Bass (voice type)
type of classical male singing voice
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E below middle C (82.41 Hz) to the E above middle C (164.81 Hz) (i.e., E2–E4). Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is normally defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to national style and classification system.
Italians favour subdividing basses into the basso cantante ("singing bass" warm, sonorous tone, a faster vibrato, and a well-developed upper range that shares qualities with a baritone), basso buffo ("comical bass" light, agile bass or bass-baritone range), or the dramatic basso profondo ("deep bass" going down to second C below middle C (65.41 Hz / C₂) or lower with a resonant tone comparable to a large church bell or double bass). The American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass.
The German Fach system offers further distinctions: Spielbass (Bassbuffo), Schwerer Spielbass (Schwerer Bassbuffo), Charakterbass (Bassbariton), and Seriöser Bass. These classifications tend to describe roles rather than singers: it is rare for a performer to stay within a single Fach.
History
Cultural influence and individual variation create a wide variation in range and quality of bass singers. Parts for basses have included notes as low as the B-flat two octaves and a tone below middle C (B♭1), for example in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No.
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