# Death by Loud Noise? Is this a real thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518 "2016-03-10T03:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/1 "2016-03-10T03:52:50Z")
I was half asleep and there was the TV version of “click bait” on, and one segment was about some breakdancer (a woman, in NYC, or somewhere around there) that was more-or-less killed by “high volume”. Some kind of loud music or specific frequency caused her to stoke out. Here is why I ask: I like my music LOUD. I mean \*\*LOUD. \*\* Every now and then, especially when listening to certain songs, my scalp will tingle, and goosebumps will appear on my arms and elsewhere. And when I say tingle, I mean that shit is wriggling like a snake! Damn near like a seizure! Is it the volume or a specific “sound”? I know the dogs will go crazy if I play \*Maggot Brain \*and start howling (they also don’t like _Dogs_ by **Pink Floyd** or **Jane’s Addiction** ) Am I at risk for death/suicide by **Boston, Cheap Trick, Drive-By Truckers, Yes** or **Rush**? Certainly better than cancer… Mods, if this has no “real” answer, or you feel it should go somewhere else, feel free! ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/2 "2016-03-10T04:09:02Z")
Searching for “death by loud noise” will get you the details but the short answer is no. Sonic weapons exist, but they’re very specialized and not something you are ever likely to encounter. As someone who spent several years engineering in a sound studio, where LOUD is the norm, I would suggest that you are setting yourself up for hearing loss later in life. Hearing aids are a drag, trust me, I know. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/3 "2016-03-10T04:15:46Z")
Death by Loud Music? Probably not without deliberately trying to do so with a huge investment in equipment. Death by Loud Sound? Well, an explosion is pretty loud, and plenty of people die from those… ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/4 "2016-03-10T04:24:04Z")
[From 2001 the Master Speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2298/can-a-noise-be-loud-enough-to-kill-you). [ExtremeTech from 2014](http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/175996-can-a-loud-enough-sound-kill-you) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/5 "2016-03-10T04:25:22Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > Sonic weapons exist, but they’re very specialized and not something you are ever likely to encounter. Actually, \*I have! \*I used to work for some planar transducer wonks that developed a "sonic laser’, so-to-speak. That was fucking cool! You could point it a mile away, and you would be convinced the target was the source of the sound. Freaky. They were working for the Navy at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/6 "2016-03-10T04:31:51Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > [From 2001 the Master Speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2298/can-a-noise-be-loud-enough-to-kill-you). > > [ExtremeTech from 2014](http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/175996-can-a-loud-enough-sound-kill-you) Good reading! I need to turn my shit down. As it is, my windows shake and things fall off my shelves. But Goddammit! It sounds _better_ loud! ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/7 "2016-03-10T04:38:28Z")
Also see: Brown Note > **[Brown note](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_note)** > > The brown note, also sometimes called the brown frequency or brown noise, is a hypothetical infrasonic frequency capable of causing fecal incontinence by creating acoustic resonance in the human bowel. Considered an urban myth, the name is a metonym for the common color of human faeces. Attempts to demonstrate the existence of a "brown note" using sound waves transmitted through the air have failed. > Frequencies supposedly involved are between 5 and 9 Hz, which are below the lower frequency limit... ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/8 "2016-03-10T07:54:32Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Death by Loud Sound? Well, an explosion is pretty loud, and plenty of people die from those… True - although in the case of explosions, isn’t it the \*hypersonic \*shock wave that does the damage. What’s the worst damage that can be done by a non-hypersonic wave in air? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/9 "2016-03-10T11:09:02Z")
Well - Joshua used sound to knock down the walls of Jericho… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/10 "2016-03-10T13:26:54Z")
At some level sound stops being “sound” and becomes aggressive pressure fluctuations. Which can get strong enough to shake you into a concussion or worse. I’m thinking the kind of “noise” you get standing next to a rocket ship launch. The difference is an explosion is one short sharp pressure wave, plus whatever reflections occur. Something like a rocket engine is a continuous oscillation of immense force. ---
**Author:** ![joema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@joema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joema)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/11 "2016-03-11T16:43:22Z")
The threshold for a fatal sound level (roughly 200 db) was discussed by Cecil Adams here: > **[Can a noise be loud enough to kill you?](https://www.straightdope.com/21343434/can-a-noise-be-loud-enough-to-kill-you)** The Saturn V moon rocket is sometimes described as producing 204 db, however the actual measurement was apparently on a _single_ F-1 engine mounted on a test stand in 1964 before the entire five-engine vehicle flew. This document says it was equivalent to 40 million watts of acoustic energy. They mention taking sound spectral measurements at 1,000 ft distance and this could imply the sound pressure measurement was taken there, but it doesn’t clearly say: [history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/documents/VB\_WN\_196404.pdf](http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/documents/VB_WN_196404.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/12 "2016-03-11T17:06:49Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Well - Joshua used sound to knock down the walls of Jericho… Not to mention Tailor Paul and the others of The Nine Tailors… ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/13 "2016-03-12T03:04:55Z")
Not to mention _Disaster Area._ ---
**Author:** ![Bert\_Nobbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bert\_Nobbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bert_Nobbins)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/14 "2016-03-12T16:04:29Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > Not to mention Tailor Paul and the others of The Nine Tailors… Well done that man. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/15 "2016-03-12T22:23:15Z")
> [@joema](#): > > … > > The Saturn V moon rocket is sometimes described as producing 204 db, however the actual measurement was apparently on a _single_ F-1 engine mounted on a test stand in 1964 before the entire five-engine vehicle flew. This document says it was equivalent to 40 million watts of acoustic energy. They mention taking sound spectral measurements at 1,000 ft distance and this could imply the sound pressure measurement was taken there, but it doesn’t clearly say: > > [history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/documents/VB\_WN\_196404.pdf](http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/documents/VB_WN_196404.pdf) Great document(s). Great find within the docs. ETA plus now I know eight negros worked at Kennedy Space Center in 1964. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-loud-noise-is-this-a-real-thing/748518/16 "2016-03-12T22:55:22Z")
> **[Did Loud Music Kill British Teen?](https://abcnews.go.com/Health/HeartRhythmNews/british-teens-death-caused-loud-music/story?id=9344432)** > > British teenager Tom Reid visited a nightclub the day after enrolling in college. It seems the loud music he heard there may have killed him. ``` I found this story about a teenager that may had dies from loud noise but he had a medical condition . ```