Which of these mics for trumpet?

D

Dan Micah

New member
Hi,

I'm going to record a folky, bluesy band that uses trumpet on a couple of tracks. I've done a quick search, and most of the recommendations have been for ribbon mics or good quality dynamics. Out of the following mics, any suggestions on which might work, or should I spend more $$. :confused:

Condensers
Neumann km184
Sp B1
Sp C3
Rode NT5 (pair)
MCE 94 (electret condenser)

Dynamics
Sm57
Beta57
Sm58
EV pl80
EV pl5
AKG D3400

Cheers,
Dan
 
I would personally go for the $250 - CAD Equitek E-100 (the "baby" of the Equitek series)
its great on all horns. I havent had any expierence with the E-200/300s
but have read great reviews on them.
 
Of your list, I would try the B1, the AKG, or the EV dynamics. My personal choice would be either a large diaphragm dynamic (EV RE20, Shure SM7B) or a ribbon mic (the Nady ribbon is under $200 and sounds pretty damn nice).
 
scrubs said:
Of your list, I would try the B1, the AKG, or the EV dynamics. My personal choice would be either a large diaphragm dynamic (EV RE20, Shure SM7B) or a ribbon mic (the Nady ribbon is under $200 and sounds pretty damn nice).
Click to expand...

I'd second the recommendation of a ribbon mic. The ShinyBox ribbons are getting very high marks, and are very reasonably priced. I think their model 46 will be my next ribbon :

http://www.shinybox.com/product_inf...id=51&osCsid=9a31fc238ea9185b0e8a66c692d03fb6

Here's a thread about the ShinyBox ribbons for reference :

http://acapella.harmony-central.com...hreadid=1051612&highlight=shinybox+ribbon+mic
 
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kid klash said:
I'd second the recommendation of a ribbon mic. The ShinyBox ribbons are getting very high marks, and are very resonably priced. I think their model 46 will be my next ribbon :
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Third the ribbon. I use the Nady ribbon for trumpet. Rather nice mic for the price. The Shinybody 23 is the Nady, the 46... don't know much about it.
 
Dan, before you go out and spend even one dime on a new microphone, try some of the mics you already own.

For THIS trumpet player, with THIS band, one of your existing mics might just be perfect.
 
Thanks Harvey, and all the others for their advice.

I had my credit card out :o

I'll try out the mics I do have maybe a week before the recording, and experiment with placement.

One more query: If I used a ribbon mic - figure 8 pattern - I assume the trumpet player couldn't be in the same room as the others, as the mic would pick up too much spill? I think the band wants to do most live, minimal overdubs.

Thanks again, and I'll keep an eye on that shinybox 46 - I would like a ribbon at some stage.

Cheers,

Dan
 
Dan Micah said:
One more query: If I used a ribbon mic - figure 8 pattern - I assume the trumpet player couldn't be in the same room as the others, as the mic would pick up too much spill? I think the band wants to do most live, minimal overdubs.
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Dunno. I always record it by itself. You might want to consider some of the cardioid ribbons like the BeyerDynamic M160. I've never heard one, personally, though, so I can't give any real recommendation there.
 
I consistently get GREAT results with one of my sennheiser e604's (tom mics-between a 57 and a 421 I'd say). $100 mic (or 3 for $299). Crazy thing is, they sound great on toms as well ; )
I must say the Broadhurst Gardens BG-1 preamp IS really great for horns (used it on sax as well). I just recorded a world class trumpet player session today and it was just a great combo. I used the 604 close and an SP B1 five feet away. Killer!

mckay
bounce inventive audio
 
dgatwood said:
Dunno. I always record it by itself. You might want to consider some of the cardioid ribbons like the BeyerDynamic M160. I've never heard one, personally, though, so I can't give any real recommendation there.
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Yeah, or go for the m260 if you're short on cash. Does a beautiful job on my trumpet, also quite versitile.
 
From your list I would clearly chose the KM 184. It will sound stellar on a trumpet and blow all the other mics out of the water. SDCs are perfect for trumpets (high SPL, faster response time, etc). The KM184 is my favotite mic for saxophone, which can have simillarly high SPLs.

