Do you hear the HUM?

bonsai · Post by **bonsai** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 5:16 pm

The Hum is a generic name for a series of phenomena involving a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming noise not audible to all people. Hums have been reported in various geographical locations. In some cases a source has been located. A well-known case was reported in Taos, New Mexico, and thus the Hum is sometimes called the Taos Hum. Hums have been reported all over the world, especially in Europe. A Hum on the Big Island of Hawaii, typically related to volcanic action, is heard in locations dozens of miles apart. The local Hawaiians also say the Hum is most often heard by men. The Hum is most often described as sounding somewhat like a distant idling diesel engine. Typically the Hum is difficult to detect with microphones, and its source and nature are hard to localize.

The Hum is sometimes prefixed with the name of a locality where the problem has been particularly publicized: e.g., the "Bristol Hum" or the "Taos Hum".

Description

The essential element that defines the Hum is what is perceived as a persistent low-frequency sound, often described as being comparable to that of a distant diesel engine idling, or to some similar low-pitched sound for which obvious sources (e.g., household appliances, traffic noise, etc.) have been ruled out.

Other elements seem to be significantly associated with the Hum, being reported by an important proportion of hearers, but not by all of them. Many people hear the Hum only, or much more, inside buildings as compared with outdoors. Many also perceive vibrations that can be felt through the body. Earplugs are reported as not decreasing the Hum.[1] The Hum is often perceived more intensely during the night.

Some people perceive the Hum continuously, but others perceive it only during certain periods. For some people, the perceived Hum can represent a faint sound and a mild annoyance, while for others who perceive the Hum's sound and/or vibrations more intensely it represents a nuisance that can seriously interfere with daily activities. Common consequences include a lack of sleep, as the Hum can keep some people awake or wake them in the middle of the night. Such cases have given rise to the expression "Hum sufferers."

In the Unsolved Mysteries segment called 'Mystery Hum', a tape recreation of the Taos Hum was used for this segment. Robert Stack reported that one of the "Hum sufferers" created the audio tape, mainly for the purpose in that particular segment. This was done since their audio equipment didn't pick up low-frequency sounds very well, and so that the show's viewers and other non-"Hum sufferers" would get an idea of what the actual auditory phenomenon sounded like.

On 15 November 2006 Dr Tom Moir, of the University of Massey in Auckland, New Zealand, made a recording of the Auckland Hum and has published it on the university's website.[2][3] The captured hum's power spectral density peaks at a frequency of 56 hertz.[4]

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum

just wondering if any Kiwi's (or anyone) here has experienced this?

Post by **fooishbar** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 5:52 pm

connect the little dangling cord off the deck to the thing what has a screw over the inputs on the mixer.

FoundationStepper · Post by **FoundationStepper** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 7:34 pm

I haven't experienced but my work involves advice on assessing 'phantom' LF sound - including a publication im working on at the moment

ive read up a fair bit on assessing lf sound too. its tricky

bonsai · Post by **bonsai** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 8:50 pm

fooishbar wrote:connect the little dangling cord off the deck to the thing what has a screw over the inputs on the mixer.

excellent, and useful post foo. just what i've come to expect of you.

FoundationStepper · Post by **FoundationStepper** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 9:10 pm

an interesting thing is some versions of tinnitus related impacts can have similar symptoms (lf sound at quiet periods)

bonsai · Post by **bonsai** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 9:19 pm

FoundationStepper wrote:an interesting thing is some versions of tinnitus related impacts can have similar symptoms (lf sound at quiet periods)

i thought tinnitus was a feedback loop.. therefore being high pitched/high frequency sound?

Lephrenic · Post by **Lephrenic** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 10:05 pm

I thought a hum was what kiwis sang at church.

FoundationStepper · Post by **FoundationStepper** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:06 pm

bonsai wrote:i thought tinnitus was a feedback loop.. therefore being high pitched/high frequency sound?

Dont know why youd think of it as a feedback loop - but yes typically high pitched, but there are more "rushing" and other frequency hearing damage artefacts out there

Flash · Post by **Flash** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:15 pm

Lephrenic wrote:I thought a hum was what kiwis sang at church.

youthful_implants · Post by **youthful_implants** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 12:03 pm

Flash wrote:
Lephrenic wrote:I thought a hum was what kiwis sang at church.

very good.

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:21 pm

Fucking LOL, just read the wikipedia page for "The Hum". Talk about making something sound a lot more mysterious than it is, jesus! Basically all they're describing is loud low frequency noises which can be heard in various parts of the world, whose source isn't always known (but sometimes are, such as volcanic activity or a pair of huge fans from a nearby cooling tower). And yet that deserves the mystical title of "The Hum" and an unsolved mysteries segment? Hahah! Considering most mains frequencies around the world are 50/60Hz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_frequency), there must be a million different powered devices/facilities that could cause a loud noise.

