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DonnyThompson 19 April 2016

I just found out about this - apparently there is an intermittent audible low end oscillation ( 35-50 hz) that permeates the Windsor, Ontario region. The source has been discovered, it's a steel mill located on Zug Island in Detroit across the river from Windsor.

LOL.. I wonder how big of a bass trap they'd need to absorb this ... It must be a drag for recording studios in the area. ;)

At the 1:00 mark

spectro analysis:

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DonnyThompson Tue, 04/19/2016 - 04:04

Yeah, I live about 180 miles or so from Detroit ( driving route)... although as the crow flies, it's only about 115 miles from me.
I've never heard anything like that here, nor do I know anyone who has; although Cleveland/Akron/Canton has its fair share of active steel works and other factories... Northeast Ohio is pretty industrialized... it's fair to say that we here are part of The Rust Belt.

Apparently, it affects that whole region across the river on the Windsor side - although surprisingly, those who live on the Detroit side don't hear it nearly as much.

I don't know if geography has anything to do with it, like maybe the earth itself is channeling the sound towards Windsor more than towards Detroit...? I skipped that day in seismic school. ;)

Brien might have an idea as to why. @Brien Holcombe

DonnyThompson Tue, 04/19/2016 - 09:14

I hadn't thought of that, but you're right, Hawk.

When I was in grade school, we did a class trip to the Morton Salt Mine under Lake Erie ( in Cleveland) and it was massive; miles of tunnels and cavities; connected by roads and tracks. There were huge Massey Ferguson bulldozers, diggers and drilling machines down there... that, according to our tour guide, were there permanently and had to be put together in sections; at that time ( 60's) they didn't have the ability to just drive those machines in, they had to be assembled in the mine, and the only way to get them back out when they needed replaced - which was frequent, apparently because of the corrosion from the salt - was to disassemble them first.
That may have changed over the years, though... that was a long time ago.

OBrien Tue, 04/19/2016 - 12:20

Lincoln Park and Kid Rock rehearsing?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vi8ek3hqiof81ca/UW Study Report.compressed.pdf?dl=0
"The researchers also observed a specific nighttime operation, described as a bright blue flame from several exhaust stacks located on Zug Island, which coincided with observation of the Hum sound. The blue flames were easily visible from the Canadian shoreline, nearly one kilometer away. While there are many factors involved, a blue flame is typically an indication of high levels of oxygen during the combustion process, required in high temperature industrial operations..."

"As was shown in Figure 5 of this report, a large blue flame is an indication of a high temperature combustion process taking place. A flame of this type is capable of producing a large amount of turbulence and aerodynamic discharge noise which can be easily heard on the Canadian side of the Detroit River."

I was wondering why the only ones to complain were on the Canadian side of the river. But it became apparent that no one lived anywhere around the Detroit side within the 360 degree circle that was being sonically disturbed. I mean, I guess no one lives there, looks like crap and uninhabitable from Google Maps.

All they are looking for is to "who" the cost can be placed to eliminate the noise. Good luck with that. Maybe a big wall can be erected on the Canadian side, I hear Trump thinks he can get it done.

"1.1 The Hum Worldwide
Since the early 1970’s,similar hums have been reported throughout the world. Reports of hum, howl, and rumble have appeared in the news in communities including..."

http://www.thehum.info/

EDIT: The only thing all of these places have in common? Water and Industrialization.

audiokid Tue, 04/19/2016 - 13:09

DonnyThompson, post: 438015, member: 46114 wrote: I hadn't thought of that, but you're right, Hawk.

When I was in grade school, we did a class trip to the Morton Salt Mine under Lake Erie ( in Cleveland) and it was massive; miles of tunnels and cavities; connected by roads and tracks. There were huge Massey Ferguson bulldozers, diggers and drilling machines down there... that, according to our tour guide, were there permanently and had to be put together in sections; at that time ( 60's) they didn't have the ability to just drive those machines in, they had to be assembled in the mine, and the only way to get them back out when they needed replaced - which was frequent, apparently because of the corrosion from the salt - was to disassemble them first.
That may have changed over the years, though... that was a long time ago.

wow. That is so disturbing to me. How deep down was this? Was the Lake above you?

dvdhawk Tue, 04/19/2016 - 22:52

One of our guys here in the old Studio Construction forum was looking at buying an old church within a stone's throw of Zug Island to convert into a studio. A nice drone note would be one of many deal-breakers. The church looked classic, but the neighborhood looked like it was pretty well abandoned back then. I'm hoping he passed on the church deal, because the current satellite photos look like the whole area's being razed and they're bulldozing and burning the remains.

audiokid, post: 438019, member: 1 wrote: wow. That is so disturbing to me. How deep down was this? Was the Lake above you?

I don't know where Donny went, but the world's largest underground salt mine is 1800 ft. below Lake Huron (one of the shallower Great Lakes @ 750 ft. ).

Quoted from the Compass Minerals website: "Compass Minerals’ Goderich salt mine, located 1,800 feet under Lake Huron, is the largest underground salt mine in the world. The mine is as deep as the CN Tower in Toronto is tall."


And there have been mines under Detroit for 100+ years.

DonnyThompson Wed, 04/20/2016 - 01:03

Brien Holcombe, post: 438018, member: 48996 wrote: Maybe a big wall can be erected on the Canadian side, I hear Trump thinks he can get it done.

:LOL::LOL:

Oh, the shame.

audiokid, post: 438019, member: 1 wrote: Was the Lake above you?

Yeah. I don't recall how deep we went, but it was under Lake Erie.

Brien Holcombe, post: 438018, member: 48996 wrote: I was wondering why the only ones to complain were on the Canadian side of the river. But it became apparent that no one lived anywhere around the Detroit side within the 360 degree circle that was being sonically disturbed. I mean, I guess no one lives there, looks like crap and uninhabitable from Google Maps.

That makes sense to me. Detroit is in really bad shape, has been for years. I saw a documentary a few years back about the city, film crews were shooting footage of entire neighborhoods that had been abandoned; all existing structures had been boarded up, and there were waist-high weeds growing up through the pavement of the streets. Obviously the whole city isn't like that, but a lot of it is in pretty bad shape. If there's no one there to hear the hum, then there's no one there to complain.

DonnyThompson Wed, 04/20/2016 - 02:29

Sean G, post: 438027, member: 49362 wrote: Was it eerie ?

Well, actually, it was. Very desolate. Looked liked something out of a sci-fi movie. We've probably all heard the term "I guess it's back to the salt mines"...describing a job we don't want but are forced to take.

That phrase definitely fits in terms of a place you really wouldn't want to spend much time in. ;)

DonnyThompson Thu, 04/21/2016 - 03:26

Brien Holcombe, post: 438018, member: 48996 wrote: "As was shown in Figure 5 of this report, a large blue flame is an indication of a high temperature combustion process taking place. A flame of this type is capable of producing a large amount of turbulence and aerodynamic discharge noise which can be easily heard on the Canadian side of the Detroit River."

This. ↑

This makes a lot of sense to me. Think about the sound that a large flame makes when force fed oxygen.
On a MUCH smaller scale, even my home's furnace makes a low frequency rumble when it kicks on, as the fan is forcing air across the burner... now, scale that up to a HUGE combustion, a giant stack, and you could see where there would definitely be a large low frequency oscillation.

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