Tim Storms (born August 28, 1972) is an American singer and composer. He holds the
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for both the "lowest note produced by a human" and the "widest vocal range".
Musical career
Born in
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
, Storms was raised in
Waterloo, Indiana
Waterloo is a town in Grant and Smithfield townships, DeKalb County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,242 at the 2010 census.
History
Waterloo was laid out in 1856 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was likely named a ...
. His musical affinity appeared at a young age. Four days after graduating from high school, he returned to Oklahoma to begin his career in Christian music. Since then, Storms has appeared with a number of singing groups, including Freedom, Vocal Union,
AVB,
Acappella, and
Rescue
Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation.
Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ...
. He also performed with the cast of
Branson’s "50s at the Hop," was voted Branson’s Bass Singer of the Year for three years in a row, and is in the Branson’s Entertainers Hall of Fame. Storms joined Pierce Arrow Theater in Branson at the beginning of the 2006 season.
As well as his performances across the
US, Storms has also performed in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
,
Switzerland,
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...
, and
Fiji. In 2012, after auditioning to record with the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Storms was selected by composer
Paul Mealor, producer Anna Barry and Decca Records to record four songs with the choir. Two of the four songs, "De Profundis" and "The Twelve Brigands," ended up on the Universal/Decca Records release, ''Tranquility Voices of Deep Calm''.
Guinness World Record
Storms' Guinness World Record for the lowest note produced by a human was first certified in January 2002. Storms also holds the Guinness World Record for the widest
vocal range
Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of st ...
for any human. His records have been published in the Guinness World Records 2006. He broke both of these records in August 2008.
As of 2008, the new record for lowest note was 0.7973 Hz, and the new record for Widest Vocal Range For Any Human was ten octaves.
In 2012, Storms reclaimed the record for the Lowest Note Produced by a Human. The new record is G−7, or 0.189 Hz, eight octaves below the lowest G on the piano, or just over seven octaves below the piano. The most recent published record is in the 2020 Guinness Book of World Records.
Storms' record-setting sounds are so low as to be
infrasonic
Infrasound, sometimes referred to as low status sound, describes sound waves with a frequency below the lower limit of human audibility (generally 20 Hz). Hearing becomes gradually less sensitive as frequency decreases, so for humans to perce ...
, incapable of being perceived by the human ear. The 2012 record requires more than five seconds for the vocal cords to oscillate once.
\new Staff \with (above)G−7
Singing voice
Storms is a deep bass (
basso profondo
Basso profondo (Italian: "deep bass"), sometimes basso profundo, contrabass or oktavist, is the lowest bass voice type.
While '' The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' defines a typical bass as having a range that is limited to the second E below ...
). He possesses a vocal range of 10 octaves (G/G#−5 to G/G#5). He has extended his lower range to G−7 (0.189 Hz) while breaking his own record for the widest vocal range for a male singer. His lowest frequencies can only be heard by
elephants
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
and various animals that use low frequencies for communication, as well as dedicated scientific measurement devices.
See also
*
J.D. Sumner
*
Georgia Brown (Brazilian singer)
References
External links
Official Site of Tim Storms Voiceover
{{DEFAULTSORT:Storms, Tim
1972 births
Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma
Living people
American basses
Singers from Indiana
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers