# Hearing Music in new construction house. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608 "2012-12-30T22:51:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Netlace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Netlace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netlace)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/21 "2013-12-30T07:24:56Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’m sure that is necessary, but here it is a racket. A guy licensed by the state installed a load center for me, but we had to pay for one of the Good Old Boys companies to stare at it before the city inspectors would condescend to stare at it and ok it. 🙂 The shady workers didn’t do the wiring. My husband did with advice and checkups by a licensed electrician. ---
**Author:** ![Netlace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Netlace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netlace)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/22 "2013-12-30T07:34:22Z")
I should have clarified that the TV I sometimes turn on (rarely) is only via FTA. Thanks for your ideas guys. If you have any ideas on how to stop this I’m all ears… lol ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/23 "2013-12-30T17:08:38Z")
The router and your daughters mobile devices to not communicate in anything that could be interpreted as music without being able to read the data stream as music, a function of software. Only way her her devices might do this is with some kind of analog wireless speakers. Sounds like a job for an electrical or electronics engineer. There are plenty of applications where rf shielding is needed and someone like that should be able to pin it down pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/24 "2014-01-01T04:22:05Z")
I don’t see how it could be free to air TV stations since TV broadcasts are all digital now and it takes a lot more than an accidental simple circuit to decode them into anything resembling music or voices. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/25 "2014-01-03T16:16:28Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I don’t see how it could be free to air TV stations since TV broadcasts are all digital now and it takes a lot more than an accidental simple circuit to decode them into anything resembling music or voices. I had totally forgotten about digital tv :smack: so that cant be it either…curiouser this becomes… ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/26 "2014-01-03T23:10:08Z")
There is one way that maybe it could be TV. Do you use one of those converter boxes with an older TV? Those pickup the digital signal and convert it to analog before sending it to the TV. It’s conceivable that that signal is leaking. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/27 "2014-01-05T01:59:04Z")
Or perhaps the TV station has a matching AM station that airs their programs, since it is talk format. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/28 "2014-01-05T03:01:26Z")
When troubleshooting computer network wiring in some buildings, I can hear AM radio on my toner. Is there any speaker or audio wiring in the house? ---
**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/29 "2014-01-05T08:47:53Z")
> [@Netlace](#): > > … I live less than 5 miles to a radio tower? Could that be it. Something is so strange… When I was in school, my dorm one year was directly next to the campus radio transmitter. I could sometimes hear music/DJ’s speaking on my computer speakers when they were turned on but idle. Try tuning through a radio to see if any station matches the music you hear. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/30 "2014-01-05T09:43:04Z")
I’m confused. Do you actually know where the sound is coming from? What do you mean “playing on the fan”? You literally hear sounds from the fan? If so - then it is the fan! If not, why are you saying “playing on the fan”? What do “bees in a jar” sound like? A cell phone vibrating? What does your husband think it is? Some of the theories make zero sense - as someone else pointed out - the TV signal is digital and can’t just be decoded by magic. I don’t get what your daughter, the box fan, the hackers, your various phone line issues have to do with this, but oh well 🙂 Are you sure you haven’t purchased some gadget you have forgotten about that uses a mic - like say a baby monitor or something? How sure are you that your daughter coming home has something to do with it? You realize that is crazy talk right? No offense 🙂 Now if she is DOING something when she comes home - like booting up her laptop - going into her room and turning on a light switch - or something that could be starting some program or device that is - well who knows. There is a relatively simple rational explanation for it - I am sure. I am pretty sure it doesn’t involve your daughter AND the fan AND the router AND the TV station. My suggestion would be to get a pen and pad and write down the time each time it happens, what you hear, and how long it lasts, and who is there, and what they heard (and where everyone was). ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/31 "2014-01-05T20:00:52Z")
You’re experiencing “musical ear syndrome.” > **[Musical ear syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_ear_syndrome)** > > Musical ear syndrome (MES) describes a condition seen in people who have hearing loss and subsequently develop auditory hallucinations. "MES" has also been associated with musical hallucinations, which is a complex form of auditory hallucinations where an individual may experience music or sounds that are heard without an external source. It is comparable to Charles Bonnet syndrome (visual hallucinations in visually impaired people) and some have suggested this phenomenon could be included It is... [http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/articles/mes.htm](http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/articles/mes.htm) > **[Many unhappy returns: Grandmother, 84, hears Happy Birthday (and five other...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2249916/Musical-ear-syndrome-The-grandmother-hears-Happy-Birthday-24-7-rare-brain-syndrome.html)** > > Cath Gamester, 84, from Liverpool, has musical ear syndrome which means she hears half a dozen songs on a constant loop as if they are being played in the room. It’s common among those with hearing loss. Among those with normal hearing, it can manifest when exposed to white noise (like a fan). My wife and I just had a discussion about this. We were at my mom’s over xmas, and had a sound machine running when we went to bed. Amid the whirring, we could hear faint music. Turn it off, and music stops. I sometimes hear similar things in our powder room when the fan is running. Best hypothesis is that, like the ringing of tinnitus, your brain is confabulating as it tries to interpret the noise as having some meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/32 "2014-01-05T23:42:29Z")
Thank you **toadspittle**. I’ve been asking my husband if he hears the singing or orchestra I hear for years. It’s always when a fan is running. It’s always beautiful music; I was just mystified why he couldn’t hear it too. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/33 "2014-01-06T01:06:52Z")
> [@Heckity](#): > > It’s always beautiful music. Then perhaps there’s a beautiful musician hidden inside you! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/34 "2014-01-06T01:12:40Z")
Have we established that anyone besides the OP can hear this “music”? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/35 "2014-01-06T04:19:46Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I don’t see how it could be free to air TV stations since TV broadcasts are all digital now and it takes a lot more than an accidental simple circuit to decode them into anything resembling music or voices. Wrong. There are still analog low-power TV transmitters and there will be until 2015. ---
**Author:** ![Netlace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Netlace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netlace)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/36 "2015-11-05T03:24:22Z")
Update… As the problem kept increasing I now know in part what was causing it. I seemed to have stopped the talking fan by deleting all the media entries named “radio” in the registry of my laptop. It doesn’t explain some things such as… 1. When my daughter came in from work it would always start. I think her iPhone was it. When she left it would not always stop. Sometimes would continue for days. 2. The registry entries said “analog Radio” and I heard channel 4 news distinctly. Along with talk, music, preaching etc. A month ago U-Verse lost all power over a couple of states. It was at that time I heard the silence and normal hum of the fan. This helped in understanding the source. I kept deleting Bluetooth entries but they would return on next boot. It has been 48 hours of quiet since deleting “radio”. If anyone should stumble on this later give this a try if you don’t care about media center. Delete all radio entries but NOT the radio Buttons for IE explorer and Windows Explorer. They say Type=Radio. I am glad for now at least, it is quiet in our house! ---
**Author:** ![Netlace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Netlace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netlace)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/37 "2015-11-05T03:30:52Z")
BTW the reason for the long delay on my responses is my laptop was hit with some virus that took all the computers we own to display boot missing. I had to buy a new computer. I tried to access this with a cheap tablet but could not find “login” sorry ---
**Author:** ![Netlace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Netlace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netlace)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/38 "2015-11-05T03:35:28Z")
I should mention for anyone who tries this registry trick, be sure to export each entry prior to delete. Just in case… ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608/39 "2015-11-05T04:02:06Z")
I am no electronics engineer but I am a computer repair guy. I cannot imagine any way your laptop would somehow broadcast music you only hear via fan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-music-in-new-construction-house/645608.md?page=1)