Best microphone for recording my saxophone

I'm going to have to go digging in my old vinyl collection. It's way too many years since I listened to AWB--they used to be big favourites of mine.
 
Thank you for the link. It seems both two saxophones also have a contact microphone added to the neck.
probably not a contact mic .... I have one of those old necks. back then there was a p'up where you actually had a hole drilled into the neck with a nipple kinda thing soldered on and the p'up snapped onto the nipple.
 
I modified my MXL 990 and the results were great, here are the audio clips (I recorded two clips with the modified MXL 990, I used different reeds):






I guess the modified MXL 990 is my new favorite, it sounds far more "natural" than before. Now it seems I have a couple decent mics.
 
Hi,
A friend gave me a cheap Shure A16 microphone (the one which needs an AA battery to work). After doing some experimentation I found that microphone coupled with my Perception 200 was giving me a realistic sound so I bought a couple of AKG Perception 170 microphones. The P 170 is a dark sounding microphone when compared with the Shure A16 but it's still OK for what I need. I didn't mix the clips so you'll have a different microphone in each channel.

Here a couple of clips with the new setups, below each Soundcloud track you'll find a link for downloading the untouched WAV file. I tried everything I could but Soundcloud stills ruins my clips.
AKG Perception 200 + Shure A16 (Alto Sax)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10755828/A16P200-380.wav

AKG Perception 200 + AKG Perception 170 (Tenor Sax)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10755828/P170P200-2522-1.wav

I'll appreciate your opinions. BTW, do you know the differences (sound wise) between the Shure A16, Shure PG81 and Shure SM94?

Thank you very much in advance,
Luis Pablo
 
Hi,
I know it's probably not a good idea to bump such an old thread but since I'm the OP and the topic is still relevant I decided to post a reply here.
Since the moment I started this thread I keep testing microphones and mic placing for getting the most natural sound. I did a big progress in that matter and I want to share with a simple shootout with 3 microphones (Shure KSM 27, Audio Technica AT2020, Tascam LD 74):
3 Microphones shootout by lpgasparotto | Luis Pablo Gasparotto | Free Listening on SoundCloud
 
Luispa - in the clips above, to be honest, I like the unmodified MXL out of all of them, and the tascam second.It's just preference but the modded mics sound just Too harsh for me. I'd end up taking the top off, which would undo the modification's effect which seems to be 4K-8k boost??
 
Luispa - in the clips above, to be honest, I like the unmodified MXL out of all of them, and the tascam second.It's just preference but the modded mics sound just Too harsh for me. I'd end up taking the top off, which would undo the modification's effect which seems to be 4K-8k boost??

Thank you for your opinion. At this time I sold the MXL 990 and the AKG Perception 200 and bought a Shure KSM27 and an Audio Technica AT2020. My current microphones are:
- Shure KSM 27
- Audio Technica AT2020
- Tascam LD 74
- Shure SM98A (miniature capsule, for wind instruments)
- Shure 16AM
- AKG Perception 170 (2)
- Audio Technica Pro 25 (kick drum microphone but works very nice with tenor saxophone)
- Audio Technica MB3000L (2, dynamic microphones for live vocals, to harsh and thin sounding for saxophones)

Also, since I started this thread I've been experimenting with microphone placing and I guess I did some progress. In the last SoundCloud clips the distance between the saxophone bell and microphones was around 12 inches. I also did a video comparing different recording ways in which the distance was around 3 feet and the audio was less clear, I'll start a new thread about that video.
 
This is 100% SUBJECTIVE.

There is no such thing as a 'best' mike.

There is a mike that YOU like most based on your listening to it
but also as constrained by your budget and how much you are willing to pay to get something that sounds DIFFERENT.

Instead of buying what somebody else likes, rent some various mikes and listen to them yourself.
Then pick the one you like most.

Thank you very much for your reply. At this time I realized that microphone positioning may have more impact that the microphone itself.
 
Saxes live are always a real problem. mics that have unusual lobes in their pic up patterns can often sound very different because of the transition from 100% bell sound on the low notes to very little from the bell on the hi ones, especially harmonics. Trying to EQ in the harmonics always makes them sound really horrible and kazoo like, when the real screams, squeaky sound comes from the first few holes near the top joint. In the studio you can go further away, but on stage you're looking for the mic that can get in close yet hear the bell and the holes around G, A and B. On an alto, not too tricky, but on a tenor more of a stretch and on a baritone you often end up with a honky mess. All the bigger saxes and things like bass clarinets and bassoons cam be terrible to record. Bassoon especially so live with a bassoon needing two mics to get that characteristic sound. However, the worst instrument in the world to amplify for the stage is the bagpipes - of the highland variety the worst!
 
Luispa, I have not read every reply so this might have been asked/answered.

Where do you live and if in Australia, I might be able to help. I have some microphones that were specifically designed for Sax and from a number of pro users (I do not play Sax) the reports are that they are excellent.

If you wish you could send me a PM.

David
 
Luispa, I have not read every reply so this might have been asked/answered.

Where do you live and if in Australia, I might be able to help. I have some microphones that were specifically designed for Sax and from a number of pro users (I do not play Sax) the reports are that they are excellent.

If you wish you could send me a PM.

David

I'm sorry for taking sooooo long to reply your proposal :facepalm:

I live in Argentina.
 
Since my last post I kept experimenting with microphones and even field recorders, I did a video about it (English subtitles are available):



Recently I did a new video on which I recorded the saxophone in stereo:



A couple days ago I traded the Shure KSM27 for a Shure SM81, I'm very satisfied with the SM81, I guess I finally got a microphone with a really flat response. I wonder why there's no too much people using it for recording saxophones, it seems to be the obvious choice for drums overheads or acoustic guitars but I was not able to find a single video on YouTube testing or even using the SM81 for saxophones.
 
Back
Top