Recording French Horn & Cornet

[A440]

I'm due to record some French Horn & Cornet soon (same player playing both instruments but not at the same time!).

The room I have is fairly small and OK, not amazing though.

Wondering about choice of microphone(s), as I won't have time to try out all possibilities. The player is doing me a favour and hasn't much time to spare.

Mics I have available are:

Pearlman TM-1
Neumann TLM-103
Shure SM-7b
Crown PZM

May be able to borrow others.

Chain will be :

Mic(s) > Phoenix Audio DRS-2 > Neve 5043 > Metric Halo 2882 > Logic

Any thoughts/comments/tips as to which mic(s) might be best, and also tips for recording French Horn & Cornet?

Thanks.

[Corran]

Your SM7b should be good on the cornet, since you don't have a ribbon. I record trumpets a lot in a live jazz situation and an SM57 has worked well enough for the most part, but ribbons just kill.

The french horn...I've used an SDC behind the bell before but it depends on the situation. If you want a more realistic sound you'd want to do a room mic or something since the horn faces backward and the sound comes from the reflection. If your room sounds like crap well.... I haven't recorded one in so long so I'd have to experiment. First thing I'd try would be the PZM on the ground behind the instrument and one of your LDCs in front of the player somewhere, but that's just a guess.

[Stizz]

French Horn - In general, I would put a reflective surface behind the player, and rrlace the mic a foot or so in front of the player - you only want to record the reflected sound, unless you are going for a really brassy effect, but then it wont sound like a French Horn. If you room really doesnt sound good, I would mic closer to the reflective surface then.

[corworld]

I play French Horn and you asked a tricky question. I've heard solo jazz-type recordings done where the mic was near the bell and it sounded like a flugelhorn and then on some brass quintet recordings you completely miss the horn because they didn't close mic. If it is a solo or part of a pop mix, mic it about four feet back with the SM7. Adjust if you need more gain. For a classical track, use a good stereo room pair as you would any other classical instrument. Most horn players are sensitive about where they are in a room so ask the player where he thinks he will sound the best.

[Benmrx]

Originally Posted by Stizz

French Horn - In general, I would put a reflective surface behind the player, and rrlace the mic a foot or so in front of the player

Sometimes a Figure 8 mic in between the player and reflective surface can be nice too, if you're going for something a little different.

[Fabi]

If you borrow it by any chance I always like TLM 170 on brass.
Brings out a lot of the instruments charakter, when "close" miced. Avoid to get too close though and also place it a little off centered to the bell or it will sound way too harsch.

If you want a more natural sound mic the reflection of the instrument like the others already said.

Never tried the TLM103 on brass but could imagine that.

[A440]

Thankyou all very much for your replies. There's some great ideas there for me to try out.