Hollywood's Tim Storm: With God's voice gift!

Take a listen to the lowest voice ever recorded. He says his lowest pitch can only be heard by elephants. Tim Storms holds the Guinness world record for the lowest voice in the world. When did he recognise the gift, and how does he use it? Listen as he resonates with his story.

TIM STORMS AT A GLANCE

Guinness World Record–holding bass singer, a cappella performer, voice talent and Christian musician known for an extraordinary vocal range.

Topics

World’s lowest voice • Guinness World Record • A cappella • Singing • Christian music • Faith • God moments • Voiceover • Branson • Southern Gospel • Mandarin music • Perseverance

His Faith Journey

Church upbringing → personal faith at 12–13 → baptism → discovering Scripture personally → music as ministry → trusting God through challenges and opportunities.

This Episode Explores

• Tim Storms’ Guinness World Record for the lowest voice

• His extraordinary vocal range

• What makes his voice physiologically unusual

• His years performing in Branson

• A cappella and Southern Gospel music

• Recording classical music with the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir

• Singing in Russian and Mandarin

• His journey from fan to performer

• Coming to know Jesus as a teenager

• A dramatic “God moment” on a dark Montana highway

• Living with asthma and allergies as a bass singer

• Tim’s interest in voiceover and movie trailers

• His work with East West Collective

• Using music to bless people and support charitable work

Questions Answered

• Who is Tim Storms?

• What is Tim Storms’ Guinness World Record?

• How low can Tim Storms sing?

• How many octaves can Tim Storms sing?

• What makes Tim Storms’ voice so deep?

• How did Tim Storms get into a cappella music?

• What groups has Tim Storms performed with?

• How did Tim Storms come to know Jesus?

• What was Tim Storms’ most memorable God moment?

• How has asthma affected Tim Storms’ singing?

• What is Tim Storms doing with East West Collective?

• Does Tim Storms do voiceover work?

• Where does Tim Storms live?

Core Story

Tim Storms has an extraordinary God-given vocal gift that led to a Guinness World Record, decades of a cappella and gospel performance, international touring and unusual musical opportunities. But beneath the remarkable voice is a story of faith: coming to know Jesus as a teenager, recognizing God’s hand in unexpected moments, learning patience through asthma and vocal challenges, and using music to bless others.

Tim Storms: The World’s Lowest Voice, A Cappella Music and a Life of Faith

Amazing Greats with Ric Hansen

Introduction

Ric Hansen:I love that voice. I love it. I just wanted to hear that voice on our podcast.

Let me tell you the little lead-in to how we connected with you, Tim, and to our listeners, how we found out about you.

In my background's radio, our podcast is hosted by old radio guys. One of the things about, especially in the older days of radio, was the big, deep, resonant voice. That's what made it a real key part of being a radio guy and so forth.

I have a Facebook friend that I worked with in radio, a guy named Jay Philpot. He works at 92 Q, KQRS in Minneapolis. He posted this thing and says, "There's this guy that should be in radio because he's got the biggest, brassiest voice of all."

So he posted that on his Facebook page. I took a listen to that and said, "Oh, we've got to have him on our podcast."

And then to find out that you're a great Christian dude too made this just a perfect match for our podcast. So thanks for being here.

It's my pleasure.

For those who are not familiar with you, not only have they heard just a little bit of your voice so far, but it's not just a nice low voice. It's the lowest voice in all of the world, and that is proven by your Guinness World Record of the lowest voice.

So tell us a little bit about that. First of all, what is the lowest voice?

The World’s Lowest Voice

Tim Storms:Well, as far as Guinness goes, the lowest note that I recorded was 0.189 hertz.

It's about another piano below your standard piano. It's seven octaves below the lowest note on the piano, somewhere around there.

Musically, not that you would really attribute a musical note to it because you couldn't really use it in music. It's just a vibration, really.

If you were to look at it according to a piano staff, it'd be a G minus seven.

Ric Hansen:So you're saying that your low end is lower than the human voice can hear?

Tim Storms:Yeah. The threshold for human hearing, and that's just your average human ear, is around 20 hertz, which is not quite an octave below the piano.

I remember the bottom of the piano is right around 29 hertz, and then 20 hertz is right around the threshold of human hearing.

Some people can hear lower than that. I know I can hear frequencies quite a bit lower than that.

Ric Hansen:In my research—which my research could also be called stalking—I found some interviews that you had done here, there and everywhere.

