Does anyone have an opinion as to how to
mic my tenor and soprano saxes? I have on hand an Audio Technica ATM 63 but
will buy whatever is appropriate. Sometimes two mics work better for the
soprano, one about half way up the horn and the other below the bell.
Thanks

Hal wrote:
Does anyone have an opinion as to how to
mic my tenor and soprano saxes? I have on hand an Audio Technica ATM 63 but
will buy whatever is appropriate. Sometimes two mics work better for the
soprano, one about half way up the horn and the other below the bell.


For what? Recording or PA? Solo part of an ensemble? What kind of sounds
have you liked in the past?

I have a tendency to grab an RE-20 for horns without thinking about it,
but that may not be the sound you want.

For soprano sax, you can mike just the body and ignore the bell, or you
can pull the mike way back and get the whole sound of the instrument, or
you can pull way way back and get the sound of the instrument and the room.
Which one you want depends on whether you're playing Ravel, be bop, or Latin
rock.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Hal wrote On 01/31/06 07:25,:
Does anyone have an opinion as to how to
mic my tenor and soprano saxes? I have on hand an Audio Technica ATM 63 but
will buy whatever is appropriate. Sometimes two mics work better for the
soprano, one about half way up the horn and the other below the bell.
Thanks


Creepy as it may sound, I've used the Shure SM-57 for horns in live situations and gotten some
really nice results. But I have to say that the RE-20 would be a "first choice" dynamic. I wouldn't
turn down using an Audio Technica AE-5100/5400 LDC hand held, which I use on vocals in live
situations. I put the mic about a foot or so off the sax aimed down at the bell.

To me a horn is like a voice, and so I treat it like one. Sometimes you want to bring out the
sweatier and dirtier qualities, so the 57. Others, you want the more open thing, the RE-20.

In the studio, I would probably try different mics, including the above mentioned choices, to find
that "sound" the player wants. So, therefore, one must experiment with the different choices
available and choose which one works best. If nothing does, it's time to go to the shop and find
something that will.

Oh darn, I have to buy *more* gear!!!

--Fletch

Are you looking for a mic that will be good on both your tenor and
soprano? This might be difficult. I did a session a while back with a
sax player that played soprano, alto, and tenor depending on the tune.
Prepare to cringe. The best mic I had at the time (other than a 57)
was an AKG C900 and it sounded pretty nice on the soprano mic'ed
halfway up and back a little bit. They were just trying to do a quick
demo so I didn't fiddle much. The C900 sounded HORRIBLE on the tenor
and alto. I'm a sax player, so I know what good and bad sax sounds
are. Don't get this mic anyway, but I just wanted to point that out.

Neumann km-184 sounds pretty good on bari. If you want a less
expensive mic, the Shure KSM-27 works pretty well on a variety of
instruments. A little bright on my tenor, but then again, I'm into Bob
Berg and Michael Brecker, so it's possible it was just me that was too
bright.

Are you looking for a mic that will be good on both your tenor and
soprano? This might be difficult.

Not really. An RCA 44 sounds just great on both. The difficult part is
finding & affording one.

Scott Fraser

Scott Fraser wrote:
Are you looking for a mic that will be good on both your tenor and
soprano? This might be difficult.

Not really. An RCA 44 sounds just great on both. The difficult part is
finding & affording one.

I think I'd actually pick a 77 or a 74b in a lot of cases. The 44 is
just too damn smooth. I like some blattiness.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

(Scott Dorsey) wrote in news:drot09$c9l$1
@panix2.panix.com:

Scott Fraser wrote:
Are you looking for a mic that will be good on both your tenor and
soprano? This might be difficult.

Not really. An RCA 44 sounds just great on both. The difficult part is
finding & affording one.

I think I'd actually pick a 77 or a 74b in a lot of cases. The 44 is
just too damn smooth. I like some blattiness.

I have a recording of "The Pink Panther" on a 77D that just the cat's meow.

I think I'd actually pick a 77 or a 74b in a lot of cases. The 44 is

just too damn smooth. I like some blattiness.

Depends on the player, since they control the blattiness to a large
degree, but I'd never feel too bad about any sax sounding too smooth.
In fact, I didn't think too smooth was possible.

Scott Fraser

Does anyone have an opinion as to how to mic my tenor and soprano saxes

I always ask the major LA studio-ace sax players who come in here to record
what mics they like on their horns. The most popular selections seems to be:

1. AKG 414
2. Neumann 193
3. Royer 121

Personally, I love the 414 B-ULS, because it performs brilliantly on not
just the saxes, but also flutes, oboes, penny whistles, clarinets,
recorders, etc.

ESPECIALLY after I send the mic into the A-Designs "Pacifica" preamp, which
seems to have some sort of deep-down love for having woodwinds, basses, and
guitars, (among other instruments...) inserted into it's circuits :-)



--
Regards,

Ted Perlman
Producer-Arranger-Composer-Guitarist

www.tedperlman.com

Hal wrote:

Does anyone have an opinion as to how to
mic my tenor and soprano saxes? I have on hand an Audio Technica ATM 63 but
will buy whatever is appropriate. Sometimes two mics work better for the
soprano, one about half way up the horn and the other below the bell.
Thanks

AKG D12. Utterly fabulous. Dunno if the 'replacement' D112 is as good.

Graham

Thank you everyone for your input. I will now see what I can afford.
"Pooh Bear" wrote in message
...

Hal wrote:

Does anyone have an opinion as to how to
mic my tenor and soprano saxes? I have on hand an Audio Technica ATM 63
but
will buy whatever is appropriate. Sometimes two mics work better for the
soprano, one about half way up the horn and the other below the bell.
Thanks

AKG D12. Utterly fabulous. Dunno if the 'replacement' D112 is as good.

Graham

On Tue, 31 Jan 2006 15:25:11 GMT, "Hal"
wrote:

Does anyone have an opinion as to how to
mic my tenor and soprano saxes? I have on hand an Audio Technica ATM 63 but
will buy whatever is appropriate. Sometimes two mics work better for the
soprano, one about half way up the horn and the other below the bell.
Thanks



Rather Old skool but I love RCA 77's