Favorite mics on trumpet?

[junkstar]

Anyone have a fav mic they use while recording trumpet? My locker is healthy these days, but this application is new to me...

[cgarges]

I totally love a U87, Lawson L47FET, and occasionally AKG 414. I've tried other mics, but those are my favorites. Most trumpet players I've worked with have preferred the sound of the 87.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[nystrec]

RE20 will give you all the spit you need

[aeijtzsche]

RCA 44.

[Fletcher]

Sony C-37A or C-37p!!! I've never met a mic that could come close to either [the "A" is a tube unit; the "p" is a phantom powered FET condenser but they're both unbefuckinglievable on trumpets].

After that my two favorites are the Crowley and Tripp "Proscenium" and/or the Royer Labs "SF-1"... you can get away with some other things like Microtech Gefell UMT-70's or original [non "A"] U-87's or 47's [FET or tube]; 67's etc. but from my experience the Sony's are best followed by the Crowley and Tripp and the Royer.

Best of luck with your search.

[CYD]

sennheiser 421

[Mix413]

ditto on the RCA44 and the Sony c37a, c38b. Beyer M160 and Coles 4038 are also good choices.

[nestle]

I have to chime in for the RE20 too. Thats the one-
Just rounds off the edge like that dionne warwick type sound. but clear and punchy-
For some reason I can't imagine a 87 or any LDC

[matyas]

for some reason I can't imagine a 87 or any LDC

I think it really depends on the player's tone and the sound you're going for (like anything else.) The trumpet can sound very different from one player to another, and very different from one instrument to another. Are you going for a smooth, dark jazz tone (like Miles Davis or Chet Baker)? Then you probably want a ribbon or dynamic. Or do you want a more brilliant sound, like Arturo Sandoval or most orchestral players? Do you have an overly bright player that you need to soften up, or do you have a mellow player that you need to help cut through the mix?
Personally, my first instinct would have been a ribbon, but I'm hearing much more experienced guys than me recommending condensers, and it does make sense in many contexts. And for what it's worth, I think Miles recorded through a U67.

[Leopold]

I liked a akg 451/ck1 pointed down at about at 20 degree angle and also a 4033.


Eddie

[Professor]

It seems that every so often I get a student coming by either from the music department or elsewhere on campus or maybe just visiting to consider the school for next year, and I get a question like 'what mic do you use on ______' or my personal favorite, 'I own an XYZ mic, what mic do you own?' In either case, I answer with a slightly sarcastic tone and say, "all of them."
It's fun to get the confused looks, but it's really the only answer that makes sense. For the mic locker question, it's usually coming from someone who owns one or two mics, even occasionally from someone who owns only one mic but tries to do paid recording work for rappers. By comparison I've got about 70 mics in the locker representing about 30-40 different models, and I'll explain that but don't usually worry about going through every particular brand and model.

Similarly with the 'best mic for instrument' question, so much depends on the particular instrument, player, room, song, etc.
I record lots of trumpet - lots of different horns with different players; horns in de-laquered brass, regular brass, silver plated or gold plated, and usually B-flat or C horns but sometimes flugel horns and occasionally piccolos.
When I'm recording our big band, I have 14 horn players in the same room, 5 trumpets, 5 saxes, 4 trombones, and I mic each player with a dynamic mic. For the trumpets I put up 5 SM-57s with those 12" ClearSonic plexiglass discs because that mic works fine for the trumpets with little or no EQ in the final mix (usually none) and I don't have the time in those sessions to individually match mics to players & horns. (For what it's worth, the saxes get 4x MD-421s and an RE-20 for baritone, while the 'bones get 3x TOMB ribbons and an RE-20 on bass-bone.) Now when we record the overdubbed solos for the big band, I have a little more time to work with the individual players, though still not much. I will usually reach for an SM-7b for most of the trumpet overdubs, but I'll have a ribbon like an AEA R-84, and other mics like an RE-20 or MD-421 handy. I tend to not use condensers for the big band sessions only because I find that the horns blend and match better with solos vs. sections when the mics are similar classes - a nice condenser might pull the solo forward, but may overdo it and make it hard to balance.

Now with smaller combo stuff, the mics are chosen purely for tone, though occasionally tempered by whether the trumpet is alone in a room or not. If we're sharing the room with two saxes, then I'm reaching for dynamics again (though maybe starting with an SM-7b). If the trumpet is alone in a room, and especially if s/he is the star of the show for that session (of course they always are in their own minds) then I'll match the horn up with a nice ribbon or maybe pull out a U-67, a TLM-193, or other condenser. On a recent session I put the solo trumpet on a U-48 mic through a ViPre for a fairly thick, old-school kind of sound. (The promo photos from Kind of Blue show Miles sitting in front of a U-47 or 48. )
And then solo trumpet stuff is totally matched to the player. I had one guy in from out of town recording a piece for one of our composers, and I put up about 6 mics to have options. He played a gold Monette horn and absolutely loved the sound of a Blumlein pair of AEA R-84 mics from about 4-5 feet away (through a Grace preamp with no EQ) - so much so that I think he bought himself a pair when he got back to Chicago. I also have used stereo pairs of Gefell M-930s and TLM-193s quite often for solo or trumpet & piano sessions.

So yeah, just listen to the horn and let it tell you what mic to use.

Oh, and for what it's worth, Wynton records with a Neumann M-149 according to Juergen Wahl whether it's in the studio or on the stage at Lincoln Center. And if you do use an LDC up close, be safe and put up a double-layer pop screen.

-Jeremy

[Stephen B.]

For that sultry Miles ballad harmon mute sound, an SM-58 tends to work quite well. Just put the mute right up against the microphone for lots of proximity effect. And I think it sounds best with one of those cheap harmon mutes, not the expensive bubble ones or other variants.

[joel hamilton]

I always seem to wind up with an SM7, or a BK5A , a lomo 19A19, or a C12VR or trumpet. I do like the FET47 and even the TLM170 which is an unsung great neumann mic, pre-sennheiser, and totally great actually. The TLM170 is a great mic all around, but I like it on brass quite a bit, from 5 feet away for a section, or right up on it with a pop screen for solo,..

[Cedar]

I second the Sony C 37P on trumpet. Also, try a 121 flipped around with the phase inverted. A trumpet can be a hard beast to tame if the player isn't in top form. A little compression to tape isn't a bad idea.

[junkstar]

I should have clarified...

Great player doing a mariachi style tune. Fairly dead room.