# Greatest Sound Check Song



## Hughesie

What was the greatest sound check song you ever used, the one that made people just look at you as if you were crazy.

Mine would be Eurovision 08 cd 

but the best one i ever heard was the title song from the Team American Movie .


----------



## elite1trek

People sometimes look at me funny when I use the Bannana Song from Charlie the Unicorn 2, but it does work well.

I have also used the song "Still Alive" from the credits of the game Portal.

My favorite song to use the "The Show Must Go On" - Queen.


----------



## zuixro

At my old job there was a guy who always used "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd.


----------



## GreyWyvern

I like to use "Abnormal Interference" by Eat Static. It has a good range and lots of subtleties that make it nice to use. It gets me weird looks sometimes, but it is fun to crank up.


----------



## Jamyo

We are currently using the Lion King opening song, for some reason the crew seems to really get into it and it has a good range.


----------



## museav

George Carlin's Seven Words You Can't Say on Television and John Valby's Was It You? , the traditional material for our station's sound check on the campus radio network before we went live every year. Okay, not necessarily the greatest material technically, but you definitely got strange looks from anyone who overheard it.


----------



## Footer

Depends on the show, but I usually get some Wicked in there, as well as My Chemical Romance.


----------



## philhaney

I usually use "Blade Runner - End title."


----------



## renegadeblack

When I'm doing the sound stuff, I like to use Follow Me by Uncle Kracker and when I'm trying to identify which speaker is on I use Bass Test by The Chemical Brothers.


----------



## Van

Almost anything by Jean Michel Jarre'. The dynamics and frequencies he uses are all over the place in almost every song. 

I really prefer Oxygene Pt1 and 2 And Les Chants Magnetiques Pt 1 and 2.


----------



## Logos

If I really want to p*** people off I use "Bhangra Blood Bhangra" by Opium Jukebox. It's a Bhangra tribute to Black Sabbath. Has a good solid drum and bass backing and lots of weird high frequency stuff from Indian instruments. I also carry around a copy of Pat Boone "In a metal mood." 
But I usually use a mix CD I made up myself which has everything from the Beatles to The Black eyed peas. I might even add some Trans Siberian Orchestra stuff now.


----------



## erosing

Usually I like to use stuff from the soundracks for Jurassic Park I & II.


----------



## Ric

I tend to use Crowded House 'best of'. All good songs that are well engineered & the mix covers a wide frequency range. It also helps that it's easy listening stuff, so people dont mind it being on while I'm tuning a system.

I do think it's important when using something for sound checks that it:
1/ Is well known to you so that you know when a system doesnt sound right you can tweak it closer to what it should sound like.
2/Is similar program music to what you're using the system for. i.e There's no point tuning a system for great bass response if it's used for speeches, as it may actually cause issues.


----------



## TOG

Didja ever wonder what song Steely Dan uses for system check?


----------



## GavMJM

Battle Without Honor or Humanity - Tomoyasu Hotei

Pretty good for testing. Make sure you get a decent copy though, especially if you're getting it from the web. 128k MP3s simply don't cut it. I'd recommend FLAC.


----------



## TRRHINO

I've used almost anything. Always fall back on Sting - Field of Gold Album.


----------



## dafunkmonster

Keine Lust - Rammstein, Killing in the Name - RATM, or Oops I Did it Again - Britney Spears (if I'm trying to provoke hilarity)


----------



## leistico

"Learning To Fly" by Pink Floyd is my perenniel fave, but sometimes I use a pulled-from-vinyl version of "Number One" by Chaz Jankel, from the soundtrack of "Real Genius" back in the mid 80's. I know the song very well, so I can tell how true the repro is.

For stereo separation, and to drive miscellaneous folks bats**t, I use "Split Level Head" by Napoleon XIV


----------



## Sony

I usually use Daft Punk's Discovery Album

I'm a huge Daft Punk fan 

If I'm trying to weird people out so they will leave then I'll use something obscure like E Nomine.

If I'm trying to make people laugh then I'll use Avenue Q hehe


----------



## Gretsch

I like to use Trip and Glide by Neve but I once heard of a guy EQing theatre houses by listening to Pink Floyds entire Wall album start to finish.


----------



## supperclubsound

I've always been a fan of using Keb Mo'. It has a great natural sound. Also like "Doomsday Jesus" -Black Label Society.


----------



## flash1322

I like to use clubbed to death from the matrix good beat


----------



## MisterTim

I'm Blue

...da ba dee da ba die, da ba dee da ba die...


----------



## HSSBO94

the chicken Jaco Pastorious. With soul intro


----------



## Tex

I hate to admit it, but I like the Korn cover of Word Up.


----------



## SweetBennyFenton

My ears arn't so great but I use Radiohead. Either OK Computer or In Rainbows.

Mostly because I know every note on those two albums by heart.


----------



## Dionysus

Really depends for me, and I've used some of the ones listed above.

One More kiss dear - Vangelis (Blade Runner Soundtrack)
Blade Runner End Title
Something from Pink Floyd's The Wall
Deeper Well - The Wailin' Jennys (actually I very often use the whole **** demo CD from them. Got their Demo after doing sound for them a few times and have loved it since)

I also use some various other things. Some Brian MacNeil, Finger Eleven, Ramones, The Clash, etc.


----------



## DaveySimps

"Rods and Cones" off of the Blue Man Group Audio album.

~Dave


----------



## firewater88

DaveySimps said:


> "Rods and Cones" off of the Blue Man Group Audio album.
> 
> ~Dave



Blue Man Group certainly makes it to the top of the list quite often for me when doing some tweaking...


----------



## Spacewalker5

Don't Speak by No Doubt.


