Sub-bass

This article is about frequency range. For the organ stop (also called "Soubasse"), see Bourdon (organ pipe). For the type of singer, see Oktavist. For the object in mathematical topology, see Subbase.
Double bass player Vivien Garry playing a show in New York City in 1947. The double bass is the sub-bass instrument of the orchestral strings family, as it produces the pitches in the lowest register for this family.

Sub-bass sounds are the deep, low-register pitches below approximately 70 Hz[1] (C♯2 in scientific pitch notation) and extending downward to include the lowest frequency humans can hear, approximately 20 Hz (E0).

In this range, human hearing is less sensitive, so these notes tend to be felt more than heard.[2] The low E-string on a bass guitar is usually tuned to 41.2 Hz, while the lowest note on a standard piano is A at 27.5 Hz. Sound reinforcement systems and PA systems often use one or more subwoofer loudspeakers to amplify sounds in the sub-bass range. Sounds below sub-bass are infrasound.

  1. ^ Fink, Robert (2018). "Below 100 Hz: Toward a Musicology of Bass Culture". In Latour, Melinda; Fink, Robert; Wallmark, Zachary (eds.). The Relentless Pursuit of Tone: Timbre in Popular Music. Oxford University Press. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978-0199985258. Many sound engineers start talking about "sub-bass" around 70 Hz, [...]; at the bottom of the sub-bass register, around 30 Hz
  2. ^ "Interactive Frequency Chart". Independent Recording Network. Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)