Mariachi Trumpet

[bent sounds]

Banditos,

Any tips on an ideal signal chain for recording a 'mariachi-style' trumpet sound (a la Calexico) – ie quite brassy with a bit of room vibe. In the past I've created this sound in a mix by using fairly drastic eq using a TG channel, plus a healthy dose of parallel compression & some 480L, but (until now) I haven't needed to capture this style of trumpet sound during the tracking stage. Given that the player has the chops to generate that kind of tone, what are your suggestions? We can get several players in to play as a section, but would prefer to get one great player in to track all the parts, plus the room we're recording in may not handle several trumpets blowing their rings off ;^) Another option is to do a location recording in a big wooden house, which could be 'vibe-ier'.

Usually I opt for an R122 for trumpets, but am open to suggestions. The pre's on hand are JLM 99V (kinda millennium-ish, but maybe a little more coloured) and a TG pre. There may be an AKG C24 around too, if anyone thinks that would work, plus we've got the option of tracking to a DAW and/or 1/2" 8 track tape.

Many thanks in advance!
Bent

[Pepe Ortega]

I record lots of mariachi in Mexico.
First thing is the player. I always prefer to record 2 players at time, but I have no problems at all recording or dubbing parts with just one player.
I generally prefer large condenser or ribbon to capture the sound. all depends on the sound of musician. some times I uses km 184 or km 183, royer 122 or even U67. 414 is fine too. all depends on player. I put my close mic at 3-4 feet of player and move until I found the rigth sound. I use large diafram for room sound Perlman TM-1 is always my favourite.
I uses portico 5012 as pre. but in past I used to record on avalon 737sp without problems

Good luck

[Daedalus77]

Perhaps it's unconventional, but I recently got a great sound for that kind of part from a 57, three or four feet back.

Pre was a BAE 312A.

FWIW.

[amanitas]

I would avoid the royers for mariachi stuff unless it's a part that needs to sit back in the mix - my preference would be a Beyer M160 or maybe even an LDC like a 67 or 87 - I feel like the royers won't get enough of the bite and attack that you want from the mariachi trumpet. Particularly if the player is playing on a silver plated conn constellation (often the trumpet of choice for mariachi players, as they tend to have a very bright and focused sound) a 121 (maybe not so much with a 122) can sometimes smooth out the transients a little too much so that you lose some presence on the the sharp staccato attacks. Then again if an LDC is getting too harsh or strident obviously a ribbon should work well.

Ideally if you have at least 2 really good trumpet players I'd maybe close mic them both with 160s and then put an 87 a couple of feet back and maybe a few feet above where their horns are pointing to get some room sound.

That said if you can get Sahiaman to build you a little blondie, those actually sound fantastic as room mics for trumpet - I've done some trumpet recording with one of those into a Chandler Germanium and it's been really natural and detailed without getting too shrill or harsh.

[lobsty]

*warning : useless post*

I have nothing to add, except to say that seeing a thread about mariachi trumpet made my day

[thebeardedfreak]

Don't overlook tracking the entire group at once with an omni or pair of omnis. I really like using two Sony C-37a's, and I am still kicking myself for not buying the pair that were on loan to me for more than a year... I try to record in live rooms, and I make sure that there is a lot of room ambience going to tape. I've only worked with mariachi groups a few times, but they always added something great to my projects.

I traded cerveza and studio time to get one group to work on a project.

[waxx]

i've recorded a gypsy player (who plays a similar style of trumpet) with the combination of a SM57 rather close to the horn and a DPA 4006 (omni SDC) in a good room (approx 5mx5mx4m height and not fully death) on about 1m distance and 2m hight pointed with the front to the bel of the trumpet. the pre's were from an old studer broadcast mixer but i don't remember the type. You got the sharp sounds without being harsh that way with blending both, the 57 was 60% of the sound, the dpa the remaining 40% and only a little eq and reverb did finish it..