Help Me ID A Mystery Sound

Factual Questions
1

Okay, I know that this is a long-long-shot. But I’m burning with curiosity.

I work part of the time as a personal assistant to an older guy, a retired engineer. He’s really cool.

Anyway, when I got to work today, he pointed out a mysterious sound that he’s been hearing frequently in his flat for about 48 hours. I heard it multiple times myself today. First of all, it is a sort of musical chime sound. It sounds a little like the sound you used to hear whenever something strange happened on “Nanny and the Professor.” It’s several notes, ascending, very pleasant, not alarming. Strangely, it is very hard to get a sense of the direction of its source, even though I have pretty good hearing.

We have ruled out nearly every single device in his house. (He’s got a lot of devices!) He says there is no new device that arrived around the time the sound started. It is NOT:

*His smoke alarm
*His CO alarm
*His alarm clock
*Any of his entertainment center apparatus
*His electronic doorbell
*His microwave
*His answering machine

So, I’m hoping that maybe this description-- er, rings a bell for somebody. (sorry. couldn’t help myself.)

Any guesses?

2

Does he share walls with any neighbors? I recently started hearing windows start-up music, but I’d usually hear it when I wasn’t in the office, so I figured it was one of our computers rebooting for some reason. I finally realized it wasn’t coming from our apartment, but from a neighbor’s.

I still don’t know why they reboot so frequently. Very odd.

3

A watch with an alarm that he’s dropped somewhere and forgotten?

Is there a set frequency he’s noticed? Once an hour? Four times a day? Five minutes apart? Totally random?

4

Try unplugging everything and see what happens. If you no longer hear it, the mystery should be solved as you systematically plug things back in.

I just thought of something: Does he have Tivo? Does he hear the sound when fast-forwarding or reversing through commercials?

5

A cellphone sounding a voicemail reminder maybe? (if you don’t normally use voicemail, this could suddenly start happening, and be unfamiliar)

A cordless conventional phone handset off its charging station, sounding a low battery warning?

6

Ah, it’s 14 kilohertz of glockenspiel in a flat, played down-tempo.

7

It’s an Annoy-a-tron.

8

Nobody is going to respond to my comment? Really? Really?!

Maybe it was just such a perfect answer that it left everyone speechless.

9

Does it sound like this?

10

Neighbor’s wind chimes?

11

We’re all too far away to smack you. :stuck_out_tongue:

What kind of place does the gent live in? In town, out-of-town?

12

Sleeps With Butterflies: It’s at 5-10-minute intervals; sometimes longer. Stops awhile, starts up again.

panache45: No, no TiVo. Good guess, though.

Mangetout: Great idea! He does have a cell he never uses; I’ll check that out next Wednesday. He has a cordless too, but he hangs it up regularly.

Autolycus: Ach!! For shame! (hee hee)

CairoCarol: Yikes! I hope not!

ivan astikov: Sadly, no.

AllShookDown: No, it’s an electronic sound for sure; although it bears a lot of resemblance to a windchime sound. (except, on a Casio)

NinetyWt: He lives in a nice residential neighborhood in the East Bay Area. A commercial district is just far enough away to not be the source.
The sound is almost definitely in the room. My apologies for tardiness here; I was out of town. Thanks everyone; if I find out what it is on Wednesday, I’ll let you know.

13

Ask not for whom the bell tolls…

14

I feel like Columbo asking stupid, seemingly irrelevant questions…

Has he received one of those musical birthday cards or does he have a musical tie?

What about the thermostat? Is it one of those digital ones or an old timey one?

Is the apartment new or old? Could it be an abandoned oil tank still reminding to refill?

Do any of the floor boards seem recently disturbed? :smiley:

15

Ref your other post, I just got to this thread. Ref the quoted post - Perfect.

Unfortunately, there’s an angry mob with pitchforks over there that also wants to talk to you …

16

Moving thread from IMHO to General Questions.

17

Could it be a neighbors instant messaging program? I know that we have had people at work who seem incapable of shutting off their AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) sounds and it rings kind of like a casio bell whenever they send or receive a message.

18

Good one, nachtmusick.

19

This one is famous in Tennessee, but the description doesn’t quite fit:

The Bell Witch

20

Seems like you’ve answered your own question.