Humming
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A hum is a sound made by producing a wordless tone with the mouth closed, forcing the sound to emerge from the nose. To hum is to produce such a sound, often with a melody. It is also associated with thoughtful absorption, 'hmm'.
A hum has a particular
was named for the sound that bird makes in flight which sounds like a hum.Mechanics
A 'hum' or 'humming' by humans is created by the resonance of air in various parts of passages in the head and throat, in the act of breathing. The 'hum' that a hummingbird creates is also created by resonance: in this case by air resistance against wings in the actions of flying, especially of hovering.
Humming in human evolution
Charles Darwin was the first to notice this phenomenon on the example of the wild horses and the cattle.[2] Joseph Jordania suggested that for humans, as for many social animals, silence can be a sign of danger, and that's why gentle humming and musical sounds relax humans (see the use of gentle music in music therapy, lullabies).[3]
Humming in language
In Pirahã, the only surviving dialect of the Mura language, there is a special register of speech which uses solely humming, with no audible release.[4]
Music
Humming is often used in music of genres, from classical (for example, the famous chorus at the end of Act 2 of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly) to jazz to R&B.
Another form of music derived from basic humming is the humwhistle. Folk art, also known as "whistle-hum," produces a high pitch and low pitch simultaneously. The two-tone sound is related to field holler, overtone singing, and yodeling the music.
See also
- Kazoo
- The Hum – an apparently widespread phenomenon involving a low-frequency hum of unknown origin, inaudible to most people
- Mains hum – an electric or electromagnetic phenomenon that causes a low frequency (50 or 60 Hz) audible signal
References
- ^ Jordania, J. (2009). Times to Fight and Times to Relax Singing and Humming at the Beginnings of Human Evolutionary History. Kadmos, 1, 272–277
- ^ Darwin, Charles. (1871). Descent of Men. 2004:123
- ^ Jordania, Joseph (2010). Music and Emotions: humming in Human Prehistory (proceedings of the International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony, held in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2008
- .
External links
- The dictionary definition of hum at Wiktionary