How low can you go? Record label launches bass hunt

LONDON (Reuters) - The Decca music label is looking for a singer who can go where no other singer is believed to have gone before -- a low "E," which is nearly three octaves below a middle "C" on the piano.

Paul Mealor, the composer behind the surprise British Christmas chart hit "Wherever You Are" sung by The Military Wives choir, has written a composition called "De Profundis (Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.)"

It features a low E which is six semitones lower than the "B Flat" from Rachmaninov's "Vespers."

"My setting of De Profundis calls for a rich and powerful voice; a voice that can not only touch the heart with its sincerity and truth, but also make every fabric of the human body resonate as it plunges into the very lowest parts of the vocal spectrum," Mealor said in a statement.

The search for the bass will be conducted through trade magazines on the Internet.

According to Guinness World Records, the lowest known note produced by a human voice is a low "F Sharp" achieved by American Roger Menees in 2010.

Singers have been invited to send in demo tapes or upload recordings of their voice to the website www.howlowwillyougo.com.

Voices will be judged by Mealor and Grammy-award nominated producer Anna Barry, an authority on Russian choral and vocal music which is one of the composer's main inspirations.

The record is set for international release in the spring.

Mealor rose to prominence after being selected to compose new music for the 2011 royal wedding of Britain's Prince William to Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge -- one of the biggest public events in recent years.

This is his first choral work since then.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

View the original article here