SG History 101

SG History 101 - Who Is The Lowest?

People have enjoyed southern-style gospel music for many years, and for many reasons. This month I’ll examine one of the more curious historical phenomena about why people enjoy this particular genre of gospel music.

It seems to me that if you ask the so-called “average” gospel music fan why he or she enjoys this music so much, their answer often would cite the aspect of quartet singing (still the most predominant and distinctive style in the genre) that spotlights either a particularly high tenor or a particularly low bass singer, or both.

And why is that? What is it about the extremes of the highs and lows that endear them to gospel music fans (or any other fan of music, for that matter)?

I would imagine that in part, it has to do with our inclination as people to appreciate or aspire to the biggest, or most, or highest, or lowest, or best that we can find. We tend to appreciate that which meets those feelings and desires in us.

Yet, while thinking of gospel music, as much as we can appreciate the brilliance at tenor of men like the late Denver Crumpler or David Phelps, fans tend to be drawn even more to the genre’s many fine low bass singers. Many fans tend to judge their favorite quartets solely on their bass singers, their personalities, or how low they can actually sing. This is a phenomenon that really doesn’t exist in any other genre of music. (You might cite in country music the Oak Ridge Boys and the appeal of their fine bass singer Richard Sterban, but as is well known, the Oaks are really a gospel quartet that moved to the country genre rather than a country group per se.)

But why is the bass part (a support part, and not usually the featured part of a given song) given such attention by gospel fans? And why are many of the genre’s most beloved performers its’ bass singers? We’ll look at this from a historical perspective.

Perhaps it has something to do with the notion that for men, one of the most appealing attributes is that of a deep voice. And when it comes to singing, the ability to sing as low as one possibly can is desirable, in fact, something to aspire to, something that most men cannot do.

But how did this phenomenon of ultra-low singing in gospel music develop? Is it a function of the music itself?

Looking back at the earliest examples of quartet singing in gospel music, that would not appear to be the case. In those days, singing was more for enjoyment and edification than entertainment per se, and the music was written for as many people to be able to sing it as possible.

This began to change when gospel quartets began to take to the road, and essentially become traveling religious entertainers. When gospel singing began to evolve into a way to make a living, it only followed that entertainment techniques would become a staple of the growing gospel music business.

Enter one James Parks Waites, soon to be known to gospel music fans as “Big Jim”. Waites was an ex-vaudeville entertainer who happened to have a rich, expressive bass voice. Waites was also an outgoing man with a colorful personality that loved to entertain people with his singing, and he used every show business technique he had learned in his vaudeville days to endear himself to fans of gospel music. He began attracting a following in gospel music in the 1930s with a number of top quartets.

Waites would blow through his fist as though he were playing a trombone(something used in later years by bass singers Billy Todd and Ken Turner). He would also grab his pant leg and shake it, as though he were shaking his low notes out in that way….he would also go through audiences and greet the people as he was singing. He made a concerted effort to “sell” himself and his singing to his audiences, and the enthusiastic response he got from them was proof that he was a very successful salesman of songs to them. He sang with many, many quartets during his long singing career, and when he finally called it a career after a fill-in stint with the Rebels Quartet in 1965, he went down as one of the most, charismatic and popular gospel singers that ever lived.

For all Waites’ talent, he was not known for singing particularly low(at least by the standards of his successors), although he proved late in his career that he certainly could. That distinction would go to one of his near-contemporaries, Arnold Hyles, longtime bass singer for the legendary Rangers Quartet.

Hyles was the brother of the Rangers’ lead singer Vernon Hyles, and he had a rather gruff voice that was not particularly low in pitch, but he was a master of tone placement…to the extent that he sounded a lot lower than he was. So successful was he with this approach to singing that he was billed for some time as the “lowest bass singer in the world,” and for many, he certainly sounded as though he was.

The Rangers were a most professional sounding quartet, and Hyles’ singing style was no small part in the recognition they earned. Like Waites, Hyles was a great “salesman of song,” and he and the Rangers had many, many fans.

