Bass Hunter Search is Complete

Bass Hunter Search is Complete

After witnessing extraordinary feats of human nature in the 2012 London Olympics, a different kind of record has been broken: The Guinness World Record title for the lowest vocal note in the world.

Earlier this year, Universal Music announced a world-wide talent search for the lowest human voice in existence to record a new composition by Royal Wedding composer, Paul Mealor, whose music is characterised by very low bass notes. Decca Records placed adverts for the 'Bass Hunter" talent search in international publications and online, asking: 'How Low Can You Go? How Deep Can You Sing?'. Hopefuls from all over the world applied, and voices were judged by Paul Mealor and Grammy-award nominated producer Anna Barry.

Mealor, has written a new choral work entitled De Profundis, which features a low E (an extremely low note over two octaves below middle C). The note, an -E' (329 Hertz), is six notes below the lowest note ever written for a choral piece (from Rachmaninov's -Vespers' – a B flat). Inspired by his life-long interest in chant and choral music, Mealor's new piece pushes the boundaries of the human voice in style synonymous with Russian orthodox music.

As soon as the experts heard the unusually deep tones of Tim Storms, a small-town American singer from Oklahoma, they knew they had found what they were looking for. Storms effortlessly dropped to the required low E note:
'Most people who were able to deliver this note in our competition were straining to get there. What Tim has, which nobody else had, is a further two octaves underneath that on which to float the note. So for him, it sounds effortless and that's completely unique."
– Anna Barry, producer

The 39 year-old self-taught singer discovered he had an unusual voice at the young age of just 8 years old. He has sung with various choirs across the globe, and is in a close-harmony vocal group called -Pierce Arrow'. Today we announce that Storms holds the Guinness World Records for the lowest voice note, along with the greatest vocal range in the world.

The unique voice of Tim Storms can now be heard on the original composition by Paul Mealor, De Profundis, on the album: Tranquillity – Voices Of Deep Calm recorded with the St. Petersburg Choir, available now on Universal Music Australia.