Posted by Robert Coulter on March 09, 2002 at 21:13:33:
In Reply to: Re: Pedal? posted by Klaus on March 09, 2002 at 12:23:14:
"Because the limit of human hearing is around the pedal Eb of CC and BBb tubas (= the open double pedal of an Eb tuba)."
I have to take issue with this. 32ft Eb is not the limit of human hearing, that is approxmately 19hz. Many pipe organs decend to 32ft C, or 16hz... I tune such stops by ear on a regular basis. What's more, there are an increasing number of organs with stops that play 4-5 notes into the 64ft range(being two octaves below low A on a piano). There are two instruments in the world that even go to 64ft C, which is approx 8hz. While those are the lowest musical tones on earth, they are still audible, and both are tuned by human beings with their ears and nothing else.
I do think the limit of human tuba playing is around 32ft Eb or D, that certainly is not the limit of hearing.
Robert Coulter
Miller Pipe Organ Co.