A 1951 automobile accident curtailed Hyles’ singing, he never really recovered from the injuries he suffered, and when he finally retired from singing in 1956, it was not only the end of the Rangers Quartet as most people would know it, but of an era in gospel singing in which Hyles was a standard bearer. He was another bass singer who captured the fancy of gospel fans, and was immensely popular.

Another bass singer that emerged in the 1940s would capture admiration and affection of gospel music fans for several decades, in fact, Georgia native Jim “Big Chief” Wetherington is still loved by gospel music fans today. Wetherington first attracted attention as part of the Melody Masters Quartet that was based in Florida and later Nebraska. His good looks and versatile singing ability earned him a place in the Statesmen Quartet in 1950, when he replaced another bass singing legend, conservatory trained and big-voiced Aycel (A.D.) Soward.

Wetherington was dubbed “Big Chief” by another gospel music star, Lee Roy Abernathy, in honor of his Indian heritage, and his ability to sing rhythm bass like no one before him or since along with his aforementioned looks and innate stage presence made him one of the most popular and identifiable gospel singers of all time. He was also a prolific songwriter and gifted arranger who did as much as anyone other than quartet leader Hovie Lister to make the Statesmen one of the very top quartets in gospel music in the 1950s and 1960s. His untimely death from a heart attack in 1973 took one of the most beloved and gifted talents from the gospel music stage. His singing was as distinctive and as good as any bass singer who ever was involved in gospel music.

Bass singers by that time had begun to attract the attention of gospel quartet fans, but none before or perhaps since made the impact upon gospel singing like that of of one John Daniel Sumner of Florida.

Sumner had an extremely low voice well suited to singing quartet music, and at an early age developed a love and affinity for singing gospel music quartet style. After getting established with local Florida quartets, he joined the renowned Sunshine Boys in 1949 and quickly attracted attention with his singing.

Sumner’s career really took off when he joined the famous Blackwood Brothers in 1954. At that time, Sumner’s songwriting began to flourish, and he became a personality on stage. With a natural gift for comedy, he began to endear himself to audiences with his sense of humor and his fine original songs.

But what Sumner began to do with the Blackwood Brothers vocally changed the whole emphasis of bass singing forever, and his influence is still preeminent today. With the encouragement of leader James Blackwood and the enthusiastic audience response to his unusually low voice, Sumner began to experiment with the lower part of his range…on some songs going down as low as he possibly could. On recordings like 1958’s “Wonderful Love” and “Hide Me, Rock Of Ages”, Sumner’s unprecedented vocal depth had the same impact on gospel bass singers that Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs in 1927 did on baseball sluggers, showing what could be done if one tried. Other bass singers had hinted at what Sumner was doing, but when Sumner himself met and exceeded those boundaries, others felt led to follow in his path.

Sumner himself continued on that same path on recordings such as “I’ve Got To Walk That Lonesome Road” and “There’s A Light” (both 1963), and seemed to get lower and lower during his years with the Blackwoods. Sumner moved to the Stamps Quartet in 1965, but kept raising(or better, lowering)the bar for bass singers on recordings like 1965’s “Rainbow Of Love” and 1967’s “Blessed Assurance”, where he ended a phrase on a double low C (three octaves below middle C) earning him recognition in the “Guinness Book of World Records”. Needless to say, Sumner inherited Hyles’ old billing as “lowest bass singer in the world”, which the Blackwood Brothers began billing him as in the early 1960s.

Unlike other gospel singers, Sumner got secular fame for his work (with the Stamps) singing vocal backup for Elvis Presley beginning in 1971. The larger music world got to hear the same subterranean low notes that gospel music fans had heard for many years, and this type of bass singing, focusing more on low notes than aspects like rhythm and blend became the vogue for most gospel bass singers that followed him.

Not all bass singers followed that path. Notable exceptions were Armond Morales of the Weatherford Quartet and later the Imperials, and George Younce of the Blue Ridge Quartet and later the Cathedral Quartet. While both men (especially Younce) could hit low notes, their emphasis was on blend and harmony more than just rattling walls. In addition, both men featured melodic solo voices that stood out in their time amidst all the other bass singers who chose to follow Sumner’s lead and drag bottom as often as possible.

