music frequency

I have heard a number of pipe organ recitals in large churches, e.g. Stanford Memorial, and small, our little local 100+ year old Episcopal church has a fine pipe organ. The Velodyne HGS-15 sub gives that nearly inaudible but clearly felt sensation you get when a big pipe is opened. Though my KEF 104/2s can go much lower, I find their sound more open and airy when LF below 80 Hz is handed off to the sub.

I think what some of the earlier posters were alluding to is combination tones that can arise from the beating among harmonics, generating energy at lower (audible) frequencies. But Eldartford makes a good point: The sound pressure levels of higher harmonics are comparatively low, and combination tones from such even lower.

db

The recording that I have with the most extensive very low frequency signal is a Wurlitzer theatre organ CD from Organ Stop Pizza (in Mesa Arizona...great place to visit). There is a continuous background at uniform level down to the 20 Hz 1/3 octave band of my spectrum analyser. Is this good? Well maybe yes, and maybe no. It is the real sound of the wind generation machinery of the organ, and if it were not there the reproduced sound would not match a live performance. But maybe this sound is a distraction, and some folk might prefer to have it gone.

Eldartford,

One of the most popular organ works for recital is the Bach Tocatta & Fugue in D minor. My recording is Deutche Gramaphone 427 668-2. There seem to be no extraneous noises, the small pipes have the immediacy of attack you expect, and there is that glorious subtle vibration when one of the big pipes is opened. It's very close to what I have experienced in live performances -- hey, maybe the pipe organs and organists were just for show and they were actually playing a recording.

For symphonic music Mahler invokes the pedal notes to add substance, and Saint-Seans has a field day in his racous symphony. My preference has moved more to Bach, Mozart, baroque, and jazz, but I enjoy the pipe organ.

db

Donbellphd...I too have many classical organ recordings. Theatre organs are a whole different animal.

The Wurlitzer in the Organ Stop Pizza is,they say, the largest in the world. Others have claimed this, so I don't know, but it is a big one, beautifully restored. The building was specially designed and constructed to hold the instrument. The wind generation machinery and all the air ducting is on display behind a glass wall.

And the Pizza and wine is good too.