sub-bassn.adj.
/ˈsʌbˌbeɪs/, U.S. /ˈsəbˌbeɪs/ A. n.
1. Music. A deep-sounding stop pitched an octave below the 8-foot or 16-foot principal stop on an organ.The sub-bass, which can be open or stopped, is of 32-foot or 16-foot pitch if on the pedal, and of 16-foot pitch if on a manual.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > organ > [noun] > stop > diapason tone stops > bass stop
sub-bass1824
bourdon1861
1824 Harmonicon Dec. 238/1 Sub-bass, largest pipe 32 feet.
1869 Eng. Mech. 31 Dec. 385/3 Sub-bass is a 32 ft. tone stop.
1880 Encycl. Brit. XI. 483/2 The ‘subbass’..an octave of 16 feet pitch.
1920 G. B. Nevin Primer of Organ Registration i. 4 Having located the Pedal Stops now search for a stop labeled Bourdon—16´ or Subbass—16 ft.
1988 Organbuilder May 3/2 The Pedal organ..was reduced to two stops, a subbass and a half-length Posaune.
2. A sound of a very low frequency, esp. (now) a very low bass sound used in dance music; the lowest frequency range of audible sound. Also: a part in a piece of music which is lower than what is usually considered a bass part.
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the world > matter > physics > science of sound > vibration > [noun] > low frequency
low frequency1839
sub-bass1839
bass1930
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > harmony or sounds in combination > [noun] > part in harmony or counterpoint > other parts
counter-notec1380
organa1382
pricksong1495
counterpoint1530
cant organ?1553
diapason1594
counter-tune1605
contrapart1660
counterpart1706
free part1782
organum1782
sub-bass1839
counter-melody1931
countersubject1947
infra-bass1958
voice1967
1839 New Eng. Weekly Rev. 30 Nov. The thunder of Niagara has never ceased its deep sub-bass.
1847 Harbinger 29 May 394/3 His hand would dart along the strings through distances of two or three feet like lightning, alternating from deepest sub-bass to the purest harmonies.
1884 V. S. Cooke Life & Public Services J. G. Blaine 299 The long roll of the New York boys as they beat the floor together, coming in as a sub-bass, and at last came the Hallelujah Chorus riding the stormy waves of sound.
1956 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 25 Aug. 49/1 It has recorded on it a series of tones which range through some part or all of the tonal spectrum, from the sub-bass at, say, twenty cycles per second up to the highest harmonics, 15,000 cps.
1993 Echoes 25 Dec. 23/3 Now he's teamed up with Gaz Anderson..for a housier outing, although there are still elements like the sub bass.
2011 Toronto Star (Nexis) 7 Nov. e1 A rewiring of late '90s hard house and Homework-era Daft Punk with a healthy dose of au courant low-end squelch and a splash of dubstep sub-bass here and there.
B. adj.
Of sound, esp. in music (now usually dance music): very low frequency; lower than what is usually considered a bass sound or part. Also of an instrument, voice, etc.: producing a sound of this type.
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the world > matter > physics > science of sound > vibration > [adjective] > very low
sub-bass1856
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > [adjective] > low > very low
sub-bass1856
1856 H. B. Stowe Dred II. xxi. 215 A wordless yet impassioned symphony played by a sublime orchestra, in which deep and awful sub-bass instruments mingle with those of ethereal softness.
1858 Lowell (Mass.) Daily Citizen & News 28 Oct. The deep, sub-bass roar of the heavy wheels entering the paved streets.
1913 Lutheran Compan. 29 Nov. 6/2 The deepest sub-bass voice imaginable.
1970 J. Earl How to choose Tuners & Amplifiers iv. 94 Most transformers are ‘lossy’ at the sub-bass end of the spectrum.
1993 Melody Maker 11 Sept. 13/4 ‘Sub Version’, with it's [sic] sub-bass rumble that's pure junglist i.e. there's no bassline, just this buzzing drone-quake.
2001 Future Music June 60/1 If you can tempt a filter to self-oscillate then you can build severe sub bass sounds.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1824