Of those who followed Sumner’s lead, London Parris was perhaps the most noteworthy. Upon joining the Rebels Quartet in 1955 to replace the ailing Jim Waites, Parris realized he had the vocal prowess to hit those ultra low notes consistently, and by 1958 was doing so for the Rebels. His versions of “I Can Tell You Now The Time” and “After Awhile” were prominent examples of Parris’ ability to consistently hit those notes that seemingly only Sumner otherwise could. In addition, Parris was an engaging personality from the stage that could charm and delight almost any audience, ably following in Waites’ footsteps in that regard.

In fact, Sumner and Parris (good friends) became rivals in the world of gospel singing over that ability. One of the hottest debate topics among fans of the late 1960s and 1970s was who was lower, Sumner or Parris? While the consensus seems to lean in favor of Sumner in that regard, even Sumner conceded in his autobiography that he felt his most persistent rival in hitting the ultra low notes was Parris, and most fans tend to choose one or the other on the question of who was the lowest.

In subsequent years, due to the influence of both Sumner and Parris, the question of who the lowest is is still a hot button topic among fans of gospel quartet music. In the 1970s, the Inspirations’ Mike Holcomb became mentioned in that respect, in the 1980s, Tim Riley of the Gold City Quartet became a prominent figure in that aspect, as did Gene McDonald of the Florida Boys by the 1990s, and even Paul David Kennamer of Valor in most recent years has attracted attention for his low note prowess.

Who is the lowest? Well, on a given night, it could be any one of the above men, since voice quality and ability to reach all the notes one is capable of varies on a day-to-day basis. But this much is for sure, the bass singing position in gospel quartets has brought us some of the most gifted and unique individuals in the annals of music, and their appeal is one thing that has made southern-style gospel music such an interesting and appealing genre of music.

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Reader Comments

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/02/2008

I still miss JD who was the lowest, however given the entire voice as a whole, Tim Riley would be the best and smoothest.

   musicmike1707 ~ 07/02/2008

You've written another great article, John. You do a great job of writing about interesting aspects of gospel music that go beyond mere history and yet are informative and historical.

Concerning bass singers, my favorites have been many that you have mentioned. I have always admired J.D.'s low singing, but I think I actually prefer his earlier years in the Blackwood Brothers when he used his upper register more. I think Big Chief was the best of all because he could have sung in a quartet that needed a very low singer, but he had great command of his upper register and could sing modern harmony.

Armond Morales has always been Mr. Smooth. He is one of the best all time at blending. George Younce also excelled in this, but he a little more power than Armond. Rusty Goodman's years with the Plainsmen has also included some bass singing that I find very enjoyable. Rusty was a baritone who could sing a solid bass. He gave any quartet he sang in many different harmony options.

Billy Todd also gets an honorable mention from me. While Billy had a buzz saw powerful quality to his voice when he was down low, he actually had a very pleasing quality to his voice when he was in his upper register. Noel Fox's singing on the Oak Ridge Boys "Light" album (which you introduced to me) was very strong on such songs as "It Won't Be Long" and "Through It All." The Oaks should have featured Noel's upper register more. It was very passionate and soulful.

I don't have one favorite bass singer, but if I were going to organize a quartet I would prefer to have someone who had a wide range, but I would choose a bass singer based on his ability to sing modern harmony and use his upper register as well as his lower one.

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/02/2008

I've heard J.D. sing live many times, and was always amazed at "Big Daddy's" range, even in the later years, but on many nights I heard two of John's least favorite singers, Ken Turner of the Blackwood Brothers and Buddy Liles of the Florida Boys hit notes just as low, plus both Big Ken and Brother Buddy have tremendous upper ranges. On any given night, as John said, ANY decent bass can make you believe they're the lowest, or close to it. I've heard everyone from John Gresham of the Rebels and Thrasher Brothers and modern crowd pleaser Burman Porter hit some mind bending notes, so you never know.

John, what about "Who is the Highest Tenor?"
David Phelps? The late Johnny Cook? Brian Free?
Jay Parrack? Any thoughts?

Chris J. Becker
Cedar Rapids, IA

   Paul Jackson ~ 07/03/2008

Great job as always John. Learned a lot and enjoyed it!

