It's a fan, not a jukebox
January 16, 2020 1:05 AM Subscribe
I often hear low volume music whenever I turn on the bathroom fan. What gives?
When I turn on the fan in my bathroom (or at my in-law's house), I often hear a low murmur of mostly of the disco variety. (Yesterday it was more piano though.) It doesn't seem to be actual music coming through the fan, as my in-laws have their own free-standing house and certainly don't listen to disco music. It's also never a song I recognize, and I'm usually pretty good at recognizing songs.
My guess is that the hum of the fan causes something that makes my brain fill in the noise with music. I'm 30 and I've had it for at least a few years now - until I moved to Japan, I never lived anywhere with bathroom fans, but sometimes I experience the same phenonomen on the airplane when it hums loudly. I guess on the plane I always thought someone was having their music on too loud though.
Does anyone else experience this? What is the cause? Is it normal?
When I turn on the fan in my bathroom (or at my in-law's house), I often hear a low murmur of mostly of the disco variety. (Yesterday it was more piano though.) It doesn't seem to be actual music coming through the fan, as my in-laws have their own free-standing house and certainly don't listen to disco music. It's also never a song I recognize, and I'm usually pretty good at recognizing songs.
My guess is that the hum of the fan causes something that makes my brain fill in the noise with music. I'm 30 and I've had it for at least a few years now - until I moved to Japan, I never lived anywhere with bathroom fans, but sometimes I experience the same phenonomen on the airplane when it hums loudly. I guess on the plane I always thought someone was having their music on too loud though.
Does anyone else experience this? What is the cause? Is it normal?
There are a bunch of cases of people reporting that a fan is picking up radio signals, e.g. this iflscience post and a handful of quora users. (Famously, there are claims that it's possible for mercury fillings in teeth to do the same thing, given strong signal and some bad luck).
AM radio works by electromagnetic waves travelling through the air then inducing a tiny current in a wire (the radio's aerial) which then gets turned directly into corresponding sound waves by the speaker.* A fan is a device for taking in a (much larger) current in a wire and turning it into air movement. It's at least plausible that a strong AM radio signal could induce enough of a current in the fan's wiring to result in the fan making minute changes in its speed/power as if it were an unamplified, extremely crap speaker.
If you have an AM radio handy next time you hear it, you could try tuning along the dial to see whether you can find the same music playing on a station.
All that being said, humans are wired for pattern-spotting, and we're all prone to perceiving stuff that isn't there -- hearing our name in a snatch of conversation, spotting bunny shapes in the clouds, or whatever. Maybe you're just a bit prone to fitting noise into music?
*Well, all radio works like this, more or less. But for FM and especially digital radio, the relationship between the pattern of the radio wave and the pattern of the resulting sound wave that comes out of the radio is less direct. I'd be surprised if FM could have this effect, and digital is right out.
posted by metaBugs at 1:41 AM on January 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
AM radio works by electromagnetic waves travelling through the air then inducing a tiny current in a wire (the radio's aerial) which then gets turned directly into corresponding sound waves by the speaker.* A fan is a device for taking in a (much larger) current in a wire and turning it into air movement. It's at least plausible that a strong AM radio signal could induce enough of a current in the fan's wiring to result in the fan making minute changes in its speed/power as if it were an unamplified, extremely crap speaker.
If you have an AM radio handy next time you hear it, you could try tuning along the dial to see whether you can find the same music playing on a station.
All that being said, humans are wired for pattern-spotting, and we're all prone to perceiving stuff that isn't there -- hearing our name in a snatch of conversation, spotting bunny shapes in the clouds, or whatever. Maybe you're just a bit prone to fitting noise into music?
*Well, all radio works like this, more or less. But for FM and especially digital radio, the relationship between the pattern of the radio wave and the pattern of the resulting sound wave that comes out of the radio is less direct. I'd be surprised if FM could have this effect, and digital is right out.
posted by metaBugs at 1:41 AM on January 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
I agree with rd45, this sounds like auditory pareidolia.
I understand this is more common when people have hearing loss and/or tinnitus. In that case it's sometimes called musical ear syndrome. If you're not aware of any hearing loss, might be worth getting it checked.
Are you sleeping okay? For me this is much more common and prominent when I'm sleep deprived. For a while when I was regularly getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night, I could sit in my apartment and listen to white noise like it was the radio. The dishwasher was pretty catchy as I recall.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 2:22 AM on January 16, 2020 [6 favorites]
I understand this is more common when people have hearing loss and/or tinnitus. In that case it's sometimes called musical ear syndrome. If you're not aware of any hearing loss, might be worth getting it checked.
