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In Reply to: MUSIC NOTES BELOW 27 HZ?? posted by ARAM on July 28, 2002 at 03:18:07:
While the lowest note on a full sized piano is 27hz, it is seldom played. Tympani are tuned to 25hz, but when played loudly double. The lowest note on a 4 string bass is 42hz, but its 2nd harmonic is usually 8~10dB louder(5 string is 31hz). A few years ago the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society (JAES) did a music survey with a spectrum analyzer. 98% didn't go below 40hz, 99.99% didn't go below 28hz, and you could count on one hand ones that went below 28hz (and they were all synthesized). If you hold the box size constant, going from 40hz to 28hz costs you 4.65dB, and going from 28hz to 20hz another 4.35dB .
)I used to build and sell what I thought was the optimum trade-off, a 40hz sized box with 28hz 'step-down-tuning'. On 98% of the music it had 9dB more output than the 20hz box. A modest amount of EQ was designed in to the amplifier to make it flat to 28hz. While there is no such thing as a free lunch, good engineering choices can seem almost 'free'.
Follow Ups:
Tympani? Their are 5 avalable, all which have a tension pedal to adjust eaches notes. The lowest, largest Tymps. ,have fundamintals to only 47hZ. Each Tymp is a 1 octave instrument with thae range adjustable via footpedal. Go to your local high school and play them.
The lowest note of the piano - Even when it's played, the fundamental (i.e. 27Hz) is usually less audible than its harmonics, and it's these harmonics that ironically allow us to identify 'that' lowest note of the piano, and not the fundamental.do agree that with all that low freq content, the sense of 'space' is better protrayed (as with high high freq content)
The first movement of Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand had a few of those 'last notes'.
I have a very nice recording of Virgil Fox playing the John Wanamaker Grand Concourse Organ in Philly. Ive heard it live and no home system is gonna come close. It has a set of SIXTY-FOUR foot pipes. My system is down 3db at twenty-six hz. It don't even come close. For that kind of bass you need huge amount of power just to move enough air. Buy a good set of sealed headphones that are in effect isobaricly coupled to you ear drums. The other problem is most rooms are just not big enough to sustain that kind of bass reproduction. I suppose you could just buy a shaker coil and hook it to your system and listening chair for real seat of the pants bass. The used to sell them for car stereos. EKG
Mount your lounge on a platform with a couple of low frequency shakers for added realism.
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