Paul Jackson / The Prophets

Paul Jackson / The Prophets
http://www.pauljacksongroup.com/blog

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/03/2008

A word of clarification(OK, so it'll be more than one word...so sue me!:-))

The title here is a bit misleading, but I'm not complaining. I couldn't think of a good title, so I put that task in the hands of Susan Unthank. I don't know if she thought of the title, and that is not important. I am, as always, very happy about how the article was put together on these pages.

What my focus is on in this article is simply the historical phenomenon of the importance we gospel music fans place on the man who sings the lowest part. It arguably is one of the most distinctive aspects of our genre, and my intent was to examine the history of this phenomenon, and in so doing possibly uncover the reasons for our fascination with it, and with bass singers in general.

I'm not really trying to open up the whole discussion of who the lowest bass singer is or was...that question will never be settled by consensus. And frankly, that aspect has been beaten to death over and over again.

I just thought it would be fun to read and think about why we're so fascinated with bass singers, and since my charge here is examining gospel music history, I thought I'd contribute to the discussion with a historical analysis.

By all means, I welcome any and all observations you all may have...so keep 'em coming!:-)

Morning glory and evening grace,

Giving the world a smile each day,


john.sogospelnews.com

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/03/2008

John,
If your talking about basses that could sing low and had a good upper registry, you would have to include Dave Kyllonen of The Couriers. He could, and can still rattle the windows but can sing the baritone part.

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/03/2008

How could miss talking about Gerald Williams of The Melody Boys Quartet? He's in the Southern Gospel Music Hall Of Fame and is going on 59 years of singing. He's also a wonderful man!

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/03/2008

How could you miss talking about Gerald Williams of The Melody Boys Quartet? He's in the Southern Gospel Music Hall Of Fame and is going on 59 years of singing. He's also a wonderful man!

   Aaron ~ 07/03/2008

awesome article! loved it! i'm a bass singer myself (18 years old) and learning all i can...thanks for putting that up!

Aaron

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/04/2008

Another great article, John. I learned a lot. I loved J.D. & still miss him as I do Tim Riley. And George was in a class by himself. Thanks for the info.

God is good all the time & all the time God is good. 

Elaine Harcourt

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/04/2008

John,

I have a copy of a recording from Macadoo Brewington with Pappy Waites and J.D. singing A BEAUTIFUL LIFE several years ago at the NQC. J.D. was so kind not to show Pappy up until the last note. Then he rattled the speakers at Jim's insistance. What a great duet!

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/04/2008

Another great write-up John, I love reading material when I know that the material is from someone very knowledgeable. I`ve heard all these men except two in person.

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/05/2008

Love the article! Love JD! And Tim Riley, too!

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/08/2008

Thanks for the great article John. These were all great Bass singers.

David J. Stuart

http://picasaweb.google.com/davidjames.stuart/KINGSMENALBUMS#

http://www.facebook.com/DJSfromCleveland?ref=profile

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/08/2008

All the above mentioned names singing the bass part are "real" bass singers. Speaking for myself, I somehow wind up singing whatever part is left, sometimes bass is that part. You have heard the old expression "jack of all trades and master of none"? I refer to myself as the "play-like" bass singer. Singing any part is a joy to me because my dad instilled a love of SG in me that will die when I do.
My point in this posting is to express my dis-satisfaction with some groups who use hi-tech equipment [sound systems] that enhance their voices far beyond what they are actually capable of. I am certainly all for good equipment, but to hear the real talent of a person, let him/her sing without a mic using only a piano as instrumentation. This is the test to see who can sing a low bass part or any part.
As has already been said, the lowest bass is not always the smoothest. A good quartet actually is made up of four people who can BLEND their voices in tight harmony, not necessiarily having the highest tenor or lowest bass.
The names mentioned in this article are the ones who have set the standard for bass singers, because they could hit the low notes WITHOUT using a "bass singers's microphone". Having said that and giving tribute to bass singers of years gone by, there are some "REAL" bass singers around today who don't need to be aided by hi-tech systems. Thank God for them!

   paul jackson ~ 07/09/2008

rev runnels,

Our bass singer, Mike Allen, is one of those true, smooth, low, versatile and "REAL" bass singers you mention.

