Recording Jazz - Live in the Studio

[Voyager Records]

Hello all,

I want to record a jazz quintet (tenor sax, trumpet, acoustic bass, piano, drums) live in one room, no headphones or overdubs and very little if any effects, relying on the acoustics of the room and the natural balance of the performers to get much of the final sound. À la 50s/60s jazz recordings, I suppose. My question is, are there any specific instrument placement/baffling techniques I should be aware of to avoid an excess of mud? Also, how large of a space should I be considering? It sounds as if albums like "Kind of Blue" and "A Love Supreme" were recorded in fairly large spaces, and that's the general feel I'm aiming for.

I have 8 inputs (I work in a college recording studio and our resources are somewhat limited by our budget), so I'm thinking of tracking the drums and piano in mono with SDCs and giving each horn and the bass its own LDC. I have a large-ish room at my disposal, one with a medium-sized office attached to it that could serve as an "isolation" room for the acoustic bass if needed (I'd leave the door open so all musicians could hear/see each other).

The mics at my disposal: 2 Audio Technica AT4050s (I'll probably set each horn player up with one), 2 Shure SM-81LCs (I'd use one as a mono drum overhead and one to capture the grand piano), 1 Blue Spark (for the acoustic bass), a Shure SM57 (as a spot mic on the snare), and an AKG D112 (for the kick). The studio also has a Nady RSM-1, a Røde NT-1A, an Audix D4, and another SM57. I'd add a touch of EQ and compression on some of the individual instrument tracks if necessary to tighten things down, and I want to do the old "pan the drums hard right and the piano hard left" thing.

If you guys have any other suggestions/tips, let me know! This has always been a dream project of mine...nothing beats the energy and emotion of that 50s/60s jazz record sound. Obviously, I don't have Neves and Neumans and Miles Davis and whatever else at my disposal, so the final product won't sound exactly like "Kind of Blue", but it should be pretty dang cool anyway.

Thanks!

 

[KineticSound]

Whatever the advice you get here, for a recording like this, I think you need to experiment with what you have and let your ears decide. Without seeing or hearing your room or instruments, it's difficult to provide specifics.

A couple thoughts on your starting points:

...are there any specific instrument placement/baffling techniques I should be aware of to avoid an excess of mud? Also, how large of a space should I be considering? It sounds as if albums like "Kind of Blue" and "A Love Supreme" were recorded in fairly large spaces, and that's the general feel I'm aiming for.

The sound of the room should take priority over size. I'll take a good-sounding medium room over a hollow warehouse any day. That said, big is good. If you have a lot of natural reverb, separating the drums and piano with a gobo might be a good idea. On a budget, go find one of those cheap rolling garment racks at Target and hang a packing blanket over it to create a double-sided rolling baffle.

Shure SM-81s (I'd use one as a mono drum overhead and one to capture the grand piano), Blue Spark for the acoustic bass, Shure SM57 as a spot mic on the snare, and an AKG D112 (for the kick). The studio also has a Nady RSM-1, a Røde NT-1A, an Audix D4, and another SM57.

Based on the sound of the inspiration recordings you list, I would eliminate the snare mic and use both 81's on the drums. The classic jazz combo recordings are ride-cymbal driven. Unless your drummer is going to be doing a lot of detailed brush work, forget about a snare mic; instead use an X/Y or spaced overhead pair along with the D112 outside the kick. Putting the 81's on the piano and using the 4050's in the Glyn John's setup might sound good, too.

Shift one of the 4050's to the piano (or both) and use the 57 on your trumpet player; maybe another on the sax. With that many players working live in a room together with little or no isolation, 4050's in front of the horns could either sound brilliant or might also be overloaded with the rhythm section behind. Again, experiment to see what works.

I'd add a touch of EQ and compression on some of the individual instrument tracks if necessary to tighten things down

Not unless absolutely needed... In that setup, compression isn't going to "tighten" anything down. Rather, it will make the bleed on the condenser mic's worse by boosting the lower level stuff you don't want. In setup, the only thing I would compress is the kick drum, with maybe a limiter on the other channels to prevent clipping. Compress in the mix if you like, but don't print it during tracking unless you must.

Just my $.02

 

[Voyager Records]

Thanks for all the advice...I know it's mostly up to personal preference, but you would recommend micing the drums and piano in stereo? My original thought was to have a single overhead on the drums and a single mic on the piano (and then pan each hard-ish left and right), but only because of the "classic" appeal.

I'll also experiment with a ribbon mic on the Sax.

I'm definitely going to go to Target and build myself some baffles.

 

[KineticSound]

...but you would recommend micing the drums and piano in stereo? My original thought was to have a single overhead on the drums and a single mic on the piano (and then pan each hard-ish left and right), but only because of the "classic" appeal.

You don't necessarily have to pan the drums or piano in stereo. I'm advocating using a stereo mic setup to capture the balance of the kit and again for the piano. Where you pan these in the mix could be completely different.