Lowest note?

My old buddy used to be soundcrew for Free way back, and ended up going to LA for 2 years with Andy Fraser when he went. He tells me that Andy Fraser used to tune his bottom E string down to something low. Really low! It used to cause all sorts of speaker problems apparently.

Telarc has an old recording of the Ruffatti Organ in Davies hall in San Francisco, which is one of the world's largest organs. On that recording, the end Adagio of Charles-Marie Widor's Sixth Organ Symphony has a sustained note that's got to be in the 20-Hz range. On large speakers you feel it more than hear it, while on small speakers its undetectable.

The Saint-Saens piece that people talk about is probably the entrance of the organ in Symphony #3.

Jeez look at the keyboard in relation to the larges pipes!

A music theory site says a 64' pipe has a frequency of 8Hz(8.18Hz), can't be many speakers reproducing that (if you could record it).Some guy has built a plastic pipe contra basoon with a 128' pipe (4.09 Hz).
Wouldn't want to take that to concerts!

Nice organ(picture) Martin.

Not for IBL's or Kan's then - well that’s an argument for another thread!
Martin (oor er mrs)

In terms of more contemporary or "usual" recordings, the initial reference was to a de-tuned E-string, presumeably on a bass guitar. However, there are many players now using 5- and 6- string bass guitars, both of which add a low B-string below the E (the 6-string also has a high C above the G). A low E on an electric or upright bass is 40 Hz, B would be lower than that.

On a related note, I saw a piece about the refurbed Organ in the Royal Albert Hall. It's got 10,000 pipes. I assume there must be multiple pipes for all the high notes, but even so 10,000!!

That low B is 28Hz, but often the fundamental is pretty weak compared to the 2nd harmonic(56Hz).

Have you ever heard a whale fart?

Greeny the Albert Hall organ is is tiddler 9,999 pipes. There are quite a few with 10s of thousands of pipes.
Rasher err no!
Ever heard an elephant hicup?(or should that be hicap?)

Howard

The Moog solo at the end of ELP's Lucky Man, was meant (at one point in history) to have the lowest recorded note in it. Cant remember the details anymore, time has addled my memory

Steve are you sure it was time that addled your brain?

Howard

Howard,

The truth is, I just cant remember any more ;(

Fredrik
Thanks for that I tried unsuccessfully to under stand that on a music website. |It seemed to me that these very low notes would only be felt, perhaps higher harmonics could be heard.
On recordings does the very low register behave like the highest frequencies although not heard if removed do make the resulting recording sound "off".
A comment by the presenter of the first night of the Proms comment after JSB Tocata & Fuge D minor "that grumbling sound you may have heard or felt was from the 64' pipe"

Howard

Good post Fredrik.


Howard-

quote:

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"that grumbling sound you may have heard or felt was from the 64' pipe"

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You'd be lucky (or unfortunate!)- FM spec. is 3dB down at 15Hz, so you'd get the 4th harmonic at best.