Okay folks, as promised I'm publishing the 9 CD playlist that my friend Tony Weber, National Sales Manager for Cary Audio, uses at trade shows.  I'm going to do it one CD at a time as I just can't commit to typing this all out at once. :)  I'm sure you'll recognize many (if not most) of these.  But hopefully you'll find a hidden gem or two.  I know I have.

Demo CD 1

1. Infernal Dance [Rite of Spring – Stravinsky/Atlanta Symphony]
   Large-scale symphonic, VERY dynamic with lots of impact. Grammy nominee for engineering.
2. Fanfare for the Common Man [Aaron Copeland]
   Brass & percussion, huge bass drum sound (a demo standard).
3. Bouree [Water Music, Suite 1 – Handel/LA Chamber Orchestra]
   Grammy nominee for both performance & engineering. Small chamber orchestra. Listen for differences in tonal color between strings and reeds as they alternate, then play together. Pinpoint imaging & great room sound.
4. Nativity Carol [John Rutter/Roger Wagner Chorale]
   Small choir (16 voices) & organ, simple but beautiful. Very soft except for last verse when they go full voice.
5. Gnomus [Pictures at an Exhibition – Moussorgsky/Jean Guillou]
   Huge French pipe organ, DEEP bass (18 Hz, starting at 0:50)! Watch your levels after the previous very quiet cut.
6. Jardins Sous La Pluie [Debussey/Carol Rosenburger]
   Piano, very complex – melody line is easy to pick out, but many speakers turn the accompaniment to mud. Perfect piano sound, and a Grammy nominee for engineering.
7. Zui-Zui [Japanese Melodies/Yo Yo Ma & Kyoto Ensemble]
   Solo cello plus Japanese instruments & percussion – very dynamic with startling transients. Listen for differences in plucking, bowing, and striking sounds, and for the many different timbres. Yet another engineering Grammy nominee.
8. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Theme [John Williams]
   Movie score, huge bass drum & dynamics. Starts softly, but this is really a “crank it up & let it rip” cut toward the end.
9. Sleepy Hollow End Theme [Danny Elfman]
   Movie score, huge bass drum & dynamics, for orchestra or choir.
10. Something’s Coming [West Side Story/Dave Grusin]
    Big band jazz, lots of punch & great big natural sound. Nominated for engineering Grammy.
11. Straight to the Sunrise [Gato Barbieri]
    Modern smooth jazz, very deep bass & delicate percussion.
12. Gaslighting Abbie [Steely Dan]
    Ultra-clean and detailed jazzy rock.
13. Hotel California [Hell Freezes Over/Eagles]
    Gotta include this! Dueling acoustic guitars, dual bass drums at different pitches to discern.
14. Li’l Victa [S.M.V.]
    3 bass players & drums is all you hear on this.
15. Nobody Knows Me Like You Do [Lyle Lovett]
    Solo male voice & simple accompaniment (guitar, piano, cello & bass). A bit processed-sounding on voice, but very clean.
16. Roughest Place in Town [Stevie Ray Vaughn]
    Straight ahead slow blues, very clean. All that’s here is guitar, bass, drums, and SRV’s smoky voice entering at about 2:30 in. This is 9 minutes long, so good to use for A/B comparisons.