J.s. Bach? In Chiang Mai? Fuhgeddaboudit! G.d. Infrasound.

[OldChinaHam]

Has anyone noticed? When sitting peacefully in Chiang Mai, wine and cheese on hand, chamber music all cued up, suddenly there comes a pounding, pounding, pounding through ones chamber door?

What is this anyway? It sounds as if someone is testing out some low frequency non lethal weapon of some type.

I am speaking about the very loud "bass", low frequency sound which can travel long range without being easily attenuated by mere concrete walls.

Does anyone know if there are any noise abatement regulations in Chiang Mai so that some of us who like to read, or enjoy the song of a bird once in a while, can not have our peace and quiet intruded upon by these pointless but annoying sounds.

There also does not seem to be any particular time of day when this very loud low frequency sound is emitted. 3:00 AM seems as good a time as any.

I suppose that one could dig a fallout shelter thirty feet underground and play ones Bach down there without interruption, but where is the enjoyment in that?

Chiang Mai really ought to think of some way to control the irrational exuberance of our low frequency aficionados who seem only governed by their baser instincts.

O.C. Ham

Any thoughts how to reign this in?

Where is it coming from?

Is it mobile, in trucks? Or is it being emitted from some fixed site?

It is WEIRD man!

[cloudhopper]

My sympathies. Short of moving to a quiet location perhaps a noise cancelling headset? This is one of the many reasons I have always preferred to live out of earshot from the nearest neighbor.

[MESmith]

My sympathies. Short of moving to a quiet location perhaps a noise cancelling headset? This is one of the many reasons I have always preferred to live out of earshot from the nearest neighbor.

Unfortunately, bass travels long distances - kms not just meters

[HeavyDrinker]

give them the Mass in B Minor - the whole thing - at a good level...soon sorts it out...

[OldChinaHam]

Not only does low frequency sound travel long range, but the human ear has difficulty with the localization of bass sounds, we are not whales after all, and our ears are not spaced so far apart. So one always finds it difficult to tell for sure if the ultra-low base we hear is coming from the building next door or from some bar on the next street. Sometimes, it really does become quite irritating.

[cloudhopper]

My sympathies. Short of moving to a quiet location perhaps a noise cancelling headset? This is one of the many reasons I have always preferred to live out of earshot from the nearest neighbor.

Unfortunately, bass travels long distances - kms not just meters

Well the intensity diminishes with the inverse square of the distance so the farther the better.

[cloudhopper]

Not only does low frequency sound travel long range, but the human ear has difficulty with the localization of bass sounds, we are not whales after all, and our ears are not spaced so far apart. So one always finds it difficult to tell for sure if the ultra-low base we hear is coming from the building next door or from some bar on the next street. Sometimes, it really does become quite irritating.

That's true I know when I listen to the radio with a headset the sound of thunder gets right through. I used a Bose noise cancelling headset about 5 feet aft of a 300hp airplane motor for years and it was so spooky quiet I had to switch it off sometimes just to reassure myself it was still lit. However I understand that listening to Bach through a headset isn't quite the same, although sometimes with the psychedelic genre it can be quite interesting...

Edited April 23, 2013 by cloudhopper

[MESmith]

Not only does low frequency sound travel long range, but the human ear has difficulty with the localization of bass sounds, we are not whales after all, and our ears are not spaced so far apart. So one always finds it difficult to tell for sure if the ultra-low base we hear is coming from the building next door or from some bar on the next street. Sometimes, it really does become quite irritating.

That's true I know when I listen to the radio with a headset the sound of thunder gets right through. I used a Bose noise cancelling headset about 5 feet aft of a 300hp airplane motor for years and it was so spooky quiet I had to switch it off sometimes just to reassure myself it was still lit. However I understand that listening to Bach through a headset isn't quite the same, although sometimes with the psychedelic genre it can be quite interesting...

Is a 300hp motor the same kind of low frequency as the really heavy bass you get from the sound systems folk love over here? That's a real question, not a personal attack.

And what can be done to counter it. Personally, I'd rather not spend my evenings with headphones on. Would sheets of rubber over the windows facing the noise help? Anyone tried this? I don't get this problem every night, but it is a problem sometimes. The bass is coming across the rice fields, possibly 2 km or more away. Annoying when yo want to watch a drama on TV.

[OldChinaHam]

You're right that possibly the noise cancelling headphones might not be designed to cancel the ultra-low base frequencies, because I think the headphones work by using another small speaker inside to emit the inverse wave form of any "noise" which then cancels it out. But I don't know if that tiny speaker inside the headphones could reproduce the inverse of the extremely low frequency bass sound wave.

I am pretty sure that a rubber covering would not do much because what you really need is mass to stop and absorb the sound waves. If you live out among the rice paddies then maybe you could use a bulldozer to push up a burm or mound of earth facing the side which is emitting the noise. We really need a sound engineer to weigh in here.

Also, I had been wondering if the recent increase in bass I have noticed might be due to the festivities and celebrations in Chiang Mai during this particular time of year, although now with the celebrations over I am still getting the noise until 3:00 AM on some nights.

As I mentioned above, the low frequency vocalizations emitted by whales can travel for thousands of miles through water, but humans can't hear those. So I guess it would be better if our neighbors were a bunch of whales instead of whoever is now living next door to you.. Probably the sounds made by whales are more interesting, too.

Hopefully we will get some input from a sound engineer before we all get driven mad.