One of the things you said somewhere along the way is that at the lowest end, you can only be heard by elephants.

Tim Storms:Is that a joke or is that true?

Well, the reason I pointed out elephants is because they communicate around four or five hertz.

I don't know how it happens. Part of it has to be their physiological structure, just how big their chest cavities are and their lungs and their trunks and everything combined.

They communicate at such a low frequency and they can communicate over miles and miles—20 miles, 25 miles, something like that.

And they can hear that.

I don't know if you've ever stood close to an elephant. I have not, but sometimes they do this really low rumble, and it's just—you can feel it. It's amazing.

And actually, alligators—I don't know if it's alligators or crocodiles or both—communicate much the same way, really low frequencies.

And actually, with alligators, since they're in water, you can see where the spines on their backs are sitting kind of just above the water, and they start that rumble, and the water just does this. It's popping all over. It's really cool.

Reclaiming the Guinness Record

Ric Hansen:At one point along the way, your Guinness record was broken by some other guy for a period of time, and then you reclaimed your position.

Did you ever meet the guy, the dude that beat you out for that period of time?

Tim Storms:No. We've talked on the phone. Super nice dude, super nice guy. Roger Meniz, I think was his name.

Ric Hansen:Oh, Roger Manise. Okay.

I thought it would be cool to get you in the same room and have a voice-off.

Tim Storms:It would be—oh, man.

What Makes Tim’s Voice So Deep?

Ric Hansen:Do you happen to know how physiologically the mechanics of your voice are different than mine, for example, to make you have such a low voice?

Tim Storms:Yeah, actually, I used to sing with this a cappella group called Rescue back in the day.

After a concert, there was a nose and throat specialist that was at the concert, and he's like, "Man, I've got to look at your vocal cords."

I said, "Okay. Nobody ever told me that before."

We went to his office like nine or ten o'clock that night, after the concert. He sticks a scope up my nose and down my throat, and that's got to be my vocal cords on the screen in real time. It's just the weirdest thing.

He said that my vocal cords are twice as long as he's used to seeing, and the arytenoid muscles that control your vocal cords—he said there's a lot more movement to them than he's used to seeing.

I guess that would contribute to the fact that I can control those lower notes more easily.

I don't know. I've always just looked at it as something that God blessed me with and just using it the best I can.

A Ten-Octave—and Beyond—Range

Ric Hansen:So not only do you have the lowest range in the world, but you also have this wide range of octaves that you can hit, which is kind of unique.

People that can hit some high notes and some low. In fact, you have a ten-octave range, basically.

Tim Storms:Is that what you've—

Yeah, that's what's on record with Guinness.

Actually, the last time I broke my record, I just extended the low-end part of the record, and I didn't do the full range.

It was actually prior to that that I got the ten-octave record, but I extended my low range by a couple of octaves for that record, so that would put it at 12.

But it's impossible to use that much of it—the full spectrum—in music, performance or whatever.

Ric Hansen:Just for the sake of comparison, Mariah Carey has a five-octave range. David Lee Roth, the rock-and-roll singer, also has about a five-octave range.

So you're basically double people that we're familiar with hearing on the radio, right?

Tim Storms:Right.

The difference, though, is with Mariah Carey, she's got a phenomenal range. But the thing that's crazy about her range is that I think she can feasibly use her entire vocal range in a performance because so much of it is on the high end of the spectrum.

Whereas with me, that's diminished greatly because half of what I do is off the low end of hearing.

A Cappella, Branson and Southern Gospel

Ric Hansen:Not only do you have this beautiful, resonant, deep voice, and not only do you have this wide octave range, but also you can carry a tune. I mean, you're a good singer as well, right?

On top of all that, you've got quite a resume of singing with a cappella groups.

One of the things you did was years in Branson as a performer. Tell me a little bit about your experience there.

Tim Storms:It was a great time in Branson.

I was there a couple different times. The first time I was with a show called Fifties at the Hop, a '50s and '60s rock-and-roll show.

Because I love a cappella, we actually got to do some a cappella numbers in the show—'50s doo-wop, which I loved.

They let me utilize what I do best, just the low stuff and singing bass. They were really great in terms of me getting to do what I do on a regular basis.

I was with them for about four and a half years.

Then I got with Rescue out of Portland, Oregon, a Christian a cappella group there, and I was with them for about two and a half years, I think.

