Listen to incredible music made by Missouri man with the deepest voice in the world
Listening to the deep bass notes from Timothy “Tim” Storms (USA) as he sings is an experience you’ll just have to hear to believe… but the only problem is that you physically can’t even hear it.
For over a decade, the musician has held the Guinness World Records titles for the greatest vocal range by a male and the lowest vocal note by a male after audiologists and audio engineers confirmed that Tim’s voice was truly the lowest you can go.
Whereas the average human has the ability to hear between 20 and 20,000 hertz (Hz), Tim can sing as low as 0.189 Hz, which produces a frequency so low-pitched that some of us can’t even detect when he’s singing.
Tim first claimed his Guinness World Records titles in 2000, and was originally published in the book in 2006. Since then, he’s gone on to break his own records at Citywalk Studios in Branson, Missouri, in front of audio specialists and journalists who were eager to see him perform.
His best singing performance was in 2008, when he claimed the title for greatest vocal range by a male, after a hertz measurement recorded that he sang between 10 octaves ranging from G/G# -5 to G/G# 5 (0.7973 Hz - 807.3 Hz). The notes achieved are actually between G and G#, so in terms of concert tuning his range is actually 9 octaves and 11 semitones – however, because we use a hertz measurement, the range is recognized as the full 10 octaves.
Four years later, he reclaimed the title for the lowest vocal note by a male when he produced the note G -7 (0.189 Hz), which is just over seven octaves below the note on a piano.
“While we could not hear the lowest note, it was very clear that the vocal activity continued due to the nature of the consistent pattern of sound emanating from the laryngeal folds,” said Assistant Professor of Music, Gregg M. Busch, who witnessed the attempt.
“It is because of this that I certify with confidence that the sounds produced during this attempt were real, produced only by Mr Storms, without any electronic aide or outside involvement of any kind.”
Tim discovered his love for music at a young age, and began singing and touring with professional groups since he graduated high school.
He told Classic FM that his voice “was always low,” explaining that: “The older I get, the lower I get.”
“I never went through that adolescent voice changing phase,” he said.
But the musician truly found fame after winning the “Bass Hunter” international competition set up by Decca Records and Military Wives composer Paul Mealor, who were in search of a bass singer who could hit a low ‘E’ note.
At the time, Mealor had written a piece called De Profundis, which featured the lowest tone ever written in a piece of classical music – which according to Classic FM was six semitones below the lowest note found in a mainstream choral work, a B flat in Rachmaninov’s Vespers.
Not only could Tim hit the note, he blew away the competition – which resulted in him singing the piece with the St Petersburg Chamber Choir for the 2012 Decca album Tranquillity.
“I’ve always had an appreciation for classical music, but I’ve never been an active listener,” he said. “And then I heard the St Petersburg Chamber Choir and got to sing with them, and it completely changed the way I feel about it.”
Nowadays, Tim is still making music – and making the windows rattle – with his incredible voice, lending his pipes to different acapella bands and touring groups around the country.
Just be careful not to invite him out to karaoke – because this record holder might win the challenge without singing (an audible) note!
Header image: Anton Gvozdikov / Shutterstock