Favorite Sound Check songs?

[walker rosewood]

Every engineer has a 'sound check' song for tuning a PA. What's yours?

I start by using the driverack to mute everything, and one by one unmute each cab and check for blown speakers, and that the crossover's are set correctly. For this I use "Another one bites the dust" because it has a nice separation of lows, mids, and highs.

To tune the room I use "Billy Jean" because it's got a nice mix. It's clear lows make it easy to dial in the subs. The snare and hihat are also very crisp which makes it easy to find where any slapback is coming from.


I can't tell you how many times I've been at a festival when from off in the distance arises.."I want my MTVEEEEEE".


What's your favorite sound check song?

 

[MuzikMan]

Peg - Steely Dan. I don't think I'm the only one that uses it

 

[allexcosta]

Donald Fagen's Nightfly, the entire album...

Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, most songs...

Tower of Power's Still Diggin on James Brown...

 

[spaz21387]

choking victim 500 channels nothing better then a song about smoking crack and watching tv ha

 

[lunarpollen]

We just do "The 'A' Song".... I wonder how many other bands have their own version of "The 'A' Song".... hehee

 

[projectMalamute]

The Jesus Lizard - Goat

 

[nervous]

Brent Bourgeois - Time Of The Season

 

[PastorofMuppets]

sir duke normally

J/K

we often play little wing..

 

[MNAirHead]

There are some classical tunes with piccolo and contrabass... long and flowing.. full spectrum.

Isn't obnoxious.. especially when some nut put in $5 to hear Sexyback 30x in a row.

 

[James Judson]

No sound check. When the time comes we just play. My only request is a first song I don't sing.

 

[walker rosewood]

I don't mean the song the band plays for a sound check. I mean what tracks do the audio engineers use to test the PA (aka EQ'ing the mains, tuning the room), long before a band even shows up.

When you set up a PA, each room (or outdoors) reacts differently. The varying sizes and absorption/reflection characteristics will make the very same PA sound drastically different at each venue . Engineers typically have a go to track that they know in and out, exactly how it is supposed to sound. Then if it sounds odd you can eq the speakers until it sounds normal.

 

[harleyboy]

I use Hotel California from Hell Freezes Over....

 

[KeithAlanK]

The Red by Chevelle.

It sounds very much like the band, and our fans like it.

 

[walker rosewood]

^^^ I think that's the track one of my co-workers uses. When the chorus hits there's a really low bass note. She loves the way it hits a full JBL Vertec line array with 16 SLS SP1000 subs.

 

[Interceptor]

I use Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire, and have been using it for decades.

Getting Johnny's voice just right is the key to my ears.

 

[fokof]

Thomas Dolby - Aliens Ate My Buick
Using that album for the last 20 years
I just listened to it so many time on so many different kits , I know right away what's to cut/boost.

My "soundcheck" play list;

 

[FrenchAK]

A blues-y riff jam song in A. It sounds nothing like what we play during a show, so we may want to change that soon.

 

[F-Clef-Jef]

Steely Dan - Two Against Nature

 

[Hactar]

I can't tell you how many times I've been at a festival when from off in the distance arises.."I want my MTVEEEEEE".

Great song....

Some of my favorites for system testing:
Flight of the Cosmic Hippo - Béla Fleck & The Flecktones
Tricycle - Flim & The BBs - this whole album

And when I need some bass :
Keep Hope Alive - The Crystal Method
Bang Boom - Bass Outlaws

 

[jowens004]

MONEY FOR NOTHING!

Great song to check levels with.