Paul Jackson / The Prophets

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/09/2008

YES! Mike Allen is a "real" bass singer and I can't say enough good things about his abilities and talents. The reason I even commented on this issue was --a few weeks ago we heard a regional quartet who owned some expensive sound equipment. These are great guys I'm sure. I noticed there was an over abundance of bass tones coming through the system throughout the concert. When the bass singer was given an opportunity to speak introducing a song, he had a fairly high pitched voice, NOT a bass voice. No doubt he DID have the ability to sing on key, but the hi-tech equipment allowed him to sing FAR, FAR, below his NATURAL voice range. I do not slight him for that and all the other hundreds of bass singers whose voices are ENHANCED by good equipment. Having said all that, I can truly appreciate all the bass singers in this article, Mike Allen, and many more who have a natural bass voice. These talented people can stand around a piano with no mic and do a superb job on the low notes without any assistance from electronic sound systems!

   paul jackson ~ 07/09/2008

AMEN...rev!

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/09/2008

Good article John. Being a musician I think the reason people pay so much attention the Bass singers is the other quartet members seem to step aside and focus their attention on the bass singer when he is trying to reach an all time low. Ability to sing rythm and pronounce the words make a wonderful bass singer especially if he can sing harmony. Gene McDonald and Buddy Liles are the two best bass singers around. Tim Duncan of EHSS is there also. Thanks for the article

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/10/2008

There are different areas in judging a bass singer. I've only really been listening since the late 70's . George Younce , Gene McDonald, Eric Bennett are examples of great high lead bass singers. Bennett and Aaron McCune are great at rhythm. But if you want a bass that can nail a bass note between the eyes, Tim Riley and Jeff Chapmen are the greatest I have ever heard. By the way along with J.D. , these are very low.

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/10/2008

I'm a big fan of the bass part in Southern Gospel music.

My "main man" has always been J.D.

In recent years I've come to very much enjoy Jeff Pearles range and tone; both are very near the top of the "bottom" heap. I believe he is too often overlooked in these discussions.

Glenn Dustin has a wonderful solo voice with depth and expresssion.

Gene MacDonald also has a great solo voice and can "nail" those low notes with ease.

Regarding Mike Holcomb; he's very, very low indeed but I have concerns about his intonation. Perhaps it's the tuning of the entire Inspirations group that concerns me but pitch is certainly a problem for them in my humble opinion.

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/13/2008

When talking about the guinness book of world records, you failed to mention J.D. Sumners record was beaten by at least 2 bass singers.One was Tim Storms formerly with the group Acapella.He is now with the group Pierce Arrow in Branson.The second bass singer is also in the group Pierce Arrow.His name is Dan Britton.Two bass singers in one group is another thing I believe J.D.Sumner started.

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/14/2008

Thank you for this interesting article. J. D. proved he is the lowest although admitted he wasn't the best. George Younce was the lowest best singer, could sing eb's and still sing a solo as artistically as any lead singer. Truth of the matter is, I liked every bass singer you mentioned. You don't have to be the lowest.

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 07/17/2008

All you Bass singer pundents,he lowest
bass lower the J.D.Sumner was a man by
the name of Hershel Wooten,who sang
with the Harvesters Qt.

Bobby Clark

   Bobby Clark ~ 07/19/2008

Dear Bass Historians:
The lowest bass note sung by a quartet
bass was Hershel Wooten of The Harvesters Quartet.He and J.D. sang in
a contest,Wooten beat J.D. I have been
around since 1955 in the singing game.
I don't really think God is interested
in the lowest or the highest....

Have a good day.....Bobby Clark

   thetenor ~ 07/22/2008

I would have to agree with Shanna. Gearld Williams, has a marvelous bass voice. After I left the Toney Brother's in 2006, I had the chance to fill in at the tenor spot with the melody boy's. What a thrill to work with Gerald. His voice reminds me of the late Thurl Ravenscroft. If you do not know that name, he was the voice of " Tony the tiger ". Thurl was a great bass singer also. Great article as always John. Randy.

