Frequency Specific Examples of Musical Styles That Use Bass at Lower Frequencies

[Cole1012]

I've been looking at monitors and it looks like one of the major things you give up by going with a 5" version of a monitor vs a 7" or 8" is the lower part of the frequency range. Are you giving up much more than this when going from rokit 8s to rokit 5s or HS8s to HS7s or HS5s?

Also, what do you really need the lowest part of the range for? Can someone talk about genre specific things that are done under 54hz (dubstep bass, some hip hop sub basses, etc)

I picked 54hz because thats the listed low end of the range for the hs5. The listed hs frequency ranges go as follows:

HS8 38Hz-30kHz
HS7 43Hz-30kHz
HS5 54Hz-30kHz

[Winstontaneous]

I recommend listening to master jazz pianist Oscar Peterson for a schooling in the majestic 16.35Hz (C0) attainable with a Bosendorfer Imperial Grand piano.

I'm not gonna answer this directly...look at this chart, which shows the low range of acoustic instruments. Pipe organs can typically go to 16Hz or below (a couple can do 8Hz), so the wiseass answer to your question is "Pretty likely any style since the Middle Ages."

lowest note on a typical grand piano = 27.50 (A0)
the lowest note on a 4 string bass guitar = 41.20 (B0)
the lowest note on a 5 string bass guitar = 30.87 (E1)

Also, what do you really need the lowest part of the range for?

For hearing the fundamental (lowest overtone from which all the harmonics are reckoned). Sine waves with a fundamental frequency lower than the speaker's cutoff frequency will disappear. More complex waves (saw, pulse, square, triangle, real instruments) have harmonics above the fundamental that let the ear fill in the fundamental even if it's not actually audible. You start getting into the realm of psychoacoustics - how the human organism processes what is heard.

I picked 54hz because thats the listed low end of the range for the hs5. The listed hs frequency ranges go as follows:

HS8 38Hz-30kHz
HS7 43Hz-30kHz
HS5 54Hz-30kHz

I looked at the KRK site...specs like these are basically useless UNLESS they specify how many decibels the signal's down by at those frequencies (like "-3dB at 38Hz"). -3db points are pretty standard in the pro audio world; in the absence of this detail, it's anybody's guess...if it's -10dB at KRK's published frequencies, the lowest audible fundamental could be way higher.

The best thing is to see if you can audition some of these speakers with the kind of music you like/produce. You might find you need a subwoofer to get the low lows BUT you still need to check your music on all sorts of speakers (laptop, cellphone, stereo, car) to make sure it translates well.

Hope this helps...

[Cole1012]

Thanks Winstontaneous,

Something like that chart is what I was looking for.

[HTBoogie]

Very interesting chart.