The Infamous Brown Note (aka Disco Dump)

The "brown note" has become recognized as a popular urban legend in recent years. Essentially, it is an infrasonic frequency that causes the human body to resonate and lose control of bodily functions, leading to irrepressible bowel discharge, sometimes referred to as a "disco dump" (Brown Note, 2009). The "brown note," has served as the subject of many broadcasted and literary works, including episode 317 of South Park, episode 25 of the third season of Mythbusters, and Kevin Mullen's novel, The Toughest Gang in Town (Brown Note, 2009). Although there is no direct scientific evidence that either proves or disproves the existence of a pure "brown note," there is sufficient evidence that suggests the possibility of "brown note" effects through direct resonance of the human body from physical contact with a source of an infrasonic frequency, as opposed to transmission of the frequency through air as the urban legend currently describes it.

The "brown note" is said to consist of an infrasonic frequency somewhere between five and nine hertz (Brown Note, 2009). However, twenty hertz is the lower limit of audible sound for the human body, making the "brown note" out of hearing range (Infrasound, 2009). Instead, these infrasonic frequencies are felt as vibrations (Infrasound, 2009).

Infrasonic frequencies do not travel as well through air as it does through solid materials (Oster and Jaffe, 1980). This suggests that the "brown note," a sound wave that causes the human body to malfunction is improbable. However, if the frequency were to be transmitted to the body as a vibration through a physical medium, "brown note" effects are very probable, as suggested by numerous studies. A report by Dr. Leventhall includes a comparison of effects between subjects exposed to very low frequency vibrations and subjects free from these vibrations. Those who experience the bodily "hum" have much higher percentages of symptoms, such as a fifty percent increase of organ pressure, forty-eight percent increase of body trembling, and sixty-six percent increase of frustration, all clear signs of imminent bowel expulsion (Leventhall, 2003). Mansfield's 2006 study on the effects of low frequencies on the human body support Leventhall by concluding that infrasonic frequencies do in fact alter physiological and biomechanical processes, including digestive problems (Mansfield, 2006).

Combining all of the data from Oster, Jaffe, Leventhall, and Mansfield's studies leads to my conclusion that the urban legend of the infamous "brown note" can safely be considered disproved, or "busted" as they say on Mythbusters. However, "disco dump" effects seem very probable if infrasonic frequencies are transmitted directly to the human body, without the risk of losing intensity in air, a medium that is not very dense at all. So instead of searching for the "brown note," it would be more proper to look for the "brown frequency."

Works Cited

Brown Note. In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Note

Infrasonic. In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasonic

Low Frequency Noise. Defra. Retrieved from http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/noise/research/lowfrequency/pdf/lowfreqnoise.pdf

Mansfield, Neil (2006). Literature Review on Low Frequency Vibration Comfort. Asia-Link Circus. Retrieved from http://www.iitr.ac.in/outreach/web/CIRCIS/publication/Literature%20review%20on%20low%20frequency%20vibration%20comfort.pdf

Oster, G. & Jaffe, J. (1980). Low Frequency Sounds from Sustained
Contraction of Human Skeletal Muscle. Biophysical Society, 30, 119-127. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B94RW-4V8FKTF-9-1&_cdi=56421&_user=10&_orig=search&_coverDate=04%2F30%2F1980&_sk=999699998&view=c&wchp=dGLbVtb-zSkWb&md5=be82d21f082cf4d05c34c9913dff5210&ie=/sdarticle.pdf