recording brass/woodwinds

"As with all brass instruments, sound is produced by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound into the mouthpiece and starting a standing waves vibration in the air column inside the trumpet. The player can select the pitch from a range of overtones or harmonics by changing the lip aperture and tension (known as the embouchure)."

TRUMPET

- It is the highest register in the brass family, hence, has a high level of sound pressure

- Highly directional with its projection

- Compresses and accelerates the speed of sound from the player's blowing which then creates vibration in the air column within the instrument

- The bell is where majority of the sound comes out from and the target of how we want to mike it up.

- Mostly used in Jazz ensembles

TROMBONE

- It is pitched an octave lower than the trumpet

- Both the embouchure and the sliding need to work together in order to get the desired pitches over the range span of more than three octaves

- Just like any other brass instruments, air is blown through a mouthpiece into the instrument which then vibrates the column. A longer slide = lower pitch

- The sound produced can also be impacted by the size or thickness of the bell

- Bass trombones generally have larger bells than tenor trombones; Jazz trombone bells are typically the smallest; Symphonic trombone bells are the largest; A one-piece hand-hammered bell produces a higher quality sound than a two-piece bell. (Source: https://hearthemusicplay.com/essentials-trombone-anatomy/)

The principles of miking both trumpet and trombone can be very similar:

- Placing mic directly in front of the bell = brightest sound, more dynamics

- Off-axis: De-emphasize the upper harmonics, hence producing warmer sound, more room ambience as compared to direct placement.

- Technically, using a mic that can withstand high SPL would be suitable to mic up these instruments, for example, a dynamic mic (which is more capable of withstanding loud frequencies & high SPL than condensers).

Mic placement for both trumpet or trombone.

- However, using a LDC or a ribbon (should be used with care as its thin diaphragm can be damaged by quick blasts of air) are also some common ways to mic them up.

*Pop filter can also be used to avoid plosive blast of air into the mic*

SAXOPHONE

- Radiate sound from the tone holes and the bell

- The most natural pickup is a blend of both of these sources

- When miking up, saxophone requires a mic which can handles high frequencies, at the same time, high accuracy both on and off axis.

General placement to start off with:

i) Omnidirectional mics

- Start off by placing the mic close to the instruments

- Shift the placement around until you get the desired sound

- Omni picks up sound from all directions, so it is important to experiment with its placement.

ii) Directional mics

- Cardioid

- Proximity effects will surface, it can be desirable at times if more low-ends are wanted to be present

- Great at picking up the focus sound (the sax) and isolate any other possible instruments around

10 inches off the bell.

iii) Clip-ons

- Close miking

- Sturdy and stay in place

- Flexible and is designed to be adjusted over the widths of the instrument

BRASS ENSEMBLE

From this video that I found on YouTube, this brass band + a bass drum used 3 mics in total to record the entire ensemble.

Mics setup: 1 ribbon mic placed facing the bell of the saxophone, 1 valve condenser mic in figure-8 pattern shared by both trombone and trumpet and 1 tube condenser in figure-8 pattern in between the bass drum and tuba.

EXPERIMENT PLAN

Aim: To compare using a dynamic mic vs a large diaphragm condenser mic both on and off axis to record the trombone in aim to achieve a warm sound (less highs).

Mic selection: Sennheiser MD421 and Neumann TLM 103

Mic placement: Start off by placing it around 30cm away from the bell and move around until we get the aimed sound.