The Musical Furnace

Noticed the strangest phenomenon that's been occurring since a few years back: every time my forced air natural gas furnace runs a cycle, I hear music playing faintly, almost as though it's softly emanating from the conduit. The songs/genres are different every time, but it is distinct - the last tune was like a repetitive lilting Irish folk tune. Last night I recall a sort of East Indian pop song. Other times it might be disco or country. Never any banter or radio call signs. I'm a musician myself, so perhaps the explanation is simply my mind's ear forming it into cohesive, orchestrated patters? And it's never songs I'm familiar with. Or maybe the natural gas and the piping coupled with the blower motor are somehow tapping into a streaming music service in some sort of fluky electro-mechanical antenna?

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Or it's just a gas leak.

  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    If it's every time, then you can fire her up and see if it's bone vibration or air vibrating audio that microphone will record. Then post furnace.mp3

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      I recorded using a dynamic mic placed close to one of the vents, amplified it with software... and nothing. Maybe a condenser mic will get better results. It's so bizarre.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        I'm very sorry to say this, but I think you might be in the early stages of schizophrenia.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Quite certain I am not. I haven't bothered with audio work in some time. I believe in rational explanations. I set my mic stand as high as it will go and I DID capture something, but it was nothing like the rhythmic music I described but more like a broadcast. I removed the noise profile and reamplified it, and there was a male voice... sounded like a radio DJ, and a female voice that periodically suffered from digital degradation. I live alone in a detached house. Very curious. Whatever the exact source of the music I am hearing seems impossible to pinpoint, it just seems to resonate whenever the furnace is running. It is a wee bit unsettling, but the tunes themselves are tasteful. I did hear one earlier that sounded familiar... some late nineties top-forty sounding stuff. Curious... voices seemingly out of nowhere. I'd attribute it to by mic's long XLR cable acting as a de-facto antennae. Though I don't discount the 'tricky spirits' anon's much spookier suggestion as to its origins.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            It’s Matthew mcconaughey In the quantum attempting to send you a message duh

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Its either you have a little song band that is living inside your furnace, or you have trickster spirits using it to play musical tricks on you, or it’s just your musician’s ear that puts together anything it picks up into song.

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >perhaps the explanation is simply my mind's ear forming it into cohesive, orchestrated patters?
    I think there's a term for this phenomenon, but it's interesting you can't hear it on playback. Maybe the nuance of the vibration is lost on replay. This happens to me a lot, it's really neat.
    Unrelated, but since you're a musician and all, i like to hear snips of unknown songs at a really low volume because I can cobble together a completely different tune that's totally unique and sometimes worth writing down. Cool thread, hope it's up tomorrow when i get up.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Yes, it's called apophenia.

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    phreaking is magic just like cyrbermancy

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Neat. For the past week I've been hearing faint music but it doesnt seem to come from my neighboring apartments. I can't exactly describe the genres but its definitely more towards classical. Today it sounded like a flute and high pitched, but its always just on the edge of being audible, making me wonder if I'm imagining it. It's like a fluttering improvised tune.

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Clearly the divine has sent muses and wishes you to transcribe their music on paper

  8. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >https://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/phantom-music-with-normal-hearing-whats-going-on/
    Read much of this article, but I'm not convinced it's so-called "audio pareidolia" that I'm experiencing. Another thing, the furnace fan runs at two speeds, and I only hear it when it kicks into high gear. Given that a furnace fan motor has electrical windings, and spins at specific frequencies, is it not possible that the big metal stack it's connected to is somehow serving as an antennae? Like by fluke, my furnace running at high speed is a de facto radio receiver, the conduit acts as an amplifier, and the vents are effectively weak speakers?

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      If you’re hearing phantom noise better start pinning it on the phantom if there’s no logical explanation. Are you an engineer furnace anon?

  9. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Microwave auditory effect. Nu-/x/ doesn’t even know. Anyways, welcome to the club. Do you also deal with hyperacusis, better known as sensitivity to sound or stimulation?

  10. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    It might just be your brain trying to process the noises coming from the furnace. Like how you can find "faces" in things because your brain is wired to spot faces. I have had times where random noises sounded like music when in reality they were actualy just random noises. Your brain is just trying to find something that isnt there.

  11. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >OP's furnace has a leak and he trips tf out on fumes everytimr he uses it

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