Again, without asking if the "1812 Overture" has more musical value than my audio oscillator, lots of side drum and double bass around 32 Hz, as on many CDs.
The cannon (which few would dispute should be recorded out of doors) is not easily recorded (some might say nothing is, if you apply the Toronto Turing Test). Whether real or cooked, the Telarc Cincinatti cannon blast recording is kind of broadband, 10-80 Hz with most power in the middle. It does have a fair peak right at 20 Hz sharp (artificial, I'd say) and some below.
If you are curious about your speaker output below 30 Hz, you have the source here even if it is far from the strongest tone in the cannon shot.
Musically, old recordings in the Concertgebouw hall, even back to von Beinum, are astonishing to hear with their profound double-bass sound. No life is complete without a visit to the Concertgebouw.
For cannon, my old fun favorite is Mark Aubort's Queens Birthday Salute (1957). A fair amount of cooking, some indoors bits, and a tape loop for the cannon (a dog was barking through the whole out doors event, Mark said). Being vinyl, not much below 40 Hz but lots kettledrums, cannon blasts, horse's hoofs, and cymbols crashing all in double-stereo fun.
BTW, you ear is doing most of the construction of super low notes, not stuff on the recording. Even low Franck organ pieces sound profoundly low but your ear is doing the downwards fill-in. Which means your body cavities tell when low stuff is playing, since your ears (and cognition) can't tell.
The cannon (which few would dispute should be recorded out of doors) is not easily recorded (some might say nothing is, if you apply the Toronto Turing Test). Whether real or cooked, the Telarc Cincinatti cannon blast recording is kind of broadband, 10-80 Hz with most power in the middle. It does have a fair peak right at 20 Hz sharp (artificial, I'd say) and some below.
If you are curious about your speaker output below 30 Hz, you have the source here even if it is far from the strongest tone in the cannon shot.
Musically, old recordings in the Concertgebouw hall, even back to von Beinum, are astonishing to hear with their profound double-bass sound. No life is complete without a visit to the Concertgebouw.
For cannon, my old fun favorite is Mark Aubort's Queens Birthday Salute (1957). A fair amount of cooking, some indoors bits, and a tape loop for the cannon (a dog was barking through the whole out doors event, Mark said). Being vinyl, not much below 40 Hz but lots kettledrums, cannon blasts, horse's hoofs, and cymbols crashing all in double-stereo fun.
BTW, you ear is doing most of the construction of super low notes, not stuff on the recording. Even low Franck organ pieces sound profoundly low but your ear is doing the downwards fill-in. Which means your body cavities tell when low stuff is playing, since your ears (and cognition) can't tell.
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The few 1800's cannons that I have heard at re-enactments or with a live orchestra were not to impressive but they may have sounded much differently when shooting live ammo with a full strength powder load. What was impressive was the start of the US Marine's running marathon in Washington DC. They used a 105mm cannon, everyone took a step backwards before starting to race.
I happened to be in town for Reagan's state funeral several years back...I ended up a little north of the Capitol, down the street from where they had set up the 21 howitzers...those things made quite a sound going off. Pretty sure they were 105's.
Nowadays:
Aynur, Yaranmaz Asik
YouTube - Aynur - Yaranmaz Asik
Impressive sonic character of a female voice.
Aynur, Yaranmaz Asik
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
YouTube - Aynur - Yaranmaz Asik
Impressive sonic character of a female voice.
I Am You by Shpongle
The Missed Symphony by Infected Mushroom
The Stones Are Not Too Busy by Solar Fields
Human by Hol Baumann
The Unexpected Visitor by Shulman
Happy Pills by Younger Brother
Probability Tree by Bluetech
Deer Park by Tripswitch
Those are just a few, but those are generally what I play when I change a component in my system
.
The Missed Symphony by Infected Mushroom
The Stones Are Not Too Busy by Solar Fields
Human by Hol Baumann
The Unexpected Visitor by Shulman
Happy Pills by Younger Brother
Probability Tree by Bluetech
Deer Park by Tripswitch
Those are just a few, but those are generally what I play when I change a component in my system
.
