need best song for audition

[audibleconnoisseur]

What would you say is the BEST song that showcases both male and female voices, as well as MANY different muscal insruments for testing/showcasing our 340SE's?

[BradJudy]

Why try to pack all of that into one track? Why not have different tracks for the best in different features?

I have a demo CD I use for things like the RMAF that I burn a number of different songs to - each with their own strengths/features.

[drewface]

damien rice has some very nice songs with female guest vocalists. especially the last song on his album "O" (think the song is called "Eskimo" or something like that), you get male vocals and acoustic guitar the first half of the song, and then there's this great crescendo into a female opera singer with strings and all sorts of crap. it's a fantastic aural experience.

also, the cd as a whole is great.

[audibleconnoisseur]

If I have it all in one, I only need one! Can you share what is on YOUR test cd? I have one of my own but thought it would be nice to have other opinions.

[BradJudy]

This thread shows the tracks I was using for the last RMAF: http://av123forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16513

I don't know that I was that excited by the discs I made that time. The tracks that I tend to use a lot for demoing are:

The Blue Rider Trio - Death have no mercy in this land (male vocals are excellently recorded harmonica)
Orlando Cachaito Lopez - Redencion (instrumental - good bass and flute)
Tori Amos - Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Live) (female vocal)
Ani DiFranco (Not a Pretty Girl CD) and/or Cyndi Lauper (The Body Acoustic CD)

I picked up a couple of good CD's from Yarlung Records that I might pull instrumental from.

I build new CDs before each RMAF.

[curtis]

This is great disc for evaluating speakers.

http://www.chesky.com/core/details.cfm?productcode=UD095&category=1

[cyberbri]

Yeah, I think it would be hard to find a single perfect demo song with both male and female vocals. At the least, one song with male vocals and one with female.

[cyberbri]

Artist: Sufjan Stevens
Album: Illinoise
Song: The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
(was just on the radio (kexp.org))
for audio samples: http://www.amazon.com/Illinoise-Sufjan-Stevens/dp/B0009R1T7M/ref=pd_sim_m_5/102-4909559-8711367




Also, the Polyphonic Spree (album: Together We're Heavy):
http://www.amazon.com/Together-Were-Heavy-Polyphonic-Spree/dp/B0002IQ1QC/sr=8-1/qid=1171393798/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-4909559-8711367?ie=UTF8&s=music

[boludaso]

Not sure how good the recordings are for these, but it'll give you the male/female with all the other crap.

Andrea Bochelli/Christina Aguilera
"Somos Novios"
Amore-2006

Chayanne
"Exxtasis"
Provocame-1992
this is in spanish

Elvis
"Something"
This one I love for his backup singer. Her voice replaces the guitar that is in the Beatles version of the song. Unreal. Its the "Aloha from Hawaii" album.

Fleetwood Mac
"Rhiannon", "Landslide"
The Dance-1997
The first 1:20 of Rhiannon is her voice. Its unreal.

Marving Gaye
"Aint Nutin like the real thing"
Best of-2003

Neil Diamond and The Whore
"You dont bring me flowers"

And couldnt you use any Micheal Jackson or Prince song since they both can hit the notes of a man or woman?

[chas]

Curtis - is that Chesky disk just a plain old CD (I don't currently have a universal player)?

[curtis]

Curtis - is that Chesky disk just a plain old CD (I don't currently have a universal player)?
Yep....it will work in any CD player.

[audibleconnoisseur]

I came across one that we have in our collection that would cover most of what I wanted... a solid male vocal, solid female vocal (more opratic) and plenty of scaling, quality peaks and smooth lows:

Josh Groban and Charlotte Church - The Prayer

[will95]

Let me second Curtis' recommendation on the Chesky Ultimate Demonstration Disk:

http://www.chesky.com/core/details.cfm?productcode=UD095&category=1

I recently purchased and used this CD as my primary speaker evaluation tool and found it to be invaluble. It has a great mix of female and male vocals and instrumentals including a drum solo at the end. It is a high quality recording that puts on one CD tracks that are specifically targeted at testing different sonic attributes in speakers and electronics (amplifiers). Given that this was my first time critically listening to new speakers in many years, this CD helped to heighten my awareness of what to listen for and contributed to a consistent evaluation process.

I would recommend that you use the Chesky CD in conjunction with some of your own personal music CD and DVD favorites. For this I used James Taylor (Live) and Norah Jones for additional vocal testing; and Top Gun and War of the Worlds for DVD sound track testing. I also purchased a Ray Charles Surround Sound DVD (Monster Music) as I did not have any surround music to test out 5.1 configurations. This surround music DVD proved useful for my surround music testing. In addition to Ray Charles' signature voice, this DVD has him singing duets with many famous female and male vocalists (Norah Jones, Elton John, Diana Krall, Van Morrison, James Taylor, and others).


--Michael