Are you sleeping okay? For me this is much more common and prominent when I'm sleep deprived. For a while when I was regularly getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night, I could sit in my apartment and listen to white noise like it was the radio. The dishwasher was pretty catchy as I recall.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 2:22 AM on January 16, 2020 [6 favorites]
I think this happened to me the other day with the fan in the kitchen hood. Like Two unicycles, I was pretty sleep deprived. Didn’t notice it last night with the same fan (or any other time).
posted by eirias at 2:35 AM on January 16, 2020
posted by eirias at 2:35 AM on January 16, 2020
I sometimes turn on a fan in my bedroom before going to sleep and it's not uncommon that I "hear music" or sometimes something that sounds like a really low volume TV discussion going on, but if I move slightly or turn my head a bit it'll go away. I take it as auditory pareidolia that comes from the sound of air moving along the fan blades/into the room as it doesn't change much over time, so not like a music or TV station might, and when I focus on it it loses some of the quality that I associated with the likeness of the sound.
posted by gusottertrout at 4:20 AM on January 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by gusottertrout at 4:20 AM on January 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
I have experienced this! And I have no other hearing issues, just something in my brain interprets rhymthic noises on the edge of my hearing as music. I think it's a similar effect to how you can look at a dressing gown hanging up in the dark and think for a moment it's a person. I vote normal.
posted by stillnocturnal at 4:33 AM on January 16, 2020
posted by stillnocturnal at 4:33 AM on January 16, 2020
I believe most people will learn to detect a phantom ‘beat’ or pattern after spending enough time in a quite room with a fan or other noise generator, and many of us will sometimes hear phantasmal music or voices too.
If it’s not especially problematic I say learn to enjoy it! I usually do, except when I’m trying to sleep.
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:54 AM on January 16, 2020
If it’s not especially problematic I say learn to enjoy it! I usually do, except when I’m trying to sleep.
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:54 AM on January 16, 2020
This happens to me all the time. The human brain is hardwired to try find patterns in sensory input so it’s always seemed like par for the course.
Fans in particular generate a lot of white noise but with an underlying regular beat. It’s not surprising to me that my brain will try to pick music out of that.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:51 AM on January 16, 2020
Fans in particular generate a lot of white noise but with an underlying regular beat. It’s not surprising to me that my brain will try to pick music out of that.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:51 AM on January 16, 2020
This occasionally happens to me with the fan in my bedroom; it started when I had a concussion. It's different from the "I could make a tune to fit this white noise" thing I had before I hit my head -- I'm straight up hearing the music, but I know it isn't there. It's quiet, and it doesn't bother me.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:21 AM on January 16, 2020
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:21 AM on January 16, 2020
Response by poster: Thank you, everyone!
No hearing loss (all tests came back with great results), but definitely not sleeping well lately.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 2:56 PM on January 16, 2020
No hearing loss (all tests came back with great results), but definitely not sleeping well lately.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 2:56 PM on January 16, 2020
My aunt was able to pick up a radio station from the fillings in her teeth. If she lay *just* right in her bed, she and her husband could both hear it.
posted by tacodave at 6:15 PM on January 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by tacodave at 6:15 PM on January 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
This happens to me all the time! Many kinds of ambient noise can cause it: fans, running water, even airplanes flying above my house. I don't remember it happening before I developed some hearing loss and tinnitus a few years ago. Thanks to this question I've learned it has a name!
posted by doift at 7:48 PM on January 16, 2020
posted by doift at 7:48 PM on January 16, 2020
This happens to me all summer long. I use fans in the hot weather, and I swear I can here people talking and music. I'm so glad I'm not the only one. Really, I'm so relived! Thanks for posting.
posted by james33 at 6:57 AM on January 17, 2020
posted by james33 at 6:57 AM on January 17, 2020
This happens to me & I love it! I mostly hear things from the summer window fan I'd call "classical" but I'm not good enough of a musician to orchestrate that up. Sometimes it'll be interesting enough to hum into the "Voice Memo" app - never again to be replayed. I always figured it doesn't need an explanation - if it's hot, lie in the path of the fan & just dig the music!
posted by Wylie Kyoto at 2:31 PM on January 21, 2020
posted by Wylie Kyoto at 2:31 PM on January 21, 2020
PS: Also check your hairdryer for new hits.
posted by Wylie Kyoto at 2:32 PM on January 21, 2020
posted by Wylie Kyoto at 2:32 PM on January 21, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by rd45 at 1:28 AM on January 16, 2020 [6 favorites]