What is Bass (singer)?
A singer who is a '''bass''' is a man with a low singing voice. Some basses may be able to sing down to C two octaves below middle C. Even low A is sometimes needed in [[Russian church music]]. In opera, basses often have the part of the villain, or the king, or a priest. A buffo-bass is a [[character role]] in which the bass singer needs a wide range for the comedy of the part. The part of Leporello in [[Mozart|Mozart's]] ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' needs a buffo bass. The lowest kind of bass is called a basso-profondo. An example is the priest Sarastro in Mozart's ''[[Magic Flute]]''. Feodor Chaliapin (1873-1938) was a famous Russian bass. Southern gospel singer [[J.D. Sumner]] held the world record for lowest bass singer for a number of years, from 1988 until he was beaten by [[Tim Storms]] in 2016 A [[baritone]] is a voice between [[tenor]] and bass in range, but some low baritones describe themselves as bass-baritones. Wotan in ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'' is a bass-baritone part. [[Bryn Terfel]] is a famous Welsh bass-baritone. [[Johnny Cash]] is well known for his bass-baritone voice [[Category:Vocal ranges]]