Low frequency faint noise at night

[David D]

A new short clip summarizing years of research into “The Hum”.  No smoking gun but theories ranging from Ibuprofen to natural gas pipelines to bizarre correlations with a family history of autism.

[Jerry Adams]

wow!  thanks for posting that

this guy (Benn Jordan) is my new hero – along side the gear skeptic and freakonomics.  He went extreme trying to figure this out, with special low frequency microphones and other equipment – I just used my phone and was unable to record anything that on playback had the hum audible

But, I didn’t hear the hum played back on the youtube video, just a description.  That matches what I hear – a higher frequency that changes amplitude and a lower frequency that has constant amplitude.  I think the lower frequency is about 40 Hz – I put a sound generator app on my phone and generated a 40 Hz signal which seemed to match what I was hearing.

I hear it in the wilderness well away from any electric lines, gas lines, windmills,…  It is neither pleasant or unpleasant.

I do have a family history of autism and think of myself as somewhere “on the spectrum” or on some spectrum, but then maybe most people are on some spectrum.  One of the symptoms of autism is better (or different) hearing so maybe that explains it.

I had a blocked Eustachian tube for 6 months and heard all sorts of weird noises.  And muffled noises.  Sort of reminds me of the hum I hear in the wilderness.  I still don’t totally rule out it being internally generated.

[jscott]

Maybe it’s the background ‘aum’. Which apparently is the sound of God snoring. S/he  needs a cpap machine.

[Brad W]

I have heard very low frequency thumping sounds in very remote areas. It’s quite unnerving. I also hear brief conversations-2-5 words in a language I can’t decipher in the same areas. Sounds looney, but it’s always in areas once inhabited by one of two Native American tribes.  The voices really used to startle me, now I kind of expect them.

[MJ H]

I have tinnitus and in a quiet forest, it’s pretty clear.  Sometimes it starts to sound like words, but I just figure it’s my brain working too hard to interpret the signs.  I’ve never mentioned this to a doctor.  I don’t want anyone to give me a special test.

[Brad W]

@MJ H I also have tinnitus and have had it for 20+ years. It’s very consistent high pitched. Couldn’t be confused with conversation or thumping. More caffeine makes it louder. FWIW the voices I hear are generally in a canyon or in precarious ridges.

[Craig B]

If it’s a single frequency and doesn’t change apart from the amplitude, you could try putting a frequency generator app on your phone and matching that to what you hear.  If it’s 60Hz, it seems like the most likely explanation all over the states would be some artifact of the power transmission grid.

[Jerry Adams]

Yeah, I did that.  A signal generator app on phone.  40 Hz seemed to match the lower signal.  It could have been 60 Hz though, or a sub harmonic.

I also installed a spectrum analyzer app on my phone but it didn’t “see” anything, although there were some lower frequencies which could be just generated by the phone.

It’s amazing what you can do with a phone.

[Jerry Adams]

I read an article that if you listen to noise, like from a stream, your mind will “hear” things like voices or tunes.  Those sounds stored in your brain will be brought up and you think you’re hearing it.

Maybe “the hum” is something like that, except you need a background noise for what I read about, where “the hum” is when there’s no background noise.  And I swear I can hear “the hum” in a particular direction

 

[Bill Budney]

Probably not your experience, Jerry, but here’s one more possible cause to add to the list:

 

[Jerry Adams]

that’s pretty cool

there was an avalanche like that in Alaska that produced a huge tsunami on the other side of the fjord

[jscott]

I’ve certainly found that the white noise of a creek or stream can seem to contain ‘voices’ etc. I think this may be like the old Rorsharch test, were people ‘see’ in these abstract figures something personal about themselves.

I enjoy (but not always!!) spending long evenings and nights alone in the wild. Look, my hearing isn’t that great. But I sincerely doubt that Jerry is hearing the after effects of a fjord tsunami that took place in Greenland many days earlier. a more scientific explanation might be the onset of tinnitus. One doesn’t notice it in busy normal circumstances with a fair amount of background noise. Silence brings it out.

[Jerry Adams]

I just recently heard the hum.  If I sleep near a stream or ocean or wind or insects I can’t hear it.

So, that’s not consistent with a one time event

I’m still not sure whether the noise is external, or in my head.

[peter v]

so ; am camped by a nice lake about 125 miles from village 1, and same miles from village 2, and the other 358 degrees is pretty much nothing. yet, whenever the wind dies to zero, then just over that next rise there is a generator running 1800 rpm. this been going on for decades in my case. no need to worry. 40 years of gen set service and this is what one gets.

if you worked in Europe you’d probably be hearing miasmic noises in 50hz. totally normal.

cheers,

v.

[jscott]

“I just recently heard the hum.  If I sleep near a stream or ocean or wind or insects I can’t hear it.”

possibly because tinnitus is ‘masked’ by external sounds. Yes, it’s still there, but our minds have learned to tune it out and focus on external sounds instead. Granted, speaking specifically about Jerry’s case, this is just a suggestion but based on personal experience. And the reported experiences of many others with tinnitus.

So, with tinnitus, the sound is indeed “in your head” but in a manner different than you probably meant. In other words, tinnitus is real and not imaginary. still, no one else can hear it. usually those sorts of events are dismissed as being imaginary to the person reporting them. And yet tinnitus is an extremely well documented condition recognized by scientists and medical professionals. Effort to address it have been under way for decades.

Again, I’m just making a suggestion! something else entirely may be going on.

[Jerry Adams]

A couple years ago I had enflamed eustacian tube.  And annoying tinnitus.  Eventually it went away.

I occasionally have minor tinnitus.

It’s more a single frequency, constant amplitude, higher frequency.

The hum is a lower frequency, fades in and out.

Maybe the hum is 60 hertz.  I have heard 60 hertz from industrial area far away but I don’t know if that explains it all the time.

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