Exploring the deeper subsonic . . .

While it might seem like a really cool idea, as far as I'm aware, there is no practicality to doing what you're suggesting. Subwoofer designs generally have 20Hz cutoff to prevent driver damage.

A quick google search will tell you that subsonic reproduction is largely an area of esoterica. As a practical matter, some exist in theaters and arenas and in some very high-end home theater systems. But these don't involve just plopping down a "subsonic cabinet"; they require exacting design specific to the room and professional installation.

Another thing a search will tell you is that there aren't subsonic speakers and amps available for portable use in live music (i.e., as any kind of instrument or pa cabinet).

Just guessing because it's only theoretical, but I also wouldn't imagine that any available octaver effect could be counted on to produce a a good/usable signal below 20Hz. There would be no reason to include that in the design.

 

No offense intended, but:

Honestly, the first thing I'd do at FOH is lo-cut that cr*p out of the 2nd bass channel so it doesn't blow my subs up - if you fed it to me.
If you ran it on stage and didn't send it to me, we'd have to talk!
Nobody can hear it... and there's nothing worse that listening to a series of PA double 18" subs farting away cuz the frequencies they are trying to produce are below spec!!!
Sorry..

 

Umm... Are you... Are you trying to make the audience poop themselves?

Sorry but it sounds good only as a theoretical experiment. In practice it's what s0c9 wrote. You'd most likely force the sound guy to cut these freqs out.

 

reminds me of this dubstep bass player

 

Subcontrabass is a thing already. Those players just use regular old amps to reproduce it because of psychoacoustics. When your ear hears certain overtones in certain proportions, your brain connects the dots and fills in the missing info so you think you are hearing the fundamental but you’re not. It’s one way how MP3s evolved, they left out a lot of information to make the file smaller, relying on psychoacoustics, leaving your brain to connect the dots.

 

We all found out about sub frequencies transitioning from pitch to physicality in the disco era with the subsonic synth bass line in the middle of "Funkytown." All it ends up amounting to is pushing air, with no discernable pitch, and a large risk of overloading amps and speakers from all the current required to drive the low frequencies. Do what drpepper, s0c9, and BassFalcon said.

 

Wait... this isn't the goal we all strive for? ...I'm gonna have to go back to my notes about sound design

 

That's why fivers were invented but, sadly, the low B didn't quite cut the mustard, so to speak.

 

Seriously, I’m all for innovation, so my comment is another question, Why not? Of course you can do that. The only thing is, how do you reproduce those frequencies to get the effect you a looking for? A sub with a LPF?

 

Get a servo driven subwoofer, and you can do this down to low B in theory. Those guys can get down near 14hz lmao

My Behringer head has an octave down doubler feature that has an adjustment and everything. Kinda fun for normal bass, but I play in drop E a lot now so it obviously doesn't track that low.

 

Reminds me of when I was in music school at my composition recital, I had these pieces with live solo performers playing on stage with electronic backing tracks. The backing tracks had these explosion/earthquake effects that I had made with synthesizers, and I kept adding lines out to the subs, placing subs around the theatre, all in a frantic effort to make the "explosions" sound bigger, as big as what I had in my head. Eventually my teacher talked me down saying, "nothing short of a real explosion that actually collapses this building is going to satisfy you, so focus on making these pieces work in a format using technology that you can reproduce in other venues, or on recordings." I think it is the same with subs, the kick drum really owns the bottom of the frequency spectrum, and provides the "feel" of subs in a standard mix, you don't have to be in that space as a bassist, and other people's equipment isn't going to tolerate or adequately reproduce your experimentation.

 

As everyone mentioned, it sounds good in theory but very hard to achieve for real. Most bass cabs can't go below 40Hz. You might get a sub and make things work somehow, but in small to medium clubs those frequencies might be problematic. I'm not discouraging you though, and I'd like to hear the results if you try that.

 

The reason I went with an octave lower tuning instead of an effect pedal, is that even though my cabs can't go lower than 35hz, and my lowest fundamental is 20hz, the bigger string and lower tuning has less high frequencies, kinda a natural LPF. So when I play an E0, it DEFINITELY sounds deeper than E1 (standard E) because of psychoacoustics.
If you use an octave down on your E1 it already is only producing harmonics mostly under E and not an actual lower E to trick you into thinking it's producing an octave down, but carries more high frequencies and sounds more similar to a standard bass w synth until you hit about A2 or B2 if I'm not mistaken. Then it sounds like a 10 string (double course) bass and not so much lower mostly anyway.

 

Can you please post any samples with that tuning? Thanks.

 

Get yourself an ACME Low B4 cab and you'll have all of the low end you ever wanted.

 

Drop E (EAEADG)
I don't have any solo tracking atm but will asap when I post my new customized legator soon.

 

Yeah, I second the idea that you should do it if you are driven to for your art.