Infrasound....

[magnusdeus123]

I dont know if this is the right way to approach this , but another guy made a comment about the 'Brown Note' , which got me piqued in this matter and I spent a few hours researching 'Infrasound' . The main article I reference was ;

http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/history/gavreau.htm

In any case , the article really made me proud to be a bassist...(We put the fear of god into you mortals !!) , but more importantly it got me wondering . How low can we actually go on the bass ??

A low B string achieves a frequency of about 30.87 hz or about that range . We are able to 'legally' achieve that today , right now . I did a bit of calculations , and we would require a lower E or D to achieve levels of 18-19 Hz which would be sufficiently.....how should we say.....'fascinating' . Is that possible ?? . Can we down tune the low B string to get that out of the bass ?? Will our amp's actually be able to replicate a sound which is not audible to humans ??

Interested in the replies to this thread .

[PIZZAcato]

I think that can be done... maybe not by downtuning, but you'd have to have a special subwoofer that could actually go that low because most amps wouldn't be able to go that low. Besides that im pretty sure 18-19 hz is below the threshold of human hearing.

[OriginalCrash]

As for the notes that low being below the range of human hearing (if I remember correctly, 20-20k is actually more of an ideal anyway, with few people actually being able to hear within the entire range), you would still likely be able to recognize the note due to the harmonics. The human ear possesses the ability to "fill in" the fundamental that's not there (or that can't be heard... similar to talking on the phone... what you hear is actually just a relatively narrow range of frequencies, but you still recognize the voice). And of course, the fundamental would still be there to be felt, which would reinforce what you heard. Anyway, that's probably a really weak answer/explanation, but I believe the basic info is correct.

Brian

[geoffkhan]

Originally Posted by PIZZAcato

I think that can be done... maybe not by downtuning, but you'd have to have a special subwoofer that could actually go that low because most amps wouldn't be able to go that low. Besides that im pretty sure 18-19 hz is below the threshold of human hearing.

Anything lower than around 50hz is below the threshold of human hearing. But you can still feel it--and it can definitely still cause ear damage.

[Want a 9]

magnusdeus123,

You might look up Garry Goodman and Jauqo III-X. They both have spend a lot of time researching and experimenting with with subcontra basses and/or extended range basses.

Last time I checked Garry tuned his 12 string down to low C - about 15-16 hertz and Jauqo tunes his basses C#, F#, low B, E. Low C# is about 17 hertz.

And a couple of people are looking to go even lower. I have learned from both Garry and Jauqo III-X that to reproduce such low frequencies requires special electronics in the instrument itself. Actually Jauqo and Garry both use cabinets with 10 inch speakers for clear articulate note reproduction in that frequency range.

Jauqo III-X might respond to this post since he frequents this forum as a moderator.

As far as the threshold of human hearing that is more of a guideline not exact frequency from what I understand. And this may differ from person to person. An example - some autistic people can hear frequencies up to 50,000 hertz.

If you do a Google search you will be able to find some information and sites about Garry Goodman. He and Jauqo both are very knowledgable people about this subject.

[JAUQO III-X]

Originally Posted by Want a 9

Last time I checked Garry tuned his 12 string down to low C - about 15-16 hertz and Jauqo tunes his basses C#, F#, low B, E. Low C# is about 17 hertz.

And a couple of people are looking to go even lower. I have learned from both Garry and Jauqo III-X that to reproduce such low frequencies requires special electronics in the instrument itself. Actually Jauqo and Garry both use cabinets with 10 inch speakers for clear articulate note reproduction in that frequency range.

Jauqo III-X might respond to this post since he frequents this forum as a moderator.

Hey Shannon the key to the proper reproduction of frequencies below 20 HZ is the construction of the bass overall,wood choices for body,neck and fingerboard and to me what seems to be the least interested factor and that is the electronics.

And for the record Shannon I'm not a mod

[Gregory Bruce Campbell]

my eventide h8000fw had a tone generator...

running it through 1250 watts per cab at a variety of volumes...

you can "HEAR" something happening in the room at 5hz

you can hear that the speaker is definately where a sound is coming from at 7 or 8hz depending on who you are...

i let several of my young guitar students experience this...

untrained ears if you will and they could "HEAR" the point and when sound was in the room.

at 1hz we could see the speaker moving if the power amp was set loud enough...

GBC

[Want a 9]

Oops! Thanks Jauqo III-X. I stand corrected plus I have once again learned more about the intricacies of sub bass sound reproduction. I'm glad you popped in for a reply.

[magnusdeus123]

So ok......point of the matter still remains . How do we achieve this with the least means deemed possible .

[Roland777]

Audible and identifiable pitchshifting hovers around the 20hz edge, geoffkhan, meaning one octave below E-standard.

Least means possible? Taken any given okay bass-rig, slam a .145 on the bottom and tune down to one octave below E. Tension is light, but if you've got a light touch, it works!

[geoffkhan]

Originally Posted by Roland777

Audible and identifiable pitchshifting hovers around the 20hz edge, geoffkhan, meaning one octave below E-standard.

Sources vary, I've heard limits of anything between 20-50hz. But you must be right, since the E string on a bass (E0) is 43.6535289291hz. And obviously, the fundamental is within the audible range.