IMO what you use should be something you are very familiar with to how it sounds so you can make your adjustments...but a few tips from my experience:
Depending on the gig and the music you will be mixing--select a tune in that genre of music. i.e. if you are mixing jazz--use a jazz song...if you are mixing a religious revival or christian rock--use a religious or christian rock song...if you are mixing metal or rock--rock song...if you are mixing something with a choir in the background--pick something with a choir in it.. If you are mixing country--play a country tune..all should be things you know well. This does a couple of things--helps you adjust to the style of music you will be mixing and second--doesn't piss off as much whomeever may be nearby when you push some high db levels. Ever try and use AC/DC or some other 'satanic' rock music when tuning for a religious or church concert--talk about gripes from the folks you will get..who then think you are a 'rock &
roll' punk who doesn't understand or care about their show and they then already pre-determine the sound is going to be awful no matter what you do..all cause you played Ozzy, AC/DC or Black Sabbath or something to them was 'inappropriate' to the pending show... Plus if you
play the wrong music at a country concert--you can get shot..
FWIW I also use 'Binks CD' for testing...the
bass warbles, pink and
white noise and the clicks and panning is invaluable for delays and balance. I carry that plus I also have a wide selection of tunes for a variety of different genre's of music as I noted above. I look for music that was recorded well and in good quality or remastered for digital (no 'recorded live' cuts or those $5.99 for 20 CD deals on TV infomercials). I am also a fan of using movie soundtrack & original score music...as a lot of it is recorded very very well, intended for the movie and theater sound systems. Exceptions to this are movies which use 'cuts' from oldies that were not remastered
etc...you can hear the difference that it was just lifted and dropped into the soundtrack.
A basic set of music Cd's I have typically have Pink Floyd - The Wall (amazing recording); the Eagles & Styx CD's too...reason being is some of those recordings from 20-30 years ago were done with such incredible detail in analogue techniques that were preserved in the remasterings that you get a wide range of aspects to listen for. Additionally a lot of Michael Jacksons stuff is also great to use. I also use Mariah Carey and other remixes of 'oldies' and many other select ones.. For Jazz I have some amazing Eva Cassidy recordings and some Brandford Marsalis stuff...for christian/religious I have some Patti LaBelle and some movie sound tracks (an old Steve
Martin flick called Leap Of Faith is a great one I use for the first 3 cuts only); I also use Empire of the Sun and a few others... For theater musicals and shows--I have some broadway shows soundtracks.. For country I have a few Garth Brooks Clint Black and others...
For me its choosing something that fits the show--so I adjust the
system to the music style...and since I like most music styles (except Rap) its usually not a hard choice when I'm called to mix a show...
There is no 'set' way to do this--that is just what I do...
-w