Temptation Masterpiece
Five musician clapping their hands god for verticall and horrizontal position
If you can place them is about right
Grace Jones Lough hi dinamic records probably best recording for that year
Should be right behind your left shoulder and sound realy natural
Black Sabath Black Sabath Vertigo original first print
Hi dinamics
This Just for testing
Five musician clapping their hands god for verticall and horrizontal position
If you can place them is about right
Grace Jones Lough hi dinamic records probably best recording for that year
Should be right behind your left shoulder and sound realy natural
Black Sabath Black Sabath Vertigo original first print
Hi dinamics
This Just for testing
Thanks you for the post.
Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.
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I love this sort of list - I've made dozens of test CDs for my speaker projects over the years.
Of course, test tones, log-sweeps, and a duplex sound card tell me all I need to know about the speaker I'm testing ... but those squiggly lines aren't half as fun as listening to music.
I'm using two CD mixes at the moment - I call them Thump & Snap. Thump is a collection of bass-heavy tracks and Snap is a collection of songs which I've heard so many times (many times live) that I know how I want them to sound from a set speakers.
Here's what's on Snap:
Rhythm & Soul - Spoon (good for picking up if there's too much upper-midrange energy)
Reckoner - Radiohead (I've played to this song maybe a thousand times ...)
Florida - Modest Mouse (I listen for the separation between the guitar and backing vocals in the chorus)
Skin on the Drum - Michael Franti (dreadful recording, but baritone vocals with little else)
Samson - Regina Spector (delicate and acoustic)
Saint Simon - The Shins (an awful, indie recording but I know it like the back of my hand)
Planet New Year - Sarah Blasko (when she hits those "Ts" & "Ss" and the tweeter isn't attenuated enough, you'll hear about it)
Somethin' Else - Cannonball Adderley (I used to play saxophone so it's a good reference)
Sunny Road - Emiliana Torini (also delicate and acoustic)
All I Need - Air (rich and warm recording so should sound rich and warm)
Pagan Poetry - Bjork (this song is water-thin, so if there's not enough midrange ...)
Little Sister - Queens of the Stoneage (I listen for distortion in the distortion - what I mean is, they start with a layer of heavily distorted guitar, then layer the other elements over the top to create a heavy rock song. However, you should still hear where the guitar stops and the next instrument begins)
Dance of Death - Iron Maiden (live, errors and all)
Sorry for the long post - got a bit excited there!
AJ
Of course, test tones, log-sweeps, and a duplex sound card tell me all I need to know about the speaker I'm testing ... but those squiggly lines aren't half as fun as listening to music.
I'm using two CD mixes at the moment - I call them Thump & Snap. Thump is a collection of bass-heavy tracks and Snap is a collection of songs which I've heard so many times (many times live) that I know how I want them to sound from a set speakers.
Here's what's on Snap:
Rhythm & Soul - Spoon (good for picking up if there's too much upper-midrange energy)
Reckoner - Radiohead (I've played to this song maybe a thousand times ...)
Florida - Modest Mouse (I listen for the separation between the guitar and backing vocals in the chorus)
Skin on the Drum - Michael Franti (dreadful recording, but baritone vocals with little else)
Samson - Regina Spector (delicate and acoustic)
Saint Simon - The Shins (an awful, indie recording but I know it like the back of my hand)
Planet New Year - Sarah Blasko (when she hits those "Ts" & "Ss" and the tweeter isn't attenuated enough, you'll hear about it)
Somethin' Else - Cannonball Adderley (I used to play saxophone so it's a good reference)
Sunny Road - Emiliana Torini (also delicate and acoustic)
All I Need - Air (rich and warm recording so should sound rich and warm)
Pagan Poetry - Bjork (this song is water-thin, so if there's not enough midrange ...)
Little Sister - Queens of the Stoneage (I listen for distortion in the distortion - what I mean is, they start with a layer of heavily distorted guitar, then layer the other elements over the top to create a heavy rock song. However, you should still hear where the guitar stops and the next instrument begins)
Dance of Death - Iron Maiden (live, errors and all)
Sorry for the long post - got a bit excited there!
AJ
Indeed so I probably have also....although i avoid radiohead nowadays, unless its one of the recorded in their front room albums (hail to the thief?), as most of the other stuff is too 'NICELY' mastered to be vaguely natural; unfortunately cause as a band i rate them highly.
