Tim Storms won a competition to find a bass singer who could sing low E - the 5th note up from the bottom of the piano, and possibly the lowest note ever sung. I first heard him sing and speak on the radio yesterday (listen again here for a few more days - scroll down to 08:20), then I googled and watched a BBC clip (here).
Having heard him before I saw him, I then didn't really think he looked like his voice, if that doesn't sound a silly thing to say. According to Elspeth Morrison, a voice coach who appeared on the radio snippet, although it is possible to extend your vocal range in an upward direction by practice, to get a voice as low as Tim's you need to be born with the correctly shaped larynx and vocal cords - most of us could practise until we were blue in the face but would never achieve that note.
the same applies when adult men can sing falsetto - their larynx is shaped differently at birtg.
Posted by: janice still | August 22, 2012 at 08:19 PM
Thanks for that information, Janice. It's all very interesting.
Posted by: Virtual Linguist | August 22, 2012 at 09:37 PM