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? smiley) 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.

devinplombier

Showing 2 responses by knownothing

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

 

@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