Co-Builder of the last two in Montreal here, actually the octobass shown in the article is incomplete, it lacks the pedals that are present on the original one by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. These pedals allows for legato, which is not achievable if you play only with the levers.
About those in Montreal, one of them is a replica (+ minor upgrades) of the original one, and two of them are driven with motors.
Skip to 5:41 to hear it actually played. Although I assume you'd need very good speakers and I'm not sure if the YT audio compression is good for very low tones.
adamgordonbell 53 minutes ago [-]
At least for my hearing, there is a fall off around 20hz, though that could be my headphones.
“Some of the instruments fall below the human hearing range, only the vibrations can be felt,” feels unreal to me for some reason. I can’t imagine a vibration rattling through me without hearing something at that power.
tpoacher 2 hours ago [-]
Apparently this is a thing that was used in old horror movies.
Subsonic music would play just before a scary encounter, creating a feeling of uneasiness to the audience without any consciously perceptible stimulous, and thus priming the audience for the horror to come.
tenthirtyam 1 hours ago [-]
The interwebz once told me that the human eye resonates at 19Hz or so, which apparently when triggered is very useful for inducing a sense of fear.
keepamovin 2 hours ago [-]
Sounds like something you’ll have to try! :)
leptons 10 hours ago [-]
The Musical Instrument Museum is one of the best things to do in Phoenix. It's also one of my favorite museums in the world.
nkrisc 9 hours ago [-]
That place is amazing. Went there once thinking it would be a 30 minute diversion before we did other stuff. We spent nearly 4 hours in there.
Wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone in Phoenix.
8 hours ago [-]
tkgally 8 hours ago [-]
There's also a very nice musical instrument museum in Hamamatsu, Japan [1]. I really enjoyed it and would like to go again.
Yes, definitely plan to spend a few hours - it's a massive museum packed with musical instruments and cultures from around the world. They give you positional-aware headsets that play music and information as you near a display.
ofrzeta 6 hours ago [-]
"Bass! How low can you go?" (Public Enemy - Bring the Noise)
JKCalhoun 11 hours ago [-]
I do remember this tall bass. A very cool and unusual museum, BTW. Phoenix is a fun town. The Botanical Garden too is not to be missed.
01HNNWZ0MV43FF 5 hours ago [-]
"With a range so deep it goes lower than humans can hear"
To be fair, the difference between "sound" and "air pressure" is vibes. A tire inflator is probably putting out infrasonic frequencies, too.
About those in Montreal, one of them is a replica (+ minor upgrades) of the original one, and two of them are driven with motors.
You can see some close up in [1]
[1] https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2024/08/14/irez-vous-voir-...
https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/
They actually have three. https://www.osm.ca/en/octobasses/
Subsonic music would play just before a scary encounter, creating a feeling of uneasiness to the audience without any consciously perceptible stimulous, and thus priming the audience for the horror to come.
Wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone in Phoenix.
[1] https://www.gakkihaku.jp/en/
To be fair, the difference between "sound" and "air pressure" is vibes. A tire inflator is probably putting out infrasonic frequencies, too.
Definitely big.
Wouldn’t recommend for slap.