Then I actually went back to Branson and was with Fifties at the Hop for one more year, and then got with a show called Pierce Arrow.

They're more country, country-rock. Then they do a lot of gospel stuff, like Southern Gospel.

I was with them for about 18 and a half years, somewhere around there, before we moved this way to northern Idaho.

Singing Classical Music

Ric Hansen:So we've got hip-hop—not hip-hop, we haven't done hip-hop yet, but maybe that's next.

You did the oldies show, you did a little country, and you did some Christian a cappella.

And you've also done a classical piece with Paul Mueller, who wrote a classical piece where the range needed to go as low as an E. It was difficult for them to find someone who could sing an E.

So they held a contest. Tell us about that.

Tim Storms:Decca Records, along with Paul Mueller, held this worldwide search, a talent search, I guess you could say, for a bass singer who could sing this E, but be able to sing it well.

Paul Mueller had this composition that he wrote called De Profundis, and it required that low E.

I heard about it and thought, "Ah, well, I'll submit it. I'm sure there's a Russian basso profundo out there that can sing it just as good or better than I can."

The Russian basses profundos are so amazing at projection—the technique that they use and just projecting those low notes.

So I submitted it.

I just got on my laptop and stood in front of the video monitor and sang down to that E. Then I took it down a couple of octaves just to show them that I had more range than that.

I didn't hear from them, didn't hear from them.

Then I found my phone number and gave them a call, and they said, "Oh yeah, you're still in the running."

Then maybe a day or two later I found out that they chose me for it.

I was incredibly humbled by that because I know there's Russian basses out there, lots of basses out there that can do that note.

Even when I went to do the recording, my voice was shot just like it is now.

It was my first experience singing and recording with a choir like that.

I'm standing eight or ten inches away from the microphones, and I'm having to project over a 40-person choir.

Ric Hansen:Yeah, yeah.

Tim Storms:They were a wall of sound.

The St. Petersburg Chamber Choir is amazing. The first time I heard them, oh my goodness. I get chills just thinking about it. They're so good.

Singing in Russian and Mandarin

Ric Hansen:So Decca put out an album ultimately that was called Tranquility, and you had that song that you're talking about, plus there were another couple that you were involved in there too, as well, right?

Tim Storms:Yeah, yeah. I got to learn some songs in Russian, which was really challenging.

Ric Hansen:We got rock and roll, we got country, we got classical, and now we're singing in Russian.

Tim Storms:This is crazy.

I love the challenge of singing in other languages.

I'm also doing some work with East West Collective. A buddy of mine lives in Beijing, and we've been doing a lot of a cappella arrangements in Chinese, in Mandarin Chinese.

So doing a lot of work with that too.

It's a blast singing in other languages.

Touring the World Through A Cappella Music

Ric Hansen:Your a cappella career kind of took you in far-off lands around the world.

You toured—was that a Christian group, or was it not a Christian group that you traveled with to multiple countries around the world?

Tim Storms:The first group that I toured with around the world was with the group A Cappella and A Cappella Vocal Band, The Vocal Union.

I was with the A Cappella Company for about a year—a very short time—but I grew up listening to them.

They're a huge, huge part of my inspiration growing up as far as learning how to sing.

They always had great bass singers—Rodney Britt, Wes McKenzie.

I always looked up to them, learning from them.

From Fan to Performer

Ric Hansen:And now you're singing with the group. Wow.

Must have been an amazing experience to transition from a fan to an actual performer.

Tim Storms:Yeah. It was my lifelong dream to sing with them.

I bet God had something to do with that one.

He had everything to do with that, because I know I didn't do a lot other than sing here or there.

I went to a music seminar that A Cappella put on a couple years. I went to church camp with the founder's nephew.

That had a lot to do with it. Breeshin and I were good buddies at church camp.

In fact, he's the first person I ever sang with in front of a group of people.

It was Breeshin and this other kid named Chris, and myself. It was a trio, and the other kid didn't really know how to sing harmony, so he sang with Breesh.

So it was really a lead and a bass.

But that was kind of the catalyst that really catapulted me forward into the love of a cappella, singing for people, and blessing people with the Word through music.

Coming to Know Jesus

Ric Hansen:Where along your journey here did you come to know Jesus? Where did you find your faith?

Tim Storms:I grew up in the church ever since I was a baby.

I grew up knowing of God, knowing Jesus, knowing church family. I grew up in that environment.