----------



## Salt7900

New Years Day-U2


----------



## Studio

Weezer-Troublemaker


----------



## gizm770o

I was the board op for a production of A Question of Mercy, about Physician assisted suicide. The designer chose Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" for speaker check. Good times!


----------



## slattery93

I usually use Pink Floyds album "The Pulse" Usually Shine on you crazy diamond. It depends on the show...I usually use the sound effects I get together for the show too. But sometimes its "I gotta feeling" -Black Eyed Peas. Or "Replay" -IYAZ. I like shaking the school!


----------



## Schniapereli

I really like The Harshest Place on Earth from the March of the Penguins soundtrack by Alex Wurman. Really nice highs and lows.


----------



## GrayeKnight

Right now i'm using Brooklyn by Youngblood Brass Band... Gets me a little more energized in the morning when i come in to work.


----------



## museav

Since this thread seems to be morphing, I Just wanted to point out that the original post was about the sound check song "that made people just look at you as if you were crazy" and not about what you might use for a serious sound check. There's also a difference between what one might use as a source for a sound check versus what one might use to tune a system or pass the time and between what one might use for a sound check of a live performance versus one consisting primarily of playback, so when you get into more serious suggestions it seems that the application would be a major factor.


----------



## 2mojo2

Martin Hayes on fiddle and Dennis Cayhill on guitar work well for mids, or the Kane sisters.
The violin is a very evocative instrument.
If you can hear it cleanly through the system, then the vocal range is well covered.
That's most of what you really need.

If you are one of those sub-woofer fanatics, try the dinosaur cuts from Jurassic Park.


----------



## DuckJordan

I always use Lucy in the sky with diamonds by the Beatles, It always gets a few laughs and hey why not rock out while your doing sound check. Another fav is the imperial march from star wars.


----------



## avkid

Loadout/Stay by Jackson Browne is my all time favorite.
The ultimate Roadie anthem.


----------



## JLNorthGA

To resurrect this old thread...
How about Whipping Post by the Allman Brothers? (Dating myself there...). You really get some strange looks... For a bass beat - We're Going Wrong by Cream - gives you a sense of how good the stereo separation happens to be.
Something more modern (sort of) All Along the Watchtower by Bear McCreary.


----------



## chausman

Bohemian Rhapsody hands down. Simply because it has practically EVERYTHING.


----------



## JohnD

Number one on my list is Traffic-Low Spark.
Alternates include Tom Waits from the junkyard orchestration period, especially Swordfishtrombone, and I also like Klaus Ogerman Orchestra-Gate of Dreams(hard to find).
And a must have/just in case would be virtually any Spike Jones.


----------



## CrazyTechie

My go-to for general sound has always been Rods and Cones by Blue Man Group. I have a playlist with a bunch of other songs depending on which end of the spectrum I'm working on but I don't have acess to that list at the moment.


----------



## cpf

Baba Yetu, better known as "that song from Civilization" is my choice - it's a well-recorded song with a huge dynamic range, plus you can instantly identify the gamers in the crowd. 

What gets the most looks, however, is testing the subs with some Northern Cree.


----------



## Markovich

I usually use Jake Shimabukaru. Lots of great tones and awesome bass lines.


----------



## DrPinto

Markovich said:


> I usually use Jake Shimabukaru. Lots of great tones and awesome bass lines.



I saw him in concert. Amazing. Never heard a ukulele sound like that before.


----------



## DrPinto

I use the main theme from "Wallace & Gromit" (extended version).

Sometimes I also use the "Dumb Ways To Die" song (karaoke version).


----------



## Markovich

wow, lucky guy, never did listen to him live, but I bet it would be awesome.


----------



## jwolfkill

Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. 

Those opening cymbal crashes and drumbeats make everybody in the house look up in astonishment. The staccato percussion parts let me hear that I'm getting a good, crisp low end. The brass parts cover a pretty wide range, so I can tell that everything is working too, plus I get a good idea of which frequencies are being most affected by the acoustics of the room. 

As an added bonus, after about a minute of the brass fanfare, some stagehand or other usually gets inspired to do a pantomime "slo-mo Olympic moment" sort of thing - you know, arms raised, chest thrown forward, and face contorted into a grimace of exhaustion and jubilation, like a runner breaking the tape at the finish line. The most creative renditions can cause the crew to dissolve in fits of laughter.


----------



## alyx92

I usually start off with "Track 1". I've called it track one cause I've had this song on a CD forever, but I don't know the song title. Anyways, its a nice jazz piece with some nice low end and crisp piano stuff. Then I switch over to a big movie score kinda deal (lately I've been using the theme from The Avengers) and then I wrap it up with Walk This Way by Aerosmith


----------



## TheaterEd

Many different songs, but "Don't stop me now" by Queen will almost always get in the rotation.


----------



## DuckJordan

DIS 'I FINK U FREEKY' by DIE ANTWOORD (Official) - YouTube
Warning contains strong language and weird people.


----------



## Koopdaddy

I have on my "Test" playlist

Marcus Miller "Cousin John" from the M2 album. Marcus Miller - Cousin John - YouTube
Jake Shimabukaru "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" Tommy Emmanuel / J.Shimabukuro: While My Guitar Gently Weeps - YouTube
Sade "Soldiers of Love" Sade - Soldier of Love - YouTube
Nils Lofgren "Keith Don't Go" Nils Lofgren - Kieth Don't Go [CD Quality] - YouTube
Michael Buble "Cry Me a River" Michael Bublé - Cry Me A River (Official Music Video) - YouTube
Johann Strauss "Banditen-Galopp, op. 378" Johann Strauss II - Banditen-Galopp, op. 378 - YouTube


----------