I have no idea how people can recommend a B1 from the same list that includes the KM 184! If you were an audio engineer and had a mic locker full of the above mics, you would honestly chose the B1?? :confused:
 
Giganova said:
From your list I would clearly chose the KM 184. It will sound stellar on a trumpet and blow all the other mics out of the water. SDCs are perfect for trumpets (high SPL, faster response time, etc). The KM184 is my favotite mic for saxophone, which can have simillarly high SPLs.

I have no idea how people can recommend a B1 from the same list that includes the KM 184! If you were an audio engineer and had a mic locker full of the above mics, you would honestly chose the B1?? :confused:
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Word!

The KM184 is by far the best mic of the list.

I've used the B1 on trumpet and luckily together with a ribbon because the B1 is not a good trumpet mic.
 
I would be a little weary of using a KM184 for Trumpet in a typical blues setting. KM184's are nice mics, but are really very bright. Personally, I normally like bright mics, and I do like condensors on trumpets, but often times blues players are not looking for that bright metaly trumpet sound, but more of an almost fuzzy warm almost mucky sound. A ribbon mic fits the scenario nicely because they are typically not that extended in the highs. Dynamics also fit for the same reason. This is not to say that these particular musicians want that sound, or that the KM184 is the wrong mic, opinions always differ. For me though my gut says to pull out a ribbon mic ( I love my Royer for stuff like this) or something like a 421, or an EV 408. As far as the figure 8 pattern goes, trumpets have pretty high SPL's. My bet is that bleed from the back of a figure 8 pattern should not be too bad, especially since it may be out of phase. Given the high spl of a typical trumpet, and the lack of sensitivity of a lot of ribbon mics to distant sounds, bleed may not be a real issue:)
 
I agree that a ribbon mic mic sound very natural & smooth. Never used one, though (I use the Gefell M930 as my "all round" mic which sounds good on amost any source I have ever tried it).
 
Han said:
I've used the B1 on trumpet and luckily together with a ribbon because the B1 is not a good trumpet mic.
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Agreed. I tried my B3 on a trumpet and wasn't particularly impressed---overly bright, not enough meat to the sound.... I'd expect a B1 to behave similarly.
 
dgatwood said:
I tried my B3 on a trumpet and wasn't particularly impressed---overly bright, not enough meat to the sound.... I'd expect a B1 to behave similarly.
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i've got no experience with a B1 on trumpet, but it's pretty well known that a B3 in cardioid and a B1 are considerably different sounding mics. yes, one would expect that they're "supposed" to be the same (or at least similar), but even alan hyatt has testified to the fact that they sound different. there are a number of threads on this topic around these parts.

in a more jazz setting, i would reach for the km184 in a heartbeat...you generally want that trumpet to cut through. in a blues setting though, i would i think that you'd want the trumpet to be more "subdued" than "up front"--for which reason i would lean more towards a ribbon or dynamic. for dynamics, i'd think that the senn 604 would work real well, as would the ev408 (or the more modern 468). the 604 has the added bonus that it'd clip on to the bell and would move with the player (we know how trumpet players like to wiggle :p).

off your list.....i'd put up the km184 and the two EV mics. i think you'd be hard pressed to not find a workable sound out of one of the three. barring that, i'd take Han's or Xstatic's advice--after taking harvey's and trying all of your existing mics first, of course. :D


cheers,
wade
 
Alrighty now. Just to reiterate my earlier post which mentioned using the B1 on trumpet, the B1 was used as a room mic, 5 ft. away from the close mic (a sennheiser e604). Worked very very well in that combination ;-) I have not tried the B1 in close proximity to any horns but off axis would definitely be my first approach if this mic had to be used up close on a trumpet.

P.S. Harvey rules. Harvey, you're the most easy going, friendly, helpful moderator/contributor I have seen in all the other forums I haunt. Kudos to you, man!

mckay
 
Thanks again for the great replies.

I might try to use this as an excuse to buy one more mic before the baby comes t the end of the year, and my gear buying days become a thing of the past :)

Maybe a good dynamic will be more versatile than the cheap ribbons suggested earlier. A 421 perhaps? or maybe the e604 as it's a bit cheaper. I've been looking for a reason to splurge on an re20, but that's probably pushing the cash too far. The Beyer ribbons look a bit pricey at the moment also.

So, any opinions between the e604 or the 421? Trumpet at the begininng, but another percussion/instrument mic would be useful. I'm mainly into acoustic stuff, not loud cabinets or agro drums :eek:

Cheers,

Dan
 
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