This i have to completely disagree with, I have really never heard a single bjork song which isnt bass heavy and generally 'FLat eq'd' thru the mids, and "pagan poetry" SHOULD sound like shes really spitting out the p's, coz she is!
the mic would be popping if not for the mic windshield....AGAIN more great tuneage. but i have a better challenge...... how about untangling the guitar tracks on most of the heavy tunes on 'blues for the red sun' by kyuss...............sod bjork, THATS an album with sucked out mids, and its DARK!
or maybe just 'songs for the deaf' btw NOT true
or maybe 'you think i aint worth a dollar, but i feel like a millionaire', i love waiting for the full fleshed out mix to cut in!
Songs for the Deaf is awesome! I read somewhere that the producer was asked to soften the cymbals and the kick-drums because he (Josh Homme) didn't want the album to sound like a '90s metal album. The result is the whole album is dark sounding.
Another one I play a lot is The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret. I love that crisp, clear "ting" above the chunky guitar. Love it!
No offense meant with Bjork - I use Hyperbalad on my bass test CD - I just meant that there are sections of the song where all there is is her thin, whispy voice and nothing else. If I want a rich sounding midrange in my speakers, I listen to this song and try to warm it up a bit!
AJ
Another one I play a lot is The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret. I love that crisp, clear "ting" above the chunky guitar. Love it!
No offense meant with Bjork - I use Hyperbalad on my bass test CD - I just meant that there are sections of the song where all there is is her thin, whispy voice and nothing else. If I want a rich sounding midrange in my speakers, I listen to this song and try to warm it up a bit!
AJ
haha no offense taken AJ!
All these things are subjective anyway, i find bjork similar to queen in that when i listen to either, its the aggressive sibilance characteristic to both their voices to be more noticeable that the mids. especially in the case of freddy mercury. indeed until i made my last pair of speakers i didnt notice the characteristic sibilance he has due to those buck teeth he had....at first i thought it was the tweeters until i listened to eddie veddy and HIS own flavour of sibilance jumped out at me. basically i find all these sources useful for judging my tweeters, as i know the woofer mids are flat as a pancake(+/-1db)
QOTSA are great but i still love Kyuss way more, and joshs guitar sound in its unabashed unadulterated form! songs for the deaf is just great due to dave grohl, IMHO lol
All these things are subjective anyway, i find bjork similar to queen in that when i listen to either, its the aggressive sibilance characteristic to both their voices to be more noticeable that the mids. especially in the case of freddy mercury. indeed until i made my last pair of speakers i didnt notice the characteristic sibilance he has due to those buck teeth he had....at first i thought it was the tweeters until i listened to eddie veddy and HIS own flavour of sibilance jumped out at me. basically i find all these sources useful for judging my tweeters, as i know the woofer mids are flat as a pancake(+/-1db)
QOTSA are great but i still love Kyuss way more, and joshs guitar sound in its unabashed unadulterated form! songs for the deaf is just great due to dave grohl, IMHO lol
Agreed, Kyuss rock hard. But Go With the Flow is still my fav' - It may be the Grohl factor ...
So what are your favourite bass tracks, mondogenerator? Assuming you don't have log-sweeps, test tones, etc. available of course.
Here's my "Thump" CD: It came in very handy when I set up the speakers I built for my father in-law - he has a completely different shaped house to me.
Lusty - Lamb
Stay With Me Til Dawn - Wicked Beat Sound System (brutal to Woofers. This track has claimed the life of a 7" Peerless woofer and a 12" PA woofer!)
Ultimate - B[if=""]tek (tonnes of bass - not necessarily deep, but it sounds good when you've got your woofers sorted)
Fidelity - Regina Spektor (lots of upper bass)
Read to Me - B[if=""]tek (the CD insert claims that this recording was partially funded by the Victorian State Government for research into the effect of sub-bass frequencies in music ...)