[OldChinaHam]

Speaking of Noise Cancelling headphones, after checking, apparently the Bose 15 headphones are designed to work on low frequency sound waves.

Has anyone actually tried them on the type of sounds produced by the ultra-low frequency sound systems in some of the trucks driving around Chiang Mai, as well as the very low bass output from some of the dance halls and bars which seem to stay open blasting away until almost any ungodly hour?

A certain amount of noise is to be expected living in any city. The airport runway which is not far off from here puts out a hell of a racket when planes takeoff and land. Still, I would prefer two airport runways rather than listen to the ultra-low base output which travels through walls like they were no more than thin cloth curtains.

The Bose 15 phones are also not cheap at over USD300 per set.

[cloudhopper]

Not only does low frequency sound travel long range, but the human ear has difficulty with the localization of bass sounds, we are not whales after all, and our ears are not spaced so far apart. So one always finds it difficult to tell for sure if the ultra-low base we hear is coming from the building next door or from some bar on the next street. Sometimes, it really does become quite irritating.

That's true I know when I listen to the radio with a headset the sound of thunder gets right through. I used a Bose noise cancelling headset about 5 feet aft of a 300hp airplane motor for years and it was so spooky quiet I had to switch it off sometimes just to reassure myself it was still lit. However I understand that listening to Bach through a headset isn't quite the same, although sometimes with the psychedelic genre it can be quite interesting...

Is a 300hp motor the same kind of low frequency as the really heavy bass you get from the sound systems folk love over here? That's a real question, not a personal attack.

And what can be done to counter it. Personally, I'd rather not spend my evenings with headphones on. Would sheets of rubber over the windows facing the noise help? Anyone tried this? I don't get this problem every night, but it is a problem sometimes. The bass is coming across the rice fields, possibly 2 km or more away. Annoying when yo want to watch a drama on TV.

There are 2 requirements for wave cancellation - equal amplitude and opposite phase. Since the cancelling wave is being emitted right next to the ear, many orders of magnitude closer than the unwanted wave, it is quite easy to achieve equal magnitude even with inefficient transducers. I think you will find that active noise cancellation is more efficient at low frequencies, and passive technologies more effective at the point of noise generation, which as we all know is unrealistic here in LOS.

[OldChinaHam]

Obviously then, the active noise cancelling headphones are a 'must have' here, and probably cheap at twice the cost if you're staying in a place where anything and any noise goes.

It is really very surprising how tolerant people here are of some bar blasting away until all hours, especially when the bar is surrounded by a residential neighborhood filled with decidedly upscale housing. It is not only surprising but actually incredible.

[MESmith]

Obviously then, the active noise cancelling headphones are a 'must have' here, and probably cheap at twice the cost if you're staying in a place where anything and any noise goes.

It is really very surprising how tolerant people here are of some bar blasting away until all hours, especially when the bar is surrounded by a residential neighborhood filled with decidedly upscale housing. It is not only surprising but actually incredible.

Yep, build the houses, then the noisy bars arrive

[OldChinaHam]

Sometimes it is wise to be thankful for being in a better position than the next guy. While searching noise related topics about Chiang Mai, I found what is probably the main cause of the sub woofer noise hitting us very late at night and often into the morning hours. There is a type of Toyota van called a "Commuter", just basically a cheap box on four wheels. If one is really pushing the envelope, then it is possible to have this bus fitted with almost every Hi Fidelity cone you can think of, leaving little room for paying passengers.

The people that outfit these boxes are not bashful when it comes to advertising their company names right on the side of these rolling sound rigs. One I found advertises on Facebook and has their own website, but I won't here provide this company with free advertising on TV.

The guy who may have it worse than people here in CM is a resident of Pattaya. Here is his story and you can read more about his trials on TV if interested.

"Sounds" like this poor devil is being driven almost mad down there in Margaritaville. I do sincerely feel for the guy because before I found the source of the sub-woofer bass madness here, I had thought that most of this racket was being emitted by the local bars, and now that I know otherwise, I might even go into one for a drink.

Here is the post from the man in Pattaya. I certainly wish I could commiserate with him:

"Posted 2013-04-22 19:27:26

POPULAR

I have never experienced the level of noise pollution that I am experiencing now in Jomtien. Some bars blast music all day and most of the night and the police do nothing. Trucks filled with speakers in the back "patrol" the beach area and blast the loudest, most annoying music possible, and the police do nothing. Do Thais hate nature so much that they do not want to hear it? Do they hate thinking so much that they do not want to think? This place seems to be rapidly disentegrating: traffic jams, crime, skinheads and drunks all over looking for a fight, disentegrating infrastructure, and now massive noise pollution. I do not know about you, but I can't wait to get out of here."

HE MENTIONED SKIN HEADS

BUT HE, LUCKILY, DID NOT mention there were any "Cone Heads" down there.

Yes, they are about ready to take him away.

[OldChinaHam]

Has anyone tried out these canceling headphones?

Seems like everyone is bothered by noise at one time or another.

So it is only to be expected that someone has tried this product in self-defense.

Also, is something like this available from Chiang Mai? Because I have found that CM retailers do not really carry the more "esoteric" HIFI gear, or maybe I do not where to shop.

"Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7B QuietPoint Active Noise-Cancelling Closed-Back Headphones"

[eden8]

OldChinaHam, are you living near the town area?

[OldChinaHam]

"OldChinaHam, are you living near the town area?"

I am living near the noisy area.