It's amazing what venetian blinds will do for the lighting of workroom, keeping out direct light, while letting in ambient suffuse light. I need something similar for audio.

I currently use music to create an overlay to the inconstant noises around me. But a major improvement would be to stop the direct sounds, and muffle them into low-volume noise. Perhaps best would be to drop all exterior noise, but I think that would be too zealous. I think I just need some Venetian Audio Blinds.