It Could be Sweet - Portishead (very loud bass; I find it difficult making this song sound coherent between the woofer and midrange or tweeter)
A Plane Scraped its Belly on a Sooty Yellow Moon - Soul Coughing & Roni Size (Ignore the title, good thump value when you crank it up)
The Getaway - The Music (the bass in this track isn't crisp so I use it to decide whether the speakers are too close to the wall; it can sound too muddy and woofy ... technical terms)
Hyperbalad - Bjork (I play this and move around the room listening for peaks or suckouts)
All I Need - Air
Knights of Cydonia - Muse (I just play it really loud!)
Sorry, talking too much again.
AJ[/if][/if]
So what are your favourite bass tracks, mondogenerator? Assuming you don't have log-sweeps, test tones, etc. available of course.
Here's my "Thump" CD: It came in very handy when I set up the speakers I built for my father in-law - he has a completely different shaped house to me.
Lusty - Lamb
Stay With Me Til Dawn - Wicked Beat Sound System (brutal to Woofers. This track has claimed the life of a 7" Peerless woofer and a 12" PA woofer!)
Ultimate - B[if=""]tek (tonnes of bass - not necessarily deep, but it sounds good when you've got your woofers sorted)
Fidelity - Regina Spektor (lots of upper bass)
Read to Me - B[if=""]tek (the CD insert claims that this recording was partially funded by the Victorian State Government for research into the effect of sub-bass frequencies in music ...)
It Could be Sweet - Portishead (very loud bass; I find it difficult making this song sound coherent between the woofer and midrange or tweeter)
A Plane Scraped its Belly on a Sooty Yellow Moon - Soul Coughing & Roni Size (Ignore the title, good thump value when you crank it up)
The Getaway - The Music (the bass in this track isn't crisp so I use it to decide whether the speakers are too close to the wall; it can sound too muddy and woofy ... technical terms)
Hyperbalad - Bjork (I play this and move around the room listening for peaks or suckouts)
All I Need - Air
Knights of Cydonia - Muse (I just play it really loud!)
Sorry, talking too much again.
AJ[/if][/if]
the title rings a bell......cant think how it goes..lol
agreed. wandering star is quite a good one for upper bass, although it is a DIRTY hammond, in fact most portishead is a bit bass crazy!
of course, the Size! still a classic brown paper bag double bass still rocks the place.
defo got most bjork stuff.....the medulla album im missing tho---bjork singing with razael beatboxing with mike patten making wah wah porn star guitar sounds and the like. some of that is crazy. maybe not hifi but interesting, as is playing the angel (the album)and some other stuff by by depeche mode...lots of simple analogue oscillator synths, aliasing distortion modulation....and aphex twin (another master). and also some drum n bass, im no DJ but i knows what i like.
All of these have one thing in common. PARTS SOUND EXCELLENT, BUT ONLY WHEN THEY SHOULD. some of it sounds dirty, badly sampled, or just lofi back room recording. I like testing using this type of thing too, coz when its sounds as bad as it ought to, I know the speakers are up to the job.
Oh yeaH... theres always the secret track ending on the last track Leftfield-leftfield, thats pretty good for bass testing, otherwise 'space shanty' is ok too. spacial deep much like bjork, and massive attack, which i also use alot.
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Hah! Aphex Twin - that brings back memories. Scary scary memories of TV monsters and children with the same face and layers and layers of beats. I think I wore out my Come to Daddy EP, it was played so many times in my little appartment ... which I'm sure my neighbours loved!
I remember an Aphex Twin track called Bucephalus Bouncing Ball which was made up of a single sample of a bouncing ball. The sample was stretched, sped up, shortened and layered over itself so many times that it became music. Well, as close to conventional music as Aphex Twin ever came. Probably a terrible track for testing but interesting none-the-less.
Unfortunately the only Depeche Mode I have is on vinyl, indeed all the music I have from that era is vinyl. I love my turntable, but I reckon it doesn't come close to a CD when it comes to testing low frequencies.
Damn, I forgot about Leftfield. There's probably a dozen or so tracks like Melt which are worth a listen for bass testing. Same with Underworld. And some fat drum 'n' bass like Goldie. And more rock like Faith No More's Evidence. Looks like I'll have to make another CD ...
AJ
I remember an Aphex Twin track called Bucephalus Bouncing Ball which was made up of a single sample of a bouncing ball. The sample was stretched, sped up, shortened and layered over itself so many times that it became music. Well, as close to conventional music as Aphex Twin ever came. Probably a terrible track for testing but interesting none-the-less.
