danmasi -
How about a track from Flim & The BB's disc "Tricycle"? It's one of my favorite demos. First track is a good choice; "thunder and birdies" is a good cut as well for demoing. Great dynamics and detail.
You have good taste. I grew up in Minnesota and started my first recording studio there. Flim and the BB's were Minnesota studio musicians at the time. I used Jim Johnson (Flim) on many studio sessions starting when he was about 17 years old (long before Flim and the BB's were born). So my experience with these phenomenal musicians goes back to the early '70's.
The 3M company, based in St. Paul, was selling a large percentage of the magnetic tape used in studios in those days. Looking to the future, they began to work on the development of a whole new way of recording music - digitally. This was quite a few years prior to the development of the CD and no standards existed. So they were developing their own digital recording technology.
As they began to build recording systmes using their newly developed technology, they needed a place to test it. There was an engineer at a studio called Sound 80 named Tom Jung (Tom later moved to NY and started the DMP label). Tom was at the forefront of recoding technology for quite some time. I had been a studio musician in recording sessions with Tom starting in the mid '60's. At any rate, Tom and a couple of studio musicians named Jim Johnson (nickname Flim)(bass), Bill Berg (drums)and Bill Barber (keyboards) (the BB's) started working with this new technology.
One huge advantage of this new technology was a tremendous increase in dynamic range. Since they were basically the first group in the world to be able to record with this new level of dynamic range, they experimented with differences between loud and soft passages that were far greater than anyone had recorded before (it wasn't possible with magnetic tape) If you listen to their recordings, that is one thing that is very noticeable.
Later, Flim and the BB's let another musician into the group. Dick Oats was a great read and flute player. He didn't come from Minnesota (Iowa) and his name didn't start with a B, but he was so good they let him into the group anyway.
These guys, together with engineer Tom Jung, recorded many of the first digital recordings in the world. The problem is, 3M decided not to get into the business and the proprietary machines they developed went out of existence. So there is no way to play back many of these original recordings today.
But Tom Jung went on to form the DMP label and Flim and the BB's got together each year for a while to record another CD. They played a few concert dates as well. But they eventually each went their separate ways. Bil Barber moved to the East Coast where is wife developed quite a reputation as a fashion designer. Bill Berg went to work for Disney. The last time I saw Jim Johnson (Flim), I was flipping channels late at night and saw him in the band on one of the network late night talk shows (I don't recall which). I don't know what happened to Dick Oats.
Flim and the BB's have been used to demo audio gear since the mid '80's. Their recordings are still some of the most dynamic and original you'll likely to find anywhere.
Sorry for the rambling, but the mention got me to reminisce a little. Thanks.
- Jim