Genesis will be at its 25th CES this Winter - CES2017. And to celebrate, we are having a party - with VPI and Transfiguration, SMc Audio and Viva Audio. I'll post details of the gear later, but I'll start with music first. The system has been picked months ago, but I was telling one of my friends that this time of the year, I spend most of my time listening to music and picking albums to bring for CES. He thought how lucky I was to be able to spend all day listening to music, but didn't realize that this is actually WORK!
Evaluating music for demo purposes is totally different from listening for pleasure. While listening, I've gotta assess the sound quality, whether it is tonally and harmonically accurate, if it is arresting and interesting enough to attract a busy and impatient audience to come into the room, engaging enough to keep their attention, whether it will highlight the qualities of the demo system, and most important of all - not drive me up the wall and out the room if I have to play it 10 times a day 4 days in a row.
So, here are some of the albums I'll be bringing to the show:
Since I posted this one on Facebook, I've been surprised how many of my friends who are music lovers haven't even heard of it:
I'm a great fan of rock and some of my favourite bands include Pink Floyd, Yes, Gentle Giant, ELP, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, The Doors, etc. I'm not a great fan of tribute albums as some of them can be cheesy.
But an album with Billy Sherwood, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe, AND Keith Emerson AND Adrian Belew AND Ian Anderson AND Robby Krieger AND Gary Green AND Dweezil Zappa came up - I couldn't resist. Come on, these guys aren't the kind of musicians who are waiting on tables until they get their next paid gig. They are the stars of rock (and the son of a supernova). Even if the album didn't sound good, I had to have it.
And if it's good enough to bring it with me to CES, it's not just good. It's fantastic!!!
Evaluating music for demo purposes is totally different from listening for pleasure. While listening, I've gotta assess the sound quality, whether it is tonally and harmonically accurate, if it is arresting and interesting enough to attract a busy and impatient audience to come into the room, engaging enough to keep their attention, whether it will highlight the qualities of the demo system, and most important of all - not drive me up the wall and out the room if I have to play it 10 times a day 4 days in a row.
So, here are some of the albums I'll be bringing to the show:
Since I posted this one on Facebook, I've been surprised how many of my friends who are music lovers haven't even heard of it:
I'm a great fan of rock and some of my favourite bands include Pink Floyd, Yes, Gentle Giant, ELP, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, The Doors, etc. I'm not a great fan of tribute albums as some of them can be cheesy.
But an album with Billy Sherwood, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe, AND Keith Emerson AND Adrian Belew AND Ian Anderson AND Robby Krieger AND Gary Green AND Dweezil Zappa came up - I couldn't resist. Come on, these guys aren't the kind of musicians who are waiting on tables until they get their next paid gig. They are the stars of rock (and the son of a supernova). Even if the album didn't sound good, I had to have it.
And if it's good enough to bring it with me to CES, it's not just good. It's fantastic!!!