The operatic bass voice (e.g. Ramfis) is roughly the same as the operetta bass voice (e.g. Pooh Bah) and also the same as the oratorio bass voice (e.g. The Messiah). All of these types were developed to sing extended solos in theaters or halls unamplified. Each of these goes up to about an F above Middle C (349Hz). Each goes about two octaves lower. This is the F to F bass. Composers typically expect concert singer to have about two good octaves. They occasionally write for extensions above or below.

Almost all western music expects the bass voice to be able to declaim above middle C. Ramfis for example has an exposed forte high F in the temple scene. Even for basses high notes are often more important than low notes. Church soloist basses need at least a good high E natural.

There are a couple other types of bass voices that have been developed for other musical styles. One is the low gospel quartet bass, another is the novelty bass.

An outstanding exemplar of this style was the late Thurl Ravenscroft. He was Tony the Tiger and sang with Rosemary Clooney in the hit record "This Old House". He also sang Stew Pot in the movie of "South Pacific".

Giorgio Tozzi - a major Met bass - sang the male lead in that movie. Thurl sang a much smaller role. Tozzi's lowest note was a Low E natural. Thurl sang low Cs and lower.

There's a lesson there. Tozzi was the entree. Thurl was a condiment.

Russian and Tibetan liturical chanters go lower still.

Ninety percent plus of all bass music is written for the standard F to F bass voice.

Here I have made a short demonstration of the lowest notes that a main stream operatic or oratorio bass will usually be required to sing. All are extensions below the standard low F.

If the standard bass voice is F to F, the Tenor is C to C and the baritone is about A to A. Each voice type can extend a bit on both sides of their main range.

This means that the male voice has a mid point around 220Hz - an octave below concert pitch A. There is a standard deviation of about 50Hz. This means about 68% of all males are baritones, 15% are basses, and 15% are tenors. There is another 1% above and below these ranges for extreme or novelty singers.

That's where Ravenscroft resides. He is properly considered a contra bass (not a basso profondo). He seems to have a natural range of D to D - with extensions.

The Contra-Bass voice as I have defined it here is about as far below the standard bass voice as the bass voice is below the baritone.

Like most novelty contra basses Thurl seldom got to sing real songs. Here's an exception.

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