{"id":2885,"date":"2017-03-26T18:11:51","date_gmt":"2017-03-26T17:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jamiebrightmore.com\/?p=2885"},"modified":"2020-03-21T09:24:41","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T09:24:41","slug":"the-bristol-hum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jamiebrightmore.com\/other\/the-bristol-hum\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bristol Hum"},"content":{"rendered":"
I moved to Bristol just over four years ago. I hear The Hum<\/strong>. In fact, I can hear it right now as I type at 11am on a sunny March morning.<\/p>\n In the past four years I lived in a first floor flat of an old building, built circa 1850. I always thought the noise I could hear was something to do with the neighbours, perhaps a heating system, tumble drier, or desk fan. I got to know my immediate neighbours well (above and below) and\u00a0possible causes such as those mentioned above were\u00a0swiftly ruled out. The adjoining neighbours were separated\u00a0by a very solid and thick wall, but I assumed the noise must be from\u00a0them. The hum wasn’t consistent between 2013\u20132017, but I could hear it most of the time.<\/p>\n To those who can hear it, the noise can be infuriating, especially as it seems much more prominent at night, likely due the any background noise being minimal. I can attest to the common descriptions; a diesel truck idling down the road; the distant rumbling and occasional oscillation of a common desk fan, perhaps bolted to a wall; an amp left switched on, etc. It’s a low frequency hum, that\u00a0is what it is.<\/p>\n While away travelling last year, in New York, Prague, and the South of France, I didn’t hear the hum, but I have heard it in London. The sound can be masked by things like; white noise, music on headphones, central heating, fridge cycles, etc.<\/p>\n I recently moved home, very close to my old flat, but this time on the ground \/ garden level with the home’s elevation higher this time, up a small hill. I mention this because there are reports that the sound is more noticeable on hills as opposed to in valleys. Again, the building is old, circa 1800, but has been modernised over time. The subfloor is concrete, I have no idea how the foundations were laid.<\/p>\n The hum here is very<\/em> prominent, in fact in the 6 weeks or so I have been here I can account for only one occasion where the noise completely disappeared… one Sunday morning three weeks ago. My initial feeling\u00a0is that the vibration is coming from the ground, through the foundations, and can be heard through the structure of the building. This would make sense as to why I could often hear it in my previous flat.<\/p>\n I began to research the phenomenon and quickly discovered that The Hum was not exclusive to Bristol with reports coming from all around the planet. The World Hum Map<\/a> is a resource for people to report the noise and is doing a great deal to collate data. I’ve linked to some interesting pieces of information I’ve found below.<\/p>\n Here are a few things suggested over the years (links are to Wikipedia articles):<\/p>\n While some of these border on the ridiculous there is definitely something going on here. I’d love to know what it is and also why some people just cannot seem to hear it. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a perfectly good scientific reason like the Schumann Resonance<\/strong> theory.<\/p>\n The Hum on Wikipedia<\/strong> The World Hum Map<\/strong> Article on BBC Future which inc. a 12 min. documentary (12th August 2016)<\/strong> The BBC Future film was recently uploaded to BBC Earth Lab on YouTube (7th July 2017)<\/strong> World Hum – New “Schumann Resonance theory” (27th Sep 2015)<\/strong> Bristol hum: Council investigates mystery noise (19th Jan 2016)<\/strong> The strange case of the Bristol hum (19th Jan 2016)<\/strong>What does it sound like?<\/h2>\n
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New Home<\/h2>\n
Initial Research<\/h2>\n
So What Is it?<\/h2>\n
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Research Links<\/h2>\n
\nhttps:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Hum<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/thehum.info<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\/story\/20160811-the-mystery-noise-driving-the-world-mad<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QpeKot2X_O8<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/MJkcHwvKdv8<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-bristol-35353241<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/magazine-35344544<\/a><\/p>\n\n