How to distinguish the voices of a Basso Profundo Oktavist & Contra Bass Part I

Я могу предложить такое определение: бас профундо, это бас, который наравне с басом кантанте, имеет обычный оперный диапазон F2 - F4. Только у профундо тембр более насыщен низкими обертонами, чем у кантанте. Кантанте же это лирический бас, высокий. Почти баритон.

Октавист же, это бас, поющий - очень верно отметил Яннис, именно поющий - ноты на октаву ниже обычного баса, откуда и прошло его название - октавист. Одним словом он должен петь ноты до F1. Вот и всё. Естественно запас по диапазону должен быть у любого голоса, тем более у оперного. Обычно в консерваторию голоса имеющие меньше природных двух с половиной октав не берут.

Яннис, большое спасибо за исключительно качественный материал, отличные видео! Буду рад сотрудничать со специалистом такого калибра!

PS Про толщину голосовых связок давно знал и очень рад услышать, что есть реальный человек, у которого это так и есть. Обратный пример, кстати, - Паваротти. Это тенор с басовыми голосовыми связками. И, кстати, есть ещё русский оперный бас Михайлов, с теноровыми голосовыми связками.

thank you for explaining this

Well explained. Thanks a lot.

Maybe I really could be a basso profundo in the future. Because my low notes are resonant without even pressing my voice. Moreover I could descend to B1 contra with resonance it's just a bit weak. And I'm only 18 years.
I can feel the resonance even when I'm talking. It's like vibrations throughout your whole body, isn't it, Mr. Ioannis

Very good explanation! 👍

very helpful, thank you

Wow your voice is lower than Juan Carlos Tinoco voice

Greaaaat .

Muito bem explicado. Excelente

thanks man... love your voice

Your talking voice is so unique and beautiful, I was not expecting that

is this a tip video?

Thank you, explained like I haven't heard before. Basso profundos being soloists/performers. Anyone have any advice on getting vibrato below Eb2? I can hit notes loudly down a long ways below that, but I can't find vibrato.

Wow. I just took an auditory bath in your beautiful low speaking voice. Thanks ^^

What a great voice!

People get wrapped up in who can sing the lowest. I can hit a B -1 on a mic, doing double subharmonics... doesn't mean I am actually going to be able to use it in a song. For me, my sweet spot is A1-F3; I consider myself a basso profundo, even though I can get into Oktavist territory... doesn't make me one, nevertheless.

Wowww, I never knew. This makes much sense. Very comprehensive sir. Thank you very much

Totally agreed. Most of the samples are just sustained long notes but just as you stated, “singing” is much different and harder. Thanks!!

One person I knew of that could do both was the late, yet great Ivan Rebroff (Hans-Rolf Ruppert)!

You are my new idol. I'm 17 and can hit a B1, I'm working on my resonance and most of my friends and my teacher say that it is sounding good, but I still need to practice. Also can I ask, did you throughout your teens have a lower voice or did it start then and as you got older after your teen years did it continue to get lower, with practice?

I think there's a confusion with bass baritones too. Especially with music teachers. The bass baritone is a bass but not too much of a baritone. I think bass baritones can have more solo freedom to harmonize with tenors and baritones and still hit or sing a decent B1 to A1.

My vocal range is f4 to e1 Im 18 years old and speak at around g2, I start losing project at b flat 1 and in the morning at g#1 am I a basso profoundo?

I absolutely LOVE your voice; your Speaking voice is so beautiful, so soothing! And your singing voice is amazing!

Depending on context certain definitions might immensely vary on meaning...

An Operatic "Basso Profondo"

usually

sings LowEb(2) to High F#(4)
can exceptionally go as low as a CounterLowC(2) (it's usually for some "oppure" notes that are not 100% demanded anyway, rarely it's a C2 written in the score);
has to have a very strong, easy, resonant and projected LowF (F2) he should be able to sing in f (forte);
should be able to project a great amount of harmonics and volume through his whole vocal range, showing a dark, round almost praeternatural kind of low voice which not always needs to have a very beautiful timbre in order to be recognised as a good Basso Profondo.

Please note that certain roles that Giuseppe Verdi explicitly wrote for "Basso Profondo" might sometimes have a very high tessitura and strong sustained extreme high notes, those roles might be so difficult to sing that a baritone student could easily strangle himself trying :)

On the other hand a microphonic USA folk singer Deep Bass in a kind of oktavist and usually sings one octave lower than an Operatic Basso Profondo (going as low as a CounterLow F(1) or lower than that but very rarely singing on higher tessitura and anyway not possessing that kind of voice and technique a Basso Profondo would have); a folk music Deep Bass is also using a completely different technique and completely founding his voice on microphonic technique and amplification.

Then Ortodox Counter-Low Oktavist Basses (I believe you are calling them "ContraBasses") are a different thing again, to me.
My point is that those definitions get mixed together on the internet :)

If I had to put it simply to someone how to distinguish between an Oktavist and a Profundo, I'd tell them that all Profundi are (or can be) oktavists (at least with training on how to project) but that there are some Oktavists who aren't Profundi. Some aren't even regular basses.

