Quality microphone for Brass and Sax.

[Jamie_72]

Hi.
Any suggestions for a high quality microphone capable of handling close miced sax and brass?
I have a bunch of brass ensemble sessions coming up.Any advice on mics I would be most grateful.

[jjblair]

The AEA R84 is a real winner on brass and sax. It's my go to mic for brass. The Royer 121 will work great, as well, but I like the top end of the R84 better. U67s and M49s are also plenty good. I use U47s on sax, most of the time.

[NathanEldred]

Anything not too bright which like JJ said can include ribbons or more mellow condensers. What's your budget? I'd probably do an RE-20 if it was a close mic'ed live thing.

[dave gross]

R84 is amazing in that application (as it is in countless others). Also had real good success with cheaper ribbons such as a Fathead and a Nady RSM-2. Depends on the player, their tone and the material. Also had a Telefunken AK47 sound great at times, and horrid at others. Surprisingly, I've actually had better luck with that mic on a trumpet than a saxophone, and these were both world class players.

I'd go for a ribbon, because you can really get great separation with the nulls. Also I wouldn't mic right at the bell --- a bit above the bell, maybe 1/3 up the instrument sounds far more natural in my experience. Again, depends on the player.

Those Fathead's with the transformer upgrade are supposed to be pretty nice, and for under $300...

[HOTC]

AKGC3000...generally not a nice mic in anyway but on brass i got a beautiful sound....thats if money is an issue
Neumann 47 and gefell m71 i also like on brass

[waxx]

any decent ribbon should do it well, my favorites are a Coles 4038. But it's mainly important that the mic is rather dark and not harsh or bright in general for me qua sound

other quality mics also work, for live i prefer a 421 or 441 from senheiser wich also works well in a studio (when no ribbon arround)

and mic the sax, not only the bell, i prefer mostly to set the mic 2/3 from the top on about 30-50 cm from the sax and with the capturing direction standing 90° on the sax body (i hope i say it clear in english, my 3th language...)

[Teddy Ray]

beyer m130 / 160 are both quite good and much more rugged than some of the ribbon mics...

I use mine often for that very application..

[Greg Curtis]

The best trumpet mic in the world is an RCA 10001 (KU-3A):

Alternatively, Coles 4038, RCA 77s or 44s (or their excellent AEA clones), and then Royers. Beyers if you want really bright. For trumpets.

For t-bones, "french" horns, tuba, and sax: U47, U47fet, U87



gc

[Fletcher]

I'm afraid I disagree with you on the RCA 10001... the best trumpet mics I've ever used have been the Sony C-38 and the Crowley and Tripp "Proscenium" [had a KU-3A for years but got offered stooopid money for it so we had to part ways... great mic but I still prefer the Sony and the C&T in the trumpet application].

Overall, the AEA R-84 works very nicely for saxes... the 4038, 4040, R-121 and of course the venerable RCA 77 [and at times the 44... like the times when I run out of 77's and happen to have a 44] are also great sax mics.

For tenor and alto sax "solos" I've found the Royer R-122V to be about the best I've ever heard [so long as the player is really good as that sucker is gonna get every nuance... and if the nuances aren't great from the player then a lesser mic is in order!!].

For bone by favorite are the Crowley and Tripp "el diablo" and or a Neumann 47 fet... and on those days when you're in something of a Jimmy Miller production mood... the KM-69 absolutely kicks ass on a french horn [if you try sometime... you will find... you get whacha neeheed... yeah!!].

In flute world [which I've found the toughest member of the family to get good] sometimes the Sony works really well, other times it's into things like 251's and UM-900's. I haven't done a lot of them but for some reason they don't seem to like ribbons as much as other members of that family... could just be me.

Peace.

[basho]

Cheaper alternatives: Shure 330, Sony C38/48, MD441. All have worked great on occasion.

[David Baron]

I've used both the RCA 10001 and Sony C38 a lot on trumpet. Both are great choices. The RCA seems to pick up a bit more room so the recording acoustic is a bit more critical.

I generally prefer ribbons for trumpet - in any case.

[cww2]

To me it depends on the trumpet sound you're going for. Like vocals, not all trumpets sound alike or are necessarily going for the same sound.

I use a variety of mics depending on which horn I'm playing and how the horn needs to sit in the song.

Not much help - but to me, there's no one answer.

[mikethedrummer]

what is your budget?
an akg c414 would do a great job in the $1000 range.

not to mention its many other uses for other upcoming projects thumbsup

[Greg Curtis]

Here's a pic of a couple of 10001s in action:




Great website, btw.

ScoringSessions.com: The Imagery of Music. Scoring Session Photography, News and More!

.

[jjblair]

KU3As are awesome. They are a little out of his price range, though. People are asking between $4,000-8,000 lately.

[AntillesSound]

Audix SCX25A. They have this beautiful well balanced sound that isn't hyped like everything else seems to be these days. Does wonders for sax, trumpet, electric guitars, vocals. Check it out. And I think they're only about $700 or so. I'm getting ready to start a session in a few minutes in which I'm gonna rock my pair

[analogjeff]

have used a royer 121 on both for filmscore work and really liked the sound, as did the musicians

[PlugHead]

Like so many others, I'm a sucker for ribbons. R-121/122, AEA R-84, but my fave is the Coles 4038 (for trumpet), and it can often work well on sax too. I've not tried the RCA 44 (or AEA equivalent), but I know it would be yet another mic I'd love to have and use. If you don't mind the size, the AEA R-88 rarely fails to impress me. I love it's sound, and has become another of my favourite brass mics, as well as for my piano.

If I had to choose a condenser (tube or FET) I'd probably say the Sanken CU-41 is the most luscious and '3d' sounding. I also like the U67 for low brass and reeds, but they (like U47's) are pricey and dicey if you're looking used...

my .02 c