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Ahum (/hʌm/ⓘ) is asound made by producing a wordless tone with the mouth closed, forcing the sound to emerge from thenose. Tohum is to produce such a sound, often with amelody. It is also associated withthoughtful absorption,'hmm'.
A hum has a particulartimbre (or sound quality), usually amonotone or with slightly varyingtones. There are other similar sounds not produced by human singing that are also called hums, as the sound produced bymachinery in operation, such as amicrowave, or by aninsect in flight. Thehummingbird was named for the sound that bird makes in flight which sounds like a hum.
A 'hum' or 'humming' by humans is created by the resonance of air in various parts of passages in the head and throat, in the act of breathing. The 'hum' that a hummingbird creates is also created by resonance: in this case by air resistance against wings in the actions of flying, especially of hovering.
Joseph Jordania suggested that humming could have played an important role in the early human (hominid) evolution ascontact calls.[1] Many social animals produce seemingly haphazard and indistinct sounds (like chicken cluck) when they are going about their everyday business (foraging, feeding). These sounds let group members know that they are among kin and there is no danger. In the case of the appearance of any signs of danger (such as suspicious sounds or movements in a forest), the animal that notices danger first, stops moving, stops producing sounds, remains silent and looks in the direction of the danger sign. Other animals quickly follow suit and very soon all the group is silent and is scanning the environment for possible danger.
Charles Darwin was the first to notice this phenomenon on the example of the wild horses and the cattle.[2]Joseph Jordania suggested that for humans, as for many social animals, silence can be a sign of danger, and that's why gentle humming and musical sounds relax humans (see the use of gentle music inmusic therapy,lullabies).[3]
InPirahã, the only surviving dialect of theMura language, there is a special register of speech which uses solely humming, withno audible release.[4]
Humming is often used in music of genres, from classical (for example, the famous chorus at the end of Act 2 ofGiacomo Puccini'sMadama Butterfly) to jazz to R&B.
Another form of music derived from basic humming is thehumwhistle. Folk art, also known as "whistle-hum," produces a high pitch and low pitch simultaneously. The two-tone sound is related tofield holler,overtone singing, andyodeling the music.
The dictionary definition ofhum at Wiktionary
