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Hey ho,

My studio is next to a Jazz club and sometimes I drop some mics and do a little recording.
I really dislike the Sax on this recording. I think I should have set the mic more to the funnel to get a softer sound.
But this was a fun recording on my side, so I didn't want to annoy the musicans with changing mic's etc..
I'm very fine with the other instruments, jet curious what you think.
All done live to Stereo on my desk.
5 Microphons.

all the best,
Stephan

https://recording.o…

Attached files Chistoph - Live in der Kuenstlerwerkstatt Pfaffenhofen Februar 2018 - Zugabe.mp3 (15.7 MB) 

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paulears Mon, 02/12/2018 - 23:20

Stuffing a mic into the bell of a sax is the worst place for it. As a sax player, for an ad hoc recording, I can't hear any problems that annoy me. For my taste it's a bit bright, but my tenor is quite bright, and there's a very low blaster every now and then that would have been terrible with a bell pickup. This also removes the power of the g to C sharp range, which mean this player's style would have gone from full on low to thin top very oddly. I can listen to this without any grief. I'd do it again next time and maybe just nibble the HF down a tiny bit. Position wise though it's good, just bright.

DerEber Tue, 02/13/2018 - 00:57

Ok cool, thanks for your answer.
It felt odd to mike on the bell for me too. But the 20 sec. I was standing in front of the instrument I heard more of what I was missing afterwards coming from the bell.
So I was a litte confused afterwards.
But your right. Micing the bell would have spoiled the balance.

The mic had a C12-style capsule. So my final lesson is. "Do not expect a dull vintage sound from a C12 on sax" I recall the c414 was on most of the sax recordings in the 80's.
I could have guessed that before, but one wants to use the new mic in the drawer on just everything at the beginning.
:D

I found a pic from the newspaper:
http://www.donaukurier.de/lokales/pfaffenhofen/Pfaffenhofen-Locker-vom-Hocker;art600,3680402

paulears Tue, 02/13/2018 - 10:28

The best selling music I ever recorded was Jazz, in a damp beer cellar, and by pure luck (it certainly wasn't skill back then) the recording was well appreciated - Jazz seems to cross all the rules. If you'd recorded the sax too close, the key linkages all clack and bang, but that adds character too! The electric guitars are all very jazz - no swapping strings each gig to get bright tone - just grubby guitars with dulls strings played through little combos. Drums go slapperty slap, and the idea of a kick drum mic let alone snare is enough to make the musicians cringe. The bass sounds exactly like they do in reality - not the modern clean processed sound. The only thing I remember from that gig - in the late 70s, was the kit smelling of smoke and stale beer the next day.