you might love the new autoplay feature:
Midlife Engineering v2.0 has escaped the lab.
It’s now on Awwwards and Framer’s 100k awards.
If you’re inclined to vote, that would be quietly appreciated.
Links below. Go gently.
Awwwwards: https://www.awwwards.com/sites/midlife-engineering
Framer Awards (heart to vote): https://www.framer.com/community/@leeblack/post/7iofXKfey12s/