But it wasn't until I was, I think, 13—12 or 13—when I decided to obey the gospel.

It was at the Tulsa International Soul Winning Workshop. It's a thing that the Churches of Christ put on for years and years.

My dad baptized me in front of about 10,000, 11,000, 12,000 people.

Ric Hansen:Oh my goodness.

Tim Storms:A Cappella was at that thing every year, and lots of different a cappella groups, and it was always a big thing that I looked forward to every year.

But that year in particular, I brought a friend of mine. My dad studied with his family and did Bible studies with his family, so he got to go on the trip with us that year, all the way from Indiana down to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

He and I were just wandering around and going to all the booths and looking at all the exhibitions and listening to all the a cappella groups.

We had our Bibles and we just sat down and studied.

That was the first time that when I was reading Scripture, it no longer was just a study for him, but it was for me.

I had a eureka moment: "This is God talking to me right now."

I need to be baptized. I need to say, "God, I'm yours."

That was my first eureka moment of, "Hey, I'm lost and Jesus is the only way. God's the only one that can do anything about that."

I can't do anything on my own. It's God.

I believed in what I was reading, and I responded to that.

God Moments on the Road

Ric Hansen:Along the journey, are there any pivotal moments that really stand out to you as being God moments—where you've been called to do something, inspired to do something, or had a God idea?

Tim Storms:There have been many moments throughout my life, whether it be touring on the road or home life or what have you, that have been moments like that.

There are a few that stick out in my memory that were just like, "There's no other explanation than this is God doing His thing."

The first time after I graduated high school, the first time touring on the road, I think with a guy named Tim Tibbles. We were both named Tim. The group's name was Timothy, and it was that before I got in the group.

We're on the road, and we're driving across Montana in the middle of the night.

We were getting low on gas, and gas stations were few, open gas stations were few and far between.

We're cruising along, going up an incline, and ran out of gas.

We're done. We're on the side of the road.

I'm like, "Oh great."

I just remember praying because we're out in the middle of nowhere, pitch black, middle of the night.

"Where in the world are we going to find gas?"

All the stations we stopped at were closed.

We're sitting there going up this hill, stopped on the side of the road, and I'm just kind of praying in my own head:

"God, please, please help us out here, because what do we do?"

The craziest thing—this is in the middle of summer—was going eastbound on the other side of the highway, opposite directions of us, there was one of those big highway snowplows in the middle of summer.

Ric Hansen:Oh, okay.

Tim Storms:Middle of the night, going the other direction.

Like, "What in the world?"

Well, he turned around and came and parked right in front of us.

He's like, "Y'all all right?"

We're out of gas.

He said, "All right. I'll take somebody. We can go get a gas can and get you some gas."

Ric Hansen:Oh, man.

Tim Storms:I went with him.

And the crazy thing is, right when we crested the top of the hill, there was a huge truck stop that was open—less than a mile away, just over the top of the hill.

Between there and the gas station, I got to share my faith with this guy.

I don't know whatever came of that. I don't know whatever came of it, but I feel like God put that guy there not just to take care of us, but to take care of him too.

That's just one of those moments that's still very vivid in my memory.

A Faith Challenge: Asthma and Patience

Ric Hansen:How about a faith challenge along the way, or an unanswered prayer? Do you have a moment like that in your journey?

Tim Storms:The Bible talks about being patient in affliction.

I have asthma, and I have come to really take that Scripture to heart because having asthma and allergies and being a bass singer doesn't mix very well.

It makes it very, very difficult to be able to be consistent on a regular basis and be able to do what I need to do with my voice when I need to do it.

That's been a huge challenge in terms of growing my patience.

I can get super frustrated if I'm trying to sing something and it's just not working.

I'm my biggest critic. I'm harder on myself than I'm sure anybody else would be as far as my voice goes.

It does get frustrating when my voice, my asthma and allergies won't let me do what I want to do.

Contemporary Christian Music and the Human Voice

Ric Hansen:We've gone through the gamut of the kinds of music that you've done, but you really haven't jumped into contemporary Christian music.

Is that something that intrigues you or that you think might be a possibility? Or have you done it and I just don't know about it?

Tim Storms:I haven't done anything that would be on the Christian charts or anything like that per se, other than being with the group A Cappella and Rescue, and now working with East West Collective.

In terms of branching out and doing contemporary Christian, I haven't really looked in that direction per se.

Not that I'm closed to that, but I am such a lover of the a cappella genre—just all vocal singing.

