Humming

A hum is a sound made by producing a wordless tone with the mouth opened or closed, forcing the sound to emerge from the nose. To hum is to produce such a sound, often with a melody.

A hum has a particular timbre (or sound quality), usually a monotone or with slightly varying tones. There are other similar sounds not produced by human singing that are also called hums, such as a sound produced by machinery in operation or by an insect in flight. The hummingbird was named for the sound that bird makes in flight.

Mechanics

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 the passage of air against wings in the actions of flying, especially of hovering.

Humming in human evolution

Joseph Jordania suggested that humming could have played an important role in the early human (hominid) evolution as contact calls. Many social animals produce seemingly haphazard and indistinct sounds (like chicken cluck) when they are going about their everyday business (foraging, feeding). These sounds have two functions: (1) to let group members know that they are among kin and there is no danger, and (2) in case of the appearance of any signs of danger (suspicious sounds, 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 the possible danger. Charles Darwin was the first to notice this phenomenon on the example of the wild horses and the cattle.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 in music therapy, lullabies).

Hum (Bugojno)

Hum (Serbian: Хум) is a village in the municipality of Bugojno, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

References

Coordinates: 44°02′16″N 17°34′03″E / 44.03778°N 17.56750°E / 44.03778; 17.56750

Hum (film)

Hum (Hinedi: हम, English: We/Us) is a 1991 Hindi action crime film directed by Mukul S. Anand. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Rajnikanth, Govinda, Kimi Katkar, Deepa Sahi, Shilpa Shirodkar, Danny Denzongpa, Anupam Kher and Kader Khan. This was the most successful film for the famous super star, Bachchan in the early '90s before he announced his temporary retirement (for five years) immediately after its release. He also won the Filmfare Best Actor Award for it in 1992. The film ranked second among the top grossers of 1991 at the box office and was declared a blockbuster hit. Mukul S. Anand had considered and discussed a potential scene for this movie with , where Amitabh Bachchan's character would help Govinda get a seat in the Police Academy. Anand discarded the scene, because he did not find it suitable. But felt the scene had the potential to develop into a script for a possible feature film. The discarded scene became the foundation for the 1995 Tamil movie Baashha where character in the film, Manikkam, helps his sister get admission in the medical college she had applied for and it was planned to weave the rest of the film's story around the scene using all the integral key plot elements of Hum.