No woman on earth can sing as low as Joy Chapman.
The Surrey-based singer is now a world-record holder after hitting a very deep 33.57-hertz C1 note.
91ƵIt91Ƶs all official, ,91Ƶ Chapman said of her 91ƵLowest vocal note by a female91Ƶ world record, achieved Feb. 21 and recorded for a video posted to her Youtube channel.
91ƵIt91Ƶs not even my lowest note, so I91Ƶm going to do another attempt to smash the record,91Ƶ she promised.
(Story continues below video of Chapman91Ƶs world-record low note)
In the minute-long video, Chapman introduces herself as a 52-year-old Surrey resident who works as a singer, songwriter and tribute artist. As a 91Ƶretro-modern country91Ƶ musician, she has a 15-song album coming out called .
Her world record is one way for Chapman to get noticed in the music world.
91ƵAbout a year ago, I was just doing scales and vocal training, and through the years I noticed different vocal coaches kind of freaking out as I91Ƶm going down the vocal scale, that it was creeping them out,91Ƶ Chapman recalled with a laugh.
Her niece did some research and discovered that the female record for low-note singing was well above how low Chapman was able to go. 91ƵThat kind of started this,91Ƶ said Chapman, who lives in the Clayton area, on the Surrey-Langley border.
(Story continues below Facebook post)
Turns out, the record attempt was a long, nerve-wracking ordeal over the past year.
91ƵEverything had gone wrong with all the tries before this one,91Ƶ Chapman said. 91ƵIt was ridiculous, the number of things that went wrong.91Ƶ
First, there were problems with a low-end limiter on the mic. Days later, Joy91Ƶs mother slipped into a coma and died, resulting in a sad delay. Later, studio noise aborted another session, and yet more camera issues caused problems.
(Story continues below video of Chapman working on scales before the record attempt)
Understandably, Chapman said she was nervous in the moments before she finally hit the record low note in February. 91ƵSo uptight with everything,91Ƶ she said her vocals tightened up, so she wasn91Ƶt able to go as low as she typically can.
91ƵWhat I can sing is at the end of the sonogram, apparently,91Ƶ Chapman explained. 91ƵI91Ƶm being lined up with a specialist to scope my vocals to see what91Ƶs actually happening, for science, that allows me to go that low. It91Ƶs hypothesized that because I have a condition called hyper-mobility syndrome in my body, that I91Ƶm able to lower my larynx than most humans. We91Ƶd like to get some universities involved because we need more forensic equipment.
91ƵThe sonograms and mics have trouble picking up the notes,91Ƶ Chapman added, 91Ƶbecause when you91Ƶre going as low as I am it becomes difficult to hear the notes. It91Ƶs almost not notes, it91Ƶs vibrations at that point.91Ƶ
Online, Chapman91Ƶs music can be found on and , among other websites.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
Like us on Follow us on and follow Tom on