It's hard to imagine really doing anything other than that.

Not that I wouldn't, but I just love the sound of the human voice and harmony.

Voiceover Work

Ric Hansen:You've been a voice talent, right? Have you ever been asked to do radio station imaging, movie trailers, or that kind of thing?

Tim Storms:I've done some voiceover work. I've got a website for my voiceover, and I've done some things here and there.

Not on really a full-time basis with that.

But yes, I would absolutely love to do some movie trailers.

Ric Hansen:What a voice for movie trailers. I mean, you're perfect for that.

Tim Storms:Yeah.

It's an art form.

Somebody can have a low voice and a great speaking voice, but it's a whole different ball of wax when you're trying to perform a voiceover—be it a movie trailer, a radio commercial, stereo radio imaging, whatever.

It's an art form.

It takes a lot of practice and a lot of hard work to be able to deliver those lines like they're needed.

Finding His Way to Coeur d’Alene

Ric Hansen:So you were born in the South, you moved to the Midwest for the most part. Now you've somehow found your way to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

How is it that you came to the Pacific Northwest?

Tim Storms:I was actually with an a cappella group originally when I moved up here.

A guy that sang with AVB in the '80s and early '90s formed a group called Freedom, and we relocated from Newkirk, Oklahoma, up to Coeur d'Alene.

That's where I met my wife.

Then, in December of '94, I went and sang with A Cappella. I moved out to Paris, Tennessee.

She and I got married in May of '95.

Then we ended up back in Coeur d'Alene in December of that year.

We moved here, there and everywhere.

When we moved away from Coeur d'Alene, we both felt and wanted to end up back in Coeur d'Alene one day.

It ended up being way sooner than we ever imagined.

That was another God thing, just the way that all happened.

We ended up coming back to Coeur d'Alene. It's where she grew up, and she's got some family here.

We thought, "Let's just go back to Coeur d'Alene and kind of start all over."

Ric Hansen:Our kids can grow up here.

It's a piece of paradise, let's face it. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho is just gorgeous.

You're out of the big urban centers, and you've got great nature there and all of that is going on in Coeur d'Alene, including the big Coeur d'Alene Lake, which is gorgeous.

So it's beautiful.

Hearing Tim’s Amazing Voice

Ric Hansen:I know you've got to get scooting here, but before we let you go, a couple things I want to do.

First of all, I want to demonstrate to our podcast audience the lowest range that you can get to at this point.

I know you've had some challenges with your voice here over the last week or so, but give it all you've got. Let's hear the lowest voice you can give us.

Tim Storms:How about I sing Amazing Grace a little bit?

Well, I work—and then—

Perfect. Sing it a little bit low.

It may not be as low as I can go, but let's see.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound...

Ric Hansen:That's great. Nice job.

That was wonderful, though, and thank you so much for taking the time and talking with us.

Supporting Tim’s Work

Ric Hansen:Is there anything we can do to support you as an audience?

I guess if any of us have need of voice talent, we know where to go.

What's your website address?

Tim Storms:It's TimStormsVO.com.

Ric Hansen:Okay. What else? Anything else going on that we can help support?

Can we pray for you in any way?

Tim Storms:Yeah, actually, the work I'm doing with East West Collective—the proceeds from the MP3 sales go to benefit charities in China, orphanages and things like that.

We take the money and donate it to the charities, but then put it back into reproducing more or producing more music, just kind of a circle like that.

It's going to really good work and going to producing Christian music in Mandarin.

We're also doing stuff in English as well, but a lot of it's in Mandarin.

That's East West Collective that we're doing that with.

Ric Hansen:And is that again available on a website?

Tim Storms:I think, if I remember right, it might be on Apple Music and Spotify.

Ric Hansen:We'll do some research and we'll find it and we'll put it up on the screen and in audio to let people know where they can contribute in that regard as well.

Tim Storms:For sure.

And I think it's—I don't remember if it's eastwestcollective.com or ewc.com.

But yeah, if you just search East West Collective.

Ric Hansen:You'll find it.

All right.

Tim Storms:Definitely appreciate the prayers as well.

Ric Hansen:Thank you so much for taking the time today and to be with us.

Best of everything to you, and God bless you.

We will hope we'll follow your career. We'll continue to follow your career.

It's been great to get to know you a little bit.

Tim Storms:You too. It's a pleasure, Ric. Thank you so much. God bless you, man.