Ray Brown "Soular Energy"
What bass-litmus-test music do you take to auditions?
If you love tight, fast, hard-hitting bass in spades, we have something in common.
When you go audition speaker-amp pairings, what music do you take along to separate the grain from the chaff?
Here are a couple of my favorites:
- Pigs of the Roman Empire, by Melvins + Lustmord (from their album Pigs of the Roman Empire). This is a brilliant collab between noted dark ambient artist Lustmord and iconic sludge gods the Melvins. If a 23-minute sludge metal track isn’t your cuppa, I understand (sort of? 
) and feel free to skip to around 14:30
- A1, by Darkside (from their eponymous 2011 debut EP). What can I say? I love Darkside. Only one EP and 3 albums in 14 years, but they’re worth the wait. Their new album Nothing is fantastic.
- Paténipat, by Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul (Topical Dancer). This playful song has the ability to dim my little table light significantly when played loud enough. For some reason it does not cause my imperfect room to break into harsh mids and highs so I crank it up to ridiculous SPLs.
- Ageiopolis, by Aphex Twin (Selected Ambient Works 84-92). An airy and pleasant ambient track with some killer bass thrown in. Maybe the only track so far that makes my speakers threaten to lose their composure and reminds me that I should probably re-gasket my woofers and crossover access panels, and make sure my sealed enclosures are indeed sealed.
What are some of your favorites? I am curious to learn about some non-electronic works.
27 responses Add your response
Recording of October 1979: The Telarc 1812 Overture see here.
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Here are some songs I am currently using for this purpose. A mix of acoustic and amplified music. Goat Rodeo Sessions - Goat Rodeo Jacob Collier - Overture (From Djesse Vol. 1) Josh Stone - I’ve Fallen In Love With You Lizzo - Tempo Piltch & Davis - Newsoundland Ray Brown Trio - Evidence Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Righteous & The Wicked Renaud Garcia-Fons - Palermo Natturno Seven Years In Tibet (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - The Invasion Skrillex - Supersonic (my existence) Yello - Core Shift kn
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Lineage - Lenny's Solo is an absolute gem I'd never heard of, so thank you for bringing it up. As epic drum solos go, it's right up there with Billy Cobham's A Funky Shade of Things, and dare I say within sight of Max Roach's best. I haven't listened to the whole double album yet (searched for a proper hi-res copy to do the excellent live recording justice), but if the entirety of it is on par with what I've heard so far it's a masterpiece. |
This stirred up memories. When I was small, my mom was into Tchaikovsky and the 1812 Overture was in regular rotation in our house. I even think I remember the Deutsche Grammophon album cover, but I could be imagining that. I was not familiar with the Telarc recording though. It is definitely a dynamics monster. Now I wonder if being exposed to artillery-as-musical-instrument at a young age has anything to do with my current love of industrial metal...?
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I was aware of Ray Brown’s name but sadly I knew next to nothing about his music. Soular Energy is delightful. I did not find Evidence - but Black Orpheus was released on the Evidence label? The Goat Rodeo sessions is Yo Yo Ma playing... bluegrass? A great album I definitely would have never found on my own! |
@devinplombier the bass player on Goat Rodeo Sessions is Edgar Meyer. Check out his credits on All Music, he’s played on a lot of great recordings. kn |
Chrome by Joe Jackson - track 4 on the abum Volume 4 - the melody of the song is "borrowed" from Sunshower by Kenny Barron. Graham Maby's bassline covers most of two octaves, so it's excellent for identifying crossover problems. Also, the song is pretty sparse - largely Maby and Dave Houghton's drumming and is super tight, so good for checking system timing accuracy as well. |
Here are two from Sheffield:
https://tidal.com/browse/track/52421390?u
https://tidal.com/browse/track/52421391?u be careful with the volume until you have played them through. |
Akhnaten opera of Philip Glass... ( my favorite modern opera with Weil one) 9th symphony of Bruckner... (Giulini)
A Tuba is the best to test bass...
Then i used Marie Claire Alain Bach opus at the organ... I felt the organ with my body and feet with my headphone (AKG K340) clearly with no distortion (bone resonance)... Most headphone cannot render this as if you were there with a soundfield out of your head... Many speakers in a living room will not do ( acoustics matter as much as speakers choice ) ...
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With the Tuba the organ is the best , There is plenty of Bach organ works interpretation, I prefer and use this one :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1espcOPvFA&list=PLv1E-JmpYdfcuGCp4uGhF21mPbsuncJxM |
For higher frequencies i used violin... Mainly The "arte of violin" of Locatelli... This version because the sound recording is astonishing... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpad18N0v8w Also I use Tacet "tubes recording only" label 4 seasons of Vivaldi... The sound of violins here made me a "high head" as there is bass head... Honey reflecting light in the body of a bee flying toward sun... My K340 is incredible in highs as in Bass rendition with natural timbre... I was unable to buy speakers to beat them... I am not an audiophile with no budget limit though... The best i ever bought was the Tannoy dual Gold speakers, but speakers in a non dedicated acoustic room dont work at their peak potential at all...
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Great suggestions, thanks. In my mind How To Destroy Angels has always been the Coil album. Didn't know there was a band by that name. Great bass in How Long?, though. My favorite Nine Inch Nails album is the one everyone else hates - Ghosts I - IV. Go figure The Coltrane recording I listened to - a 2008 Verve remaster - sounded awful, veiled and muddy. The soundstage consisted of: - John Coltrane, quite a bit left of my left speaker - Between John Coltrane and center stage - complete silence - Center stage to right speaker - the rest of the band, pretty well defined but all bunched up in that narrow space. Weird. |
As I write this I a₼ listening to Day of Atonement by Uniform and The Body, on their Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back collab album. Truly impressive bass. For you David Lynch fans, the trash gangsters cruising the Las Vegas subdivision in a trick blacked-out Dodge Charger in Season 3 of Twin Peaks were blasting Uniform. |
This bass litmus track from the following icelandic composer will separate the grain from the chaff. (Not a easy track for a lot of speakers, will also reveal deficiencies with subwoofer integration, play it loud) Hildur Guonadottir - Attack https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B7sj_XJJ9U8&pp=ygUbaGlsZHVyIGd1w7BuYWTDs3R0aXIgYXR0YWNr
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@deep_333 Thanks, that's a good one 🙂 |
