Colin Pykett Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 Has anyone else noticed the weird sustained extreme bass notes sometimes broadcast along with some ads on stations including Classic FM? They sound rather like a soft Bourdon pipe continuously speaking 16 foot bottom C at c. 32 Hz (though I haven't actually measured the frequency). Because of this tenuous connection to the organ world I'm asking the question here. It's weird, to my mind, because you need a very good speaker system to hear it at all, and I doubt the vast majority of 'average' listeners to Classic FM have this sort of system. However I suspect most forum members here will have, which is another reason for raising the topic here. Is it some sort of psychologically-based subliminal technique to draw the attention of listeners to the ads, perhaps? If so, it's rather pointless because most of them won't hear it! I've done a quick internet trawl which didn't turn up anything of significance. However it's very pervasive in the listening space of my house - I can hear (or almost feel) it on upper floors when all the other elements of the signal in a downstairs room are more or less inaudible up there. Another reason why it's not only pointless but technically daft is that such high-amplitude signals (even though they are subjectively quiet) eat up electronic 'headroom' which then leaves less for the other constituents at higher frequencies to be reproduced without distortion due to clipping. Unless such extreme bass notes are actually a necessary part of the signal, as in much organ music, I doubt most sensible producers would use this technique without good reason. So I remain rather mystified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwhodges Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 This might be a clue? https://www.newneuromarketing.com/the-most-overlooked-psychological-factor-in-what-makes-advertising-music-work No explanation here, but other people have noticed something similar: Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Pykett Posted November 25, 2023 Author Share Posted November 25, 2023 3 hours ago, pwhodges said: No explanation here, but other people have noticed something similar ... Many thanks Paul. I hadn't seen that. What a relief - I was beginning to wonder whether it's just me ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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