Keep looking up! Randy Lewis

   spirit7productions ~ 08/03/2008

One of the great Bass Singers of all times,I think was Arnold Hyles.He and his Brother,Vernon,had a Quartet,named the "Rangers:. In the early 1950's they recorded a Song,entitled "The Carpenters Son",which featured a high and very low register Bass Line by Arnold Hyles and true High Irish Tenor Singing by Denver Crumpler. These Men set the standard for the Signature Sound of a outstanding Southern Gospel Quartet.

SoundMan

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 08/04/2008

John: Excellent article. Could I say, "The best bass singer in Gospel Music is in the ear of the listener." I fell in love with J.D.'s low notes when I heard a Blackwoods LIVE LP years ago, and I rooted for David K (Couriers)too. Thanks for another trip down memory lane!!

   mdren760 ~ 08/06/2008

I think for his time JD was the lowest, and I enjoy hearing Tim Riley, but I have to say Aaron McCune is probably lower than him, if you don't think so take a look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mbYs3xIrIM

fast forward to about 1:40 and let it play to about 1:55, he blows Richard Stearban away

Be the kind of Christian that when your feet hit the floor each morning, the devils says “Oh No, he’s up!!”

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 10/06/2008

Remember, The Oak Ridge Boys are still Gospel. I believe they are a Gospel Group that happens to sing some Country. But Richard Sterban...hey man it doesn't get any better than Richard. Look at how versatile he is !! He has been singing for over 30 years and keeps on getting better. The Oaks have released a few Gospel albums recently. Certainly JD and the others were great, but Richard seems to have inherited the best of all of them!!

I hope he ( and the Oaks ) habg in there for a long time to come.

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 04/05/2009

Hi John, you are a blessing to this old 76 year old lover of quartet music.I really enjoy your articles. I think the big chief would be the best all around-all time bass singer.Can't wait to read your article on the best and highest first tenor.

   David Rollins ~ 04/05/2009

Two Great Bass Singers of the 40's and 50's were,Arnold Hyles,who owned the Rangers Quartet of Dallas,Tx and Axell Soward,who was the original Bass Singer with the Statesmen Quartet in 1948.J. D.Sumner said these two outstanding Bass Singers and Men were his Mentors.

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 06/05/2009

I have heard and work on stage with most everyone mentioned here. However, ask anyone who has ever heard of a guy named Mike Schlee sing an E flat one(that is the lowest E flat on a piano keyboard) and you may get a new impression of who maybe the lowest bass singer ever.

   spirit7productions ~ 06/06/2009

Bob: I am not familiar with Mike Schlee,but I would like to know what Group or Groups he Sang with. God Bless.

SoundMan

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 09/08/2009

Howdy, The bass is my favorite part. Jeff Chapman, Mike Holcomb, I personally like Ray Reece, what about Tim Duncan. I have heard most of these guys, rattle the speakers, sing harmony, melody, stay on pitch, take the lead and just flat out sing. I'd like to see a quartet made up of the best of the best. Steven Warren-tenor, Dale Shelnut-lead, Tony Peace-baritone, Tim Duncan-Bass.

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ~ 10/07/2011

Now that everone has had their two cents . . . . .
For all of us, what makes a pleasant sound in our ear is subjective and relative at best. We know what we like & dislike with distinction !

I have my favorites due to blend, smoothness, accuracy of pitch, resonance ect.
I believe what makes a good bass singer is what's on the inside & is manifested when he allows the Holy Spirit to work within him. Dicipline, practice, personality, temperance, character ect . . . mean far more to an audience, than who can hit the lowest pitch. It's a bit of a novelty to hammer the low notes, but the truth is the human ear hears pitches in megahertz, and a some point the tone can become unaudible. Yes, we feal the vibrations due to the subwoffers amplifying the tembre. This usually hits in at about low E and will run all the way down beyond the end of a Boessendofer piano.
As for modern sound equiptment . . . . Many of today's groups are stacking vocals, not just bass singers ! I am not a fan of the practice.
Guiness Book of World Records list Tim Storms as the lowest male voice on record. . . . well off the end of the piano, but who could hear it ? Maybe you could feel it ?



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