What people should be reading is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound

Infrasound has been known to cause feelings of awe or fear in humans. Since it is not consciously perceived, it can make people feel vaguely that supernatural events are taking place.

Post by **fooishbar** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:51 pm

a1studmuffin wrote:Fucking LOL, just read the wikipedia page for "The Hum". Talk about making something sound a lot more mysterious than it is, jesus! Basically all they're describing is loud low frequency noises which can be heard in various parts of the world, whose source isn't always known (but sometimes are, such as volcanic activity or a pair of huge fans from a nearby cooling tower). And yet that deserves the mystical title of "The Hum" and an unsolved mysteries segment? Hahah! Considering most mains frequencies around the world are 50/60Hz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_frequency), there must be a million different powered devices/facilities that could cause a loud noise.

What people should be reading is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound

Infrasound has been known to cause feelings of awe or fear in humans. Since it is not consciously perceived, it can make people feel vaguely that supernatural events are taking place.

woah, woah, let's not start bringing sense into this discussion.

FoundationStepper · Post by **FoundationStepper** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:54 pm

Over-dismissive i think. there are some instances where it really cant be figured out, and might be put down to stanger things like underground gas pipe networks, or distant off shore dredging - it can be pretty curious. its not all 50Hz

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:49 pm

Oh, it's certainly curious if they can't locate the source of a hum in certain geographical locations, but considering some locations have found the source of their hum to be quite boring and unextraordinary things, it's pretty safe to say the rest of the locations will have a similarly uninteresting sound/vibration source behind them... particularly with the Auckland Hum, which could very reasonably be explained by electromagnetics or geothermal activity if someone were to do enough research into it. Just read a good blog post on varying levels of human low-frequency sensitivity: http://wildland.owdjim.gen.nz/?p=239

FoundationStepper · Post by **FoundationStepper** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:58 pm

One of the principal accessible docs on lf sound, by uk's DEFRA (thier EPA) says that if the source of "the hum" is identified, it is no longer "the hum" - its just an engineering issue.

thats more or less how i see it

the sensitivty thing is interesting, as older people can be more sensitive, as can hearing impaired people. something im trying to address in a guideline at the moment

mrj · Post by **mrj** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 5:54 pm

rofl at all this.

so if somebody farts in a room but we can't locate "he who dealt it", so to speak, does it hereafter become the subject of myth and legend, only to be referred to in hushed tones as "The FART"?

FoundationStepper · Post by **FoundationStepper** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:00 pm

if it was a fart which permeates across a massive land area and is of unknown origin and food source, yes

if it was a point source fart with a likely emission point, no

FoundationStepper · Post by **FoundationStepper** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:12 pm

i get the point that lf sound is subject to a lot of unecessary mistique and garbage, ive come across a lot of it as part of my masters and my job - but the uncertain source, wide spread lf stuff deserves a bit of ooh la la, its pretty interesting...

youthful_implants · Post by **youthful_implants** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:30 pm

just remember, in space no one can hear you scream.

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:58 pm

To possibly take this post a little too seriously:

FoundationStepper wrote:if it was a fart which permeates across a massive land area and is of unknown origin

When you think about sound + vibration, there's often not a very central emission point. Sure, if there's a pair of fans somewhere emitting an incredibly loud 36Hz, that's going to be pretty easy to triangulate, but if you thought of say an underground magma flow, or tectonic plates rubbing together, or rain hitting the ground, it becomes much more of an emission area (which can be small or huge), so again it doesn't seem worthy of becoming the mystical capitalised "The Hum" rather than just "a hum".

FoundationStepper · Post by **FoundationStepper** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 7:37 pm

i dont see a problem with the title, its more taken as "the san fransisco hum", "the gippsland hum" etc, referring to its area and when reportage of it gets to a level where it is widely observed and known.

Post by **fooishbar** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 7:39 pm

a1studmuffin wrote:so again it doesn't seem worthy of becoming the mystical capitalised "The Hum" rather than just "a hum".

not trying to be a smartarse or anything, that's pretty much where i'm coming from.

FoundationStepper · Post by **FoundationStepper** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 7:53 pm

tbh i didn't think "the hum" a common term, certainly not in any of my research

i think its more a wikipedia title than anything?

nic · Post by **nic** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:46 pm

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 3:52 pm

Fair enough, maybe I misconstrued the wikipedia article.

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