Examples: take Pavel Myakotin, for instance. He's a low baritone with an extended mixed chest/fry range (down to Bb1) and subharmonics down to F#1. Also, Paul Myhalik used some kind of overtone singing most of the time rather than modal or mixed. Also, Avi Kaplan has some experience as an oktavist and DOES have a genuinely low range, but he's more like a regular bass than a Profundo. Those are Oktavists but not Profundi, though plenty of Oktavists ARE, such as the two Millers, Zlatopolsky, Chandrowsky, Pasjukov, etc.

Thank you, so true. The ability to sing words very low is unique. Evan Redroff's my man.....Ernie Ford more a barratone but sings low sustainably however unable to drop an octavive and sing the same song.

αδελφέ αν σου ήταν δυνατόν να βάλεις και ελληνικούς υπότιτλους θα βοηθουσες ιδιαίτερα . Να είσαι καλά.

Τι να πεις για τον Tim Storms και τον Vladimir Miller, τι είδους μπασίστες είναι;

What do you think of Mikhail Zlatopolsky and Paul Myhalik? I heard some of their singing. Very impressive, deep, loud and powerful.

Thank you for explaining this, absolutely the most informative video on the difference of the voices! I'm a low baritone, and wish I could sing this low and resonant, but I definitely like being able to sing most of the male vocals I come across in music.

I have put effort into reaching lower notes like A1 with a morning voice (definitely not nearly as loud as a true bass singer), but when I did so I notice that my talking voice was getting lower. Is this change permanent or just a perception when speaking with a relaxed voice because I'm actually hitting lower frequencies with ease? I really don't want to lose my current speaking voice but I also want to be able to sing lower notes with more intensity.

I love to study about male bass voices and they never knew how to answer me what the difference between a Basso Profondo and an Oktavist. Your explanation was very clear and to the point. I think it's unfortunate that on the internet there are many people who don't understand absolutely anything about the voice and teach them how to be a Bass. Oh my God! working with the voice is no joke, you don't become a singer overnight and that is very dangerous and having a professional like you here talking about this gives us a lot of security.

What is a Bass 2? Thanks!

Wow your voice is amazing, I've always wanted to be a basso profundo

If you able the subtitles, you'll see 483738 variations of basso profundo.

My ranking of top five (maybe six) Oktavists are:
. Mikhail Zlatopolsky
. a tie between Vladimir Pasyukov and Paul Myhalik
. Yuri Wichniakov
. a tie among Mikhail Kruglov, Glenn Miller and Vladimir Miller
.
What is your ranking of top five Oktavists of all time?

Most people are 1-2 voice types higher than they think they are. Ex: most "baritones" today are really spinto/dramatic tenors, most "dramatic tenors" are really lyric tenors, etc.

I'm a baritone, but I started as a bass because modern teachers are afraid of big voices and think anyone with a chest voice is deeper than they actually are.

Listening to this video though, I feel like a tenor in comparison 🤣 (my lowest note is Eb2. My lowest GOOD note is F2)

Forget defining them. I want to learn how to be able to achieve that level of range. 😅 When my throat muscles are fully relaxed (mostly after a good night’s rest), I can hit B1. But I want to go lower. I’ll be content with hitting G1.

Geai sou, Gianni! Which part of Greece are you in? I lived and worked on a few islands there for many years as a Soul singer. I tribute Barry White and I can sing all of his hits note for note including the speaking parts but I can also sing a high head voice song such as Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (although the C6 "Ooh!" is a bit like a scream). I can sing a little under A1, so it's hard to classify myself for opera. For me, the bass-baritone range is difficult and it doesn't seem to have a proper classification. My bass obviously lacks the fullness of a basso profundo and I cannot belt a C5 like a real tenor so I'm kinda between an A1-A5 with a top belt around A4. If I wanted to sing opera or choral music do you know which category I should look to train in?

I was wondering- while my chest voice can go to about a D1, and I can hit notes as low as a0 (very quietly by the time it gets that low), with techniques such as vocal growls, vocal fry, and subharmonics, am I a bass profundo, or a contra bass?

What the hell is a Swar?????????????????

Thank you for this info 🙂

How do you engage resonators?

most bases who sing in choirs are baritones..

Real basses are extremely rare (men who not only have low voices but also sing classical choir)

I really like watching these videos. So informative

Amen!!! Music is not just notes. It’s the sound - the resonance, the quality, of the sound, the choices in vibrato, the expression.

New subscriber here! I am pleased to find your channel.
I have a question : Was Vladimir Pasyukov an Oktavist ? Or Basso Profondo ?

Here to learn, i´ve recently joind my church´s choir. I´m definetely a baritone, don´t know any more specifics than that, but i want to learn to hit lower notes, to add in the choir melody and overall feeling.

How to become a basso profundo ? 🗿