tfabris carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
I have a ten-song "demo" playlist already, which I've been adding/removing songs from for over a year, and I've settled on a list that I think really captures a nice range of sound. I've been thinking for a long time that it would be fun to us to all compare our favorite demo lists.
Interestingly, YYZ is not on the list. It's a fantastic song, but doesn't actually demo the system's range as well as some of the others. Tom Sawyer, on the other hand, is number one on the list.
Here's my current demo list:
Rush- Tom Sawyer (from "The Rush Remasters" version of Moving Pictures). This song just explodes all over the spectrum, it has fantastic punch and impact, and is produced very clean and smooth. A great all-around test song. Doug, of course, likes to surprise folks with it at maximum volume...
The Crystal Method- Cherry Twist (from Vegas). Some extremely clean low-frequency synth bass happens early in this song. Check to make sure the rear license plate doesn't rattle.
Genesis- I Can't Dance (from We Can't Dance). Incredibly clean production, the vocals are extremely dry and have a very in-your-face presence which shows how clearly the mids on your system reproduce voices.
The Pretenders- Dragway 42 (from Viva el Amor). The intro to this one just sounds FREAKIN' COOL when you crank it. Actually it has some neat positional information to test your stereo image. The instruments seem to dance around in the stereo field.
Steve Morse- Modoc (from High Tension Wires). This is a fantastic solo classical guitar piece. But with a twist. The guitar uses a hexaphonic pickup, allowing Steve to place each string on a separate track. The low strings are produced differently from the high strings, each string has a different EQ/Reverb/etc., and all the strings are panned differently. The stereo image from this piece is insane- each melody line seems to dance around you. And the separation between the various strings is so strong that you could swear it's at least two guitarists. (But it's not- it's just Steve. I've seen him play this piece live.)
Tori Amos- Riot Proof (from To Venus and Back). Another great song to crank, if you've got the subwoofers to handle it. An incredible array of sonic textures.
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones- Earth Jam (from Outbound). This track is well produced overall, but I include it in the list specifically to demo the sound of a very cleanly-recorded bass guitar. The bass sounds great in this particular mix.
Peter Gabriel- Red Rain (from So). A great all-around demo song, staring with a crisp, dry hi-hat line (played by Stewart Copeland, by the way) fading into an explosion of sound. Peter sure knows how to produce a song for maximum impact. Seems like it takes him about ten years to release an album, but each one is worth the wait.
The Crystal Method- Trip Like I Do (from Vegas). Okay, it's probably bad to have two demo pieces from the same album in the list. But man, this song's intro sounds so good when you crank it. There's something about the filter-sweep synth at the beginning that just gets me...
Trevor Rabin- The Cape (from Can't Look Away). An instrumental piece with some very high, crisp guitar sounds riding over a very deep analog synth bass. The synth bass gets so low in parts that you can almost count the pulses.
Anyone have their votes for their favorite demo songs?
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