Unfortunately the only Depeche Mode I have is on vinyl, indeed all the music I have from that era is vinyl. I love my turntable, but I reckon it doesn't come close to a CD when it comes to testing low frequencies.
Damn, I forgot about Leftfield. There's probably a dozen or so tracks like Melt which are worth a listen for bass testing. Same with Underworld. And some fat drum 'n' bass like Goldie. And more rock like Faith No More's Evidence. Looks like I'll have to make another CD ...
AJ
haha its always the way, i forget half of what music i have! i have only picture discs and limited edition vinyls since i gave up my breif (2 year) stint at being a quite awful DJ. rumble is the main bass killer for me with vinyl, either filter and lose some VLF or dont and lose amp headroom and/or my little 5" bass drivers....easy choice really. vinyl is better IMO but only for 1% of the time; when needle weight, wear, rumble and a good solid turntable are at their best.
interesting about the bouncing ball sample...i always thought it was made using the roland 303 with the bouncing appreggiator. I only say this as i have one lol
check out The Fantomas (ft mike patten) , or their collaboration with the Melvins...scarily heavy, strange time sigs... and of course their version of come to daddy with guitars and a REAL drummer....the drummer alone is astounding.
interesting about the bouncing ball sample...i always thought it was made using the roland 303 with the bouncing appreggiator. I only say this as i have one lol
check out The Fantomas (ft mike patten) , or their collaboration with the Melvins...scarily heavy, strange time sigs... and of course their version of come to daddy with guitars and a REAL drummer....the drummer alone is astounding.
You may be right about the bouncing ball sample. I read about the sample on-line and you know how reliable on-line references can be!
I actually saw Fantomas play once. I had no idea who they were and I must admit I walked out scratching my head a little. I later found out that it was one of Mike Patten's bands so I gave them another listen and liked what I heard. I imagine that says more about me than it does about Fantomas ...
But I'm sliding off topic again.
The Presets album Apocalypso - Good pumping album that'll make your windows rattle in their frames. Probably not great for testing but good for showing off.
And Hip-hop artist Akrobatic does a song called Feedback which, if you've got too much bass, it will prevent you from hearing anything else in the song.
For something a bit harder, Alchemist did a cover of Eve of the War from War of the Worlds which has a double kick drum which sounds like a double kick drum should - right there in the guts!
AJ
I actually saw Fantomas play once. I had no idea who they were and I must admit I walked out scratching my head a little. I later found out that it was one of Mike Patten's bands so I gave them another listen and liked what I heard. I imagine that says more about me than it does about Fantomas ...
But I'm sliding off topic again.
The Presets album Apocalypso - Good pumping album that'll make your windows rattle in their frames. Probably not great for testing but good for showing off.
And Hip-hop artist Akrobatic does a song called Feedback which, if you've got too much bass, it will prevent you from hearing anything else in the song.
For something a bit harder, Alchemist did a cover of Eve of the War from War of the Worlds which has a double kick drum which sounds like a double kick drum should - right there in the guts!
AJ
Back in the 1980's when I could afford to buy Hi-Fi gear, a sales guy was demoing some higher end equipment for me with the Sheffield Track record, I had to have one so I bought it. I reckon it's one of the best bits of vinyl for testing, original master, huge dynamic range and fantastic tracks!
Some Sheffield's quite wonderful. Harry James, "The King James Version" worth searching for. I got a few dollars for mine - but the dealer must have gotten a fortune when reselling it.
I sometimes demo with old records from the 70's and older - Hamilton College Choir.
I have no vinyl now. While it is NEVER the right time to rip to CD from vinyl (and toss the original), using RayGun on the Mac improved the sound by cutting the noise without audibly harming the rest and maybe some other cleanup too. Sounds ridiculous, I know.
I sometimes demo with old records from the 70's and older - Hamilton College Choir.
I have no vinyl now. While it is NEVER the right time to rip to CD from vinyl (and toss the original), using RayGun on the Mac improved the sound by cutting the noise without audibly harming the rest and maybe some other cleanup too. Sounds ridiculous, I know.