Didn't Bag End have a system (ELF, if i remember correctly) that would give flat response down to 8Hz? I think it was just processing and speakers; still had to BYO amp.
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One full octave below BEAD tuning
- Thread starter Danger McLovin
- Start date
I've always had a soft spot for the subcontrabass register, though I've only cheered on from the sidelines. If you peruse the archive there's fair number of threads devoted to the concept. Here's just 3 from last year that I interacted with:
That said, if I went to hell with it and called up Skip, I'd probably stop at F0, which is about the lowest I'd want to go. For maximum insanity I could try in on my sixer and go up in fifths (F0-E3), which I feel would actually be more practical than when I went C1-B3!
- Subcontra Knowledge Thread (Octave 0)
- Exploring the deeper subsonic . . .
- High pass filter - a rather extreme example
That said, if I went to hell with it and called up Skip, I'd probably stop at F0, which is about the lowest I'd want to go. For maximum insanity I could try in on my sixer and go up in fifths (F0-E3), which I feel would actually be more practical than when I went C1-B3!
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The part of me that got a bachelor's degree in music composition and dabbled in electronic formats understands this kind of thinking. The part of me that is a musician who plays music for my and others' enjoyment thinks it's freaking nuts.
Exactly! I'm equal parts eyeroll and fascinated.
I use a Dingwall 37" scale 5 string to tune to DADGC, one octave below standard drop D. The lowest string is a Kalium .210. Tension is fine, and with a proper setup the low D sounds huge and evil, hits like a truck through Bergantino CN112s and a CN210.
Just because the fundamental isn't reproduced doesn't mean you can't hear it. I find it hilarious that people play their 5 strings with a low B and don't think twice about the fact that speakers are not effectively outputting the fundamental of that string, but when people go lower than that, everyone loses their minds. The same principle of psychoacoustics applies, your brain fills in the missing information in the note.
Is the low B musically useful? Is an octave below that musically useful? Is 2 octaves above that musically useful? Depends on the composition.
I'm using extreme low tunings in a progressive grunge band.
Oh, and for the record, I high pass my signal at around 40-50 hz, gets rid of the subsonic junk that the speakers can't reproduce efficiently, and you don't even need to perceive the low notes.
Just because the fundamental isn't reproduced doesn't mean you can't hear it. I find it hilarious that people play their 5 strings with a low B and don't think twice about the fact that speakers are not effectively outputting the fundamental of that string, but when people go lower than that, everyone loses their minds. The same principle of psychoacoustics applies, your brain fills in the missing information in the note.
Is the low B musically useful? Is an octave below that musically useful? Is 2 octaves above that musically useful? Depends on the composition.
I'm using extreme low tunings in a progressive grunge band.
Oh, and for the record, I high pass my signal at around 40-50 hz, gets rid of the subsonic junk that the speakers can't reproduce efficiently, and you don't even need to perceive the low notes.
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Just make sure you aren't infringing on any Chinese patents! 
CN103162576A - Infrasonic-wave weapon - Google Patents
( see also ...)
CN103162576A - Infrasonic-wave weapon - Google Patents
( see also ...)
This 5 string Quake bass looks pretty insane! I wouldn’t mind trying one out! 
Even with my planar magnetic headphones -- all I hear are 1st or 2nd octave above the fundamental They need to record that better
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
I was wondering what a 40" 5 string bass would sound like tuned ADGCF ... just 1 step below BEADG ... that could produce a lot of overtones with an electric bass and a preamp.
I’ve tried as low as E an octave down using a .175. I didn’t care for it. That string was as thick as a number two pencil, it wasn’t very playable, it was very expensive, and died really fast. I mainly play a 37” Dingwall that I’ll tune to drop A for some songs. But anything lower than that I use an octave down pedal as below that the bass becomes more of an effect anyways.
That would be doable actually. A Piano's lowest note is A and with the right transducers and mics they can capture the fundamental. I have a sampled piano virtual instrument from Native Instruments and with a sub or planar magnetics you can hear the A but need to play low volume to not excite the harmonic which would dominate quickly.
IF you buy that axe AND cobble together an amp rig together that works down there, you're gonna do more than drool when you play it . . . .
Immediately I thought, hey just get a BEAD tuning bass and an octave pedal? Pretty much the same kind of thing, not quite the same. Much easier to test out. I’ve found the suboctave pedal on the low notes pretty mushy….
This was discussed before (a missing fundamental harmonic), and I think it’s not so much that it sounds the same, or that your brain fills in the missing fundamental. It’s more like the note is recognizable even if the fundamental is missing.
So, a low E0 sounds like the same note even if the fundamental is missing, and not like the note E1 an octave up, due to the intervals on the harmonics. However it’s timbre is different, thinner or more tinny, when the fundamental is missing. It is surprising though, since you might think that an E0 with the fundamental missing would sound the same as the E1.
I listened to a bunch of YouTube “missing fundamental” demonstrations to convince myself……
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,054
- 45,948
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- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Skip had one tuned even a little lower than that at NAMM a few years ago along with one amp/speaker module out of what he said would ideally need to be eight IIRC. That would put you at 20 kilowatts and eight 21” drivers just for the subs, for perpective, although perhaps you could run a couple of cabs per 2500 watt amp. I played a different one tuned to 20 Hz at a TB GTG at a club I used to do sound in quite a few years ago as well, it started breaking up the air conditioning ductwork insulation a little when we put it through the house system. I thought they both sounded super cool if you like swirly metallic sounding harmonics, but frankly they struck me as a solution begging for a problem. You could feel the 12Hz one all the way at the other end of Hall E at NAMM quite readily if you knew what is was, FWIW.
Missing Fundamental is going in my band name bank.
