This is one of three posts… Bass, Midrange, Treble…
So, what are your favorite recordings to:
1 - Show off bass - the fun stuff for your friends and to show off your system
2 - Understand bass capability - the real reason for the system
3 - Make fart sounds - c’mon, you know you do it.
Testing treble: Tunes to test/express TREBLE
Testing midrange: Tunes to test/express MIDRANGE
Peace
Bruce in Philly
My current track (digital or vinyl) to have an idea of the maximum bass you will be hearing from the vast majority of albums are either of the the first two tracks off Donald Fagen’s “Morph the Cat”. The title tune, and “The H Gang”. I use this pretty much as a quick way to set levels on subs, in the sense of, “pretty much nothing else will have More bass than this”, and in fact it is usually a Lot more than most things.
Perhaps an indication of how far things have come in that department on vinyl especially, as “back in the day” they could never put the proper amount of John Entwistle on Who albums without the needle jumping out of the groove ; )
O-Zone Percussion Group - “Jazz Variants” is my current favorite. Nice balance between the various base registers.
I’m a sucker for Bach organ works and I just found one at Walmart of all places. Thanks for the suggestion.
Béla Fleck - “Fight of the Cosmic Hippo”
Pretty insane in the bass department! Definitely the reference for deep bass.
A “sucker” with damn good taste.
There’s something very basic and very satisfying about a Bach organ piece played in the right venue (church) on the right machine and properly recorded.
I have a few but there’s always room for one more
To show off Bass :
To show off Musicality/Micro-Dynamics :
There’s more…
To just crank it and have some fun :
I had the MCA 1/2 Speed Mastered Mastersound early 80’s pressing that I bought at a Flea Market outside Ottawa, Ontario. People hate these discs but I like how they sound and preferred it over my 1995 who’s Next CD.
I have a playlist I use to test and compare different systems.
Some of the tracks that show me how the system’s bass sounds (crisp/ boomy/ droning/ punchy/ etc) include:
They aren’t necessarily hard-out bass heavy tracks, but they each have different styles and frequencies of bass, that give me a good idea how a system is doing compared to others I’ve heard.
Bruce
Paul Desmond, “Take Ten”.
Good for all ranges. (upfront) acoustic bass, alto sax, archtop guitar, cymbals, snare with brushes, it’s all there.
Most extreme bass (performed by Jah Wobble), back in my younger days… ‘Public Image Ltd.’ “Metal Box”
Also, Dave Brubeck’s Timeout. Gets it right on all aspects, frequency response, imaging, transparency, and coherence.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61mG9n2VjWL.jpg
Yes there is. Heard Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor live in a church for the first time last week… Magnificent! .
Check out track #10, “Sloppy Seconds” (featuring Bootsy Collins & Bernie Worrell), on the 1996 album, “T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M,” which stands for The Awesome Power Of A Fully Operational Mothership. Overall, I think this album is lackluster, but “Sloppy Seconds” is a standout track with some great bass.
Note to TIDAL users: Track #10 is misspelled as “Sloopy Seconds.”
Bass? Ok.
Great find, thanks!
There seem to be many mastering versions around: anyone you’d recommend?
