# Subsonic Sound and Hitler **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 25, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417 "2010-02-25T18:05:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/1 "2010-02-25T18:05:24Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/243/does-subsonic-sound-cause-acute-anxiety](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/243/does-subsonic-sound-cause-acute-anxiety) Is it true that Hitler utilized subsonic sound during his speeches to induce a feeling of unease in the listeners when he talked about things he wanted the crowd to rally against, but shut off the frequency when talking about things he wanted them to support? Would this even work on a large crowd of people in an open area? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/2 "2010-02-25T19:56:30Z")
Never heard of that, but I have heard that very low soundwaves have been used in the soundtracks of some horror movies to heighten the audience’s sense of unease. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/3 "2010-02-25T19:58:45Z")
I’ve felt it at an outdoor concert once. Horrible, horrible experience. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/4 "2010-02-25T20:06:47Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > I’ve felt it at an outdoor concert once. In Nuremberg? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/5 "2010-02-25T20:19:03Z")
I just have to say the thread title is my favorite in awhile. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/6 "2010-02-25T20:50:56Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > In Nuremberg? No, Manchester. I think the bass amps were creating some crazy feedback or something, but you could feel the vibrations through thick concrete terraces and it certainly made you nauseous, and uneasy. People were vacating the area in droves before the problem was sorted out. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/7 "2010-02-25T20:53:10Z")
I can’t remember where I heard about this, but I may not have described it accurately. It may be that they utilized subsonic frequencies before he spoke to make the crowd feel kinda bad, then shut it off when he began to speak so that the people in the crowd instantly felt better. ---
**Author:** ![OldUHFGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@OldUHFGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldUHFGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/8 "2010-02-26T03:32:10Z")
Could this be why people living near wind farms complain about weird physical problems when the machines are running ? Perhaps it is the low frequency pulses from the rotor blades. Then again, maybe it’s just NIMBY ! ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/9 "2010-02-26T03:57:43Z")
If Hitler was giving a speech in my neighbourhood, I’d be a MIMBY. ---
**Author:** ![NomadUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e57/32.png) [@NomadUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NomadUK)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/10 "2010-02-26T15:02:08Z")
> [@](#): > > I read once, in some dusty and dimly remembered mystery, that subsonic sound (or sound that is much lower in pitch than can be heard) will cause acute anxiety I’ll bet that Barbara H., of Evanston, Illinois, is referring to _The Mystery of Terror Castle_, the first of The Three Investigators juvenile mystery novels. Our intrepid teenage private detectives set out to determine if an old Hollywood mansion is haunted, and are sent racing out into the night, scared witless by nothing they can describe. It turns out that subsonic sound was being used to induce a state of fear into them. I loved those stories. Put the Hardy Boys to shame. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/11 "2010-02-26T16:58:04Z")
Yeah, with the secret hideout in the junkyard, and a limo at their beck and call. Good reading when you’re a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/12 "2010-02-26T18:17:51Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Never heard of that, but I have heard that very low soundwaves have been used in the soundtracks of some horror movies to heighten the audience’s sense of unease. The [live-action version of “Aeon Flux” (2005)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86on_Flux_(film)) utilized infrasound, I presume for the reason you describe. I don’t remember much of the movie, but I do recall noticing the sound when Charlize Theron’s character was being detained in some sort of prison cell with all-white walls. It didn’t make me anxious; rather, I just barely perceived the low-frequency vibration, so I replayed the scene with my subwoofer’s volume turned all the way up. Sure enough, it was definitely and deliberately there - something around 10 Hz? - and wasn’t there during other scenes in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/13 "2010-02-27T11:09:51Z")
In his column, Cecil says > [@](#): > > In nature, infrasonic waves are produced only by earthquakes Not true. Infrasound is produced by a variety of natural phenomenon, and several different animal species use it for communication. From [Wiki article on Infrasound](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound) > [@](#): > > Infrasound sometimes results naturally from severe weather, surf, lee waves, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanoes, bolides, waterfalls, calving of icebergs, aurora, lightning and upper-atmospheric lightning. … > > Whales, elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceros, giraffes, okapi, and alligators are known to use infrasound to communicate over distances—up to hundreds of miles in the case of whales. ---
**Author:** ![Recliner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a88e57/32.png) [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/14 "2010-03-01T21:13:44Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I can’t remember where I heard about this, but I may not have described it accurately. It may be that they utilized subsonic frequencies before he spoke to make the crowd feel kinda bad, then shut it off when he began to speak so that the people in the crowd instantly felt better. _read WHOLE thread, fool! \_ ---
**Author:** ![Recliner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a88e57/32.png) [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subsonic-sound-and-hitler/530417/15 "2010-03-01T21:15:25Z")
Haha, anyone want to start a Three Investigators thread? That series kicked ass.