Basso profondo

Basso profondo (Italian: "deep bass"), sometimes basso profundo or contrabass, is the lowest bass voice type.

Basso profondo voice range (C₂–C₄) indicated on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C

While The New Grove Dictionary of Opera defines a typical bass as having a range that extends downward to the second E below middle C (E₂),^[1] operatic bassi profondi can be called on to sing low C (C₂), as in the role of Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier. Often choral composers make use of lower notes, such as G₁ or even F₁; in such rare cases the choir relies on exceptionally deep-ranged bassi profondi termed oktavists or octavists, who sometimes sing an octave below the bass part.

Bass singer Tim Storms holds the Guinness World Record for the "lowest note produced by a human".^[2]

^ Owen Jander; Lionel Sawkins; J. B. Steane; Elizabeth Forbes. L. Macy (ed.). "Bass". Grove Music Online. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2006.; The Oxford Dictionary of Music gives E₂ to E₄ or F₄
^ "Lowest vocal note by a male". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 7 April 2022.

[Grove1-1] Owen Jander; Lionel Sawkins; J. B. Steane; Elizabeth Forbes. L. Macy (ed.). "Bass". Grove Music Online. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2006.; The Oxford Dictionary of Music gives E₂ to E₄ or F₄

[2] "Lowest vocal note by a male". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 7 April 2022.

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