brass recording.

tomtom wrote: small
recording booth (about 9 by 12 foot) with decent acoustics.

first..a booth that small for brass is not acousticlly nice. Use the TLM 170 with a pad if you want to do them together. If you need seperation add the 193 to the one your not using the 170 on.
Don't forget to use the pad on the mics.

Old ribbon Rca D77 or DX77 are da bomb for brass... You can get them on e-bay for about a grand apiece or you can get new clones for the same price...

tmix wrote: I just got through recording a 14 piece horn band myself. It was very eye opening.

I put dynamic mics on each person inside a 12 by 20 room.(Some RE 20s / SM57s and some Beyer ribbons)
It ended up sounding good but mostly brassy and spitty. You miss a lot not getting the warmth and bloom of the mid to low end from the room itself.
If there is any way to work a room mic into the equation, it would help... Believe me!

Tom

you can't hane em right up on the mic. A little off axis and a little distance. If all mic's right...then they all become room mics for each other.

If the booth is all carpet and foam, buy some sheets of thin plywood or panelling to lay on the floor and against at least one wall (have players face that wall). Brass needs a live environment. An X/Y pair from several feet away works well for small sections.

I'd try tracking them individually in a room that small. Two players will probably acoustically overload the room...

With the mics you own, I'd use the TLM 170 with the pad on, off axis of the bell, and probably in the wide cardiod setting.

If you want to get something new, you can't go wrong with ribbons or old tube mics on brass. My favorites are Coles, RCA 44's and 77s (I haven't used them, but I'd imagine that the new AEA ribbons would be pretty amazing too), and for tubes the old Neumann UM 57...

--Ben

Beyer M160 ribbons or Royer ribbons would work well for this application as well. Good advice above.