Is this singing real?

October 14, 2008 7:43 AM

Is that real, non computer aided singing in "In Praise of Bacchus"?

In this song (SLYT) - "In Praise of Bacchus", by Type O'Negative, at the 7 minute marker, the singer sings in a pitch that makes my speakers rattle. I've never heard anything so low. Is it real? In the morning when i wake up I'm a bit rough, but i cant fathom getting ''down there".

Are there other pieces of music that feature this sort of thing? I like the whole latin thing as well. I imagine i could get in to some choral/chanting music - as a secondary question - does any one have recommendations? I know carmina burana, and I like that, but have never ventured further.

(and yeah yeah I know, goth rock, I am *too* old but it helps me work sometimes!)

posted by daveyt to media & arts (7 comments total)

I can't get that low now, but maybe I could've back when I was Bass 2 (lowest part) in a choir. My hunch in that it's something in the "post-production" that gives his voice that rough sound.
posted by aheckler at 7:52 AM on October 14, 2008

A singer with a voice like that is colloquially called a "Russian bass", since Russian composers often wrote that low and Russian liturgical chanting often requires incredibly low tones. Listen to this clip for an example.
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:46 AM on October 14, 2008

Enigma has some interesting chanting-type stuff.

Crash Test Dummies (2:35 is a good example) are also notable for the singer's exceptionally low singing voice.
posted by bilgepump at 9:13 AM on October 14, 2008

I would guess it's fairly close to real. Peter Steele, the singer, is a very large man at about 6'6", and is known for having a low voice. He's not really belting it out either, it's more of a slow modified growl. I can sort of do the same thing at low volumes, so I assume he can too.
posted by sanka at 10:01 AM on October 14, 2008

I enjoy Crash Test Dummies material because I (as a lowish baritone) can sing along without dropping an octave. He's nowhere near the range we're talking here, though.
posted by pmbuko at 11:04 AM on October 14, 2008

It's a C#, which is within human limits but fairly rare. I don't think anyone could claim to give you a definitive answer in this case (with a song this 'thick'/produced, at YouTube audio quality).

It would be considered unreasonable to ask for a pitch as low as C# in a choral piece. Some composers have done it (especially Russian composers, as Johnny Assay mentions) but bass sections can't always actually perform parts that low as notated.

For choral music with very low bass parts, I'd recommend you check out Rachmaninov's Vespers (lovely piece, part of the standard choral rep) and Schnittke's Choir Concerto (GORGEOUS underrated gem).
posted by kalapierson at 11:28 PM on October 14, 2008

And outside western music, my favorite ultra-low voice is Mahlathini, of Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. He was known as "The Growler" and "The Lion of Soweto." His voice is extraordinarily strong at extreme low registers.
posted by kalapierson at 11:36 PM on October 14, 2008