Recording - May 2015 - 26

elevated position, about a foot or two away. The clarinet has a much
darker tone, however, so the condenser mic is the better choice for miking it.
Tuba
Tubas, the 'bass' of brass, come in two basic flavors: 'concert',
where the player sort of hugs it on their lap with the bell pointing
straight up, and a 'marching' version, also known as the
Sousaphone. Orienting the mic takes a bit of thought, because
you'll need its attack to cut through, but some of those bass frequencies can take time and distance to fully develop. Standing in
front of it as it is played may give you clues as to how to proceed.
I generally set up a tube or condenser mic about 3-5 feet away
(depending upon how articulate or diffuse a bass tone the arrangement requires), about 2 feet higher than the bell. The baritone tuba
(which looks just like a smaller concert tuba but has a tone much
closer to that of a trombone) can be miked similarly, at half those
distances. I mic from above, both for the harmonics and because
the valves can be quite noisy while the player is performing. For
concert tuba, I angle the mic down toward the front edge of the bell,
while I aim at the upper right portion of the bell for Sousaphones.
Another popular technique is to wrap a dynamic like a Shure SM58
or Audix i5 in a sock or small towel and actually drop it down into the
bell as far as it will go, without hitting bottom. This is more of a live technique, but an interesting option if you've got time to experiment!

Flute
While this is an article about recording horns, flutes (and their
smaller sibling the piccolo) can often find their way into a session
as well. While there is a hole at the end of the instrument, very little sound actually comes out of it. In fact, some of its sound
emanates from its body (much as saxes do), but mostly from the
mouthpiece, called the headjoint.

The player controls pitch, velocity and harmonics by the way they
blow into the instrument, so capturing this is key to getting a good
tone. For this reason, many flautists prefer to have a mic placed very
near their mouths, although you may find this tone a bit too "chiffy"
in the attack. I prefer to use a condenser mic, about 4 inches back
and another 4 inches to the left of their lips.
Multiplicity
There's nothing quite like the blend of a good sounding horn section, which in pop, soul or jazz genres generally includes 2-5 players performing at once. The recording philosophy is similar to that
of a drum kit. It could be captured with a minimal mic setup of just
one or two mics, which requires a keen ear toward the balance
between the instruments you're tracking. Alternatively, close-miking
each instrument (as in photo 4) may afford you more control over
the individual elements, but bleed and phasing issues increase
exponentially with the number of microphones you employ.
A stereo mic or a spaced pair can capture an ensemble (especially larger ones, like big bands) quite effectively, but you may find it necessary to "manually mix" by moving the mics or shuffling the players
around, having them step forward or back until the blend is just as
you'd like it. Horn sections can also get quite loud, so the sound of
the room becomes more of an issue. If the room is large and somewhat free of anomalies, a figure-8 or omnidirectional pickup pattern
may be preferred. Smaller, more reflective spaces may require a more
tightly focused, cardioid pickup pattern from your mics. A less optimal
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RECORDING May 2015

Recording - May 2015

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