Suggested Reference Tracks for P.A. Evaluation
A question that’s frequently debated between engineers when discussing system setup is: “What music do you use to tune the P.A.?” While some engineers prefer to use a more scientific approach (spectrum analysis and a measurement microphone), other engineers achieve results that are equally successful using their ears and recorded music.
There are tons of music tracks that qualify as “test tracks” for a P.A. system. The general criteria are clean recording, wide frequency response (especially in the bottom octaves), wide dynamic range, low distortion and overall clarity. In no particular order, here are suggestions for music tracks that tick the boxes.
Steely Dan — just about any track, though the later recordings tend to be more hi-fi than the earlier ones. Favorites include “Aja,” “FM,” “Glamour Profession,” “Hey Nineteen” and “Peg.”
Donald Fagen — Any track from The Nightfly, which is an amazing recording. If a P.A. gives you a BBKD (Big Bad Kick Drum) on any of these tracks, you know that either the system is lying, or the subs are too loud. The kick (and bottom-end in general) on most of the tracks is lean, tight and controlled.
Toto — “Africa.” Some engineers prefer “Roseanna,” but I like “Africa” for the uncluttered arrangement and the looped percussion instruments. It’s a great track to use when showing off a system to a client.
Dire Straits — “Money For Nothing” (from Brothers In Arms) for the impact and ethereal quality of Sting’s voice in the intro, and the funky synth sounds. If you have time in the schedule (14 minutes!), try “Telegraph Road” from Love Over Gold, which gets my eternal vote for Most Beautiful Pop Recording Ever.
Daft Punk — “Get Lucky” for the performances, the groove and the vibe. Oh yeah — the bottom end is pretty good, too!
Game of Thrones — Main Title Theme. I’m partial to this track because we used it for a few years as the opening for Blue Öyster Cult shows. It’s got everything: dynamics, detail, bottom end extension and a heart-swelling melody.
Gustav Holst — “Mars, The Bringer of War” from The Planets. Use this track when you have to show off a P.A. system to a client. It’s got everything you need to evaluate a system: big bottom, dynamics, impact, drama. Be picky about which performance you use. The Toronto Symphony with Andrew Davis conducting (EMI- DS537362) is a pretty good performance but lacks the sonic attributes of the version by Zubin Mehta conducting the LA Philharmonic (Decca SXL6529). You need this in your music collection whether or not you plan to use it to evaluate audio systems.
Pink Floyd — “One Slip” from Momentary Lapse of Reason.
Toy Matinee — “Last Plane Out.”
Madonna — ”La Isla Bonita.” Extended, tight bottom-end, great arrangement. Listening to this song makes me want to order an adult beverage with an umbrella in it (is that an oxymoron?).
Earth, Wind, and Fire — “September.” Great song, excellent recording, killer band.
Radiohead — “The National Anthem.” Like most material from Radiohead, they make a great noise, even if they really don’t write songs.
Olive — “Falling” from Extra Virgin. Bottomless depths in the lower octaves.
Foo Fighters — “One of These Days.” Clean, dry, and in your face.
Peter Gabriel — ”Red Rain” from So. If you don’t have So in your collection, shame on you. This is another track that’s great for showing off a system to your clients.
Sting — “Fields of Gold” from Ten Summoner’s Tales.
Any song by the artist you are mixing. I’m not a huge fan of this, but playing the artist’s recordings can help give you an idea of what the P.A. is doing to the sound of the vocals. Some bands simply play live with more spit and vinegar than they do in the studio, and a change in a band member can drastically alter their sound when compared to the original recordings.
Now for the nitty-gritty. Any or all of these tracks can be helpful when tuning a P.A. system, but a test track doesn’t have to be an audiophile showcase in order to be useful (though it should be free of distortion). What’s more important is that you are intimately familiar with the track, that you have heard it on all kinds of playback systems, large and small, wide and tall. As an example, I’m super-familiar with The Nightfly. If a P.A. system misrepresents the sound of that recording, I’ll know it. That’s why you have to take these recommendations with a grain of salt.
Musical taste notwithstanding, just because a track is useful to me doesn’t mean that it will be useful to you. The goal is for you to be able to play a recording through a P.A. system and get a handle on whether or not you’re hearing an accurate representation of that recording. That’s why tracks you’ve recorded in the studio can be very helpful. You already know their DNA.
Guidelines
Whatever recording(s) you choose, here are some things to think about. Keep the playlist down to just a few recordings, and choose songs you really like. The idea is to use the same tracks long-term so that you’ll hear them under a lot of different circumstances. Use WAV files, not MP3’s, and definitely not YouTube or other streaming services. These are inferior formats for serious listening because they add compression, distortion and other artifacts. An iPhone or iPad can play WAV files, but you may have to experiment with your music player if you’re on the Android platform. It’s true that WAV files take up more space than MP3’s, but you won’t need hundreds of songs in WAV format — just a few that are full-bandwidth, uncompressed files. Of course, you could always bring the tracks on vinyl and connect a turntable to the P.A.
Steve “Woody” La Cerra is the tour manager and front of house engineer for Blue Öyster Cult.
