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Old 10th July 2006   #1
Jimbo
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: West Jersey
Posts: 2,433

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Talking Recommendations for recording jazz trio

I'll be recording a jazz trio (drums, upright bass, guitar) in a few weeks. They want to do either a live recording in a small club, small audience, or a group recording in a nice hall -- they have a facility in mind for the latter. The audience will likely be small and quiet.

I ventured-out to see the trio play, and they are tight, but I personally feel the drummer is too active/dominant given that the only lead player is guitar -- a very mellow sound. The drums would sound better with more brush or brush/stick work instead of just sticks -- but I can't control that.

The trio will be setup (left to right) bass, drums, guitar.

Here are the mics I have to work with:
AKG 414 XLII
MXL v69
Avenson STO-2 (pair -- like Earthworks omnis)
Shinybox 46 (modified ribbon with Lundahl mod)
Audix i5 (dynamic)
Oktava mc012

I'm thinking about trying the following configs:
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- 414 in front set to a cardiod, or wide-cardiod pattern
- Avenson on bass
- Avenson (or Shinybox) on guitar amp
This would allow me to bump-up the bass and guitar if the drums are too hot, which I expect, and I can pan them to create a nice, simple stereo image. However, if the drums levels are appropriate, then I'm stuck in mono.
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- Mid/Sid out front: v69-mid, 414-side
- Avenson on bass
- Avenson (or Shinybox) on guitar amp
This would give me the same as above, but with a dedicated stereo mix, and allow me to use the Avenson on the bass -- a great mic for that application.
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- Avensons out front with Jecklin disk.
- ?? on bass
- 414 or i5 (??) on guitar
Baffled omni could be cool, but then I've got nothing suitable for bass. The 414 might help the guitar stand-out more, but I've never tried it on an amp, much less a jazz guitar. The i5 could work for the same reason.
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What would YOU do? All advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

- Jim
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