Saxophone Recording Techniques

It All Starts With You
Experimenting in the recording flat can be a lot of fun with abounding agitative things to do. When you get all the variables just right, it can affect your arena too. Of course, even if you accept a abundant mic in a abundant allowance and go through the best recording equipment, you can't complete too acceptable if you accept a abhorrent accent advancing out of your horn. That's why it's important to yield the time to get the fundamentals down afore branch into the recording studio.
With a acceptable accent in place, time able-bodied spent with acceptable accessory in the flat can accomplish you complete even better, bold you're alive with an architect who knows what a saxophone is... Don't laugh! I've done complete checks in ample venues and had the complete architect ask me if I would be application a mic on my sax! Run, don't airing from those guys!
These days, some acceptable engineers may not accept that abundant acquaintance with a sax. Abounding may alone accept formed with bands that accept the archetypal agency of drums, bass, guitar, keys, and a singer. No bulk what point of your career you're at, acquirements a few things about the recording action will advice to accomplish your efforts complete that abundant better.
Early in my career, I didn't pay abundant absorption to mics, processing gear, EQ frequency's etc. Now I do. I am easily on in the flat because I wish to complete good. I apprehend getting I played years ago, and I don't like the way a lot of it sounds. Not what I played, but the absolute sound... maybe it was the way the architect EQ'ed it or had it sitting in the mix.
So, it all starts with you... but it could all end with the engineer!
Mics
The acceptable account is that there are some actual acceptable engineers out there who can accomplish us complete better. The aboriginal affair in an engineer's bag of toys should be the microphone.
One of the aboriginal big recording projects I was complex with was in 1988 with Canadian singer/guitarist Colin James, who was active with Virgin America at the time. We went to Criteria Recording Studios in Miami to plan with the acclaimed Producer/Engineer Tom Dowd, who recorded Eric Clapton (Layla), The Allman Brothers, Leonard Skynard, and Aretha Franklin to name a few. We saw all the gold annal of these artists blind on the wall, additional others like James Brown (I Feel Good), The Bee Gees (Saturday Night Fever). All these songs we had heard growing up; it was cutting getting there for the aboriginal time. But the best was yet to come!
After affair Tom Dowd, I begin out that he aswell had recorded King Curtis and John Coltrane, two of the a lot of affecting saxophonists in history, appropriate there area we were standing! Now getting a sax player, I acquainted I was in acceptable hands!
His mic alternative was the Neumann U87. This archetypal came out in the 60's; I apperceive he recorded King Curtis during the Coasters sessions of the backward 50's and would accept acclimated the Neumann U47... for Coltrane as well.
These mics are still the industry standard, because they are a ample diaphram mic bearing a big, balmy sound. They can be begin in any above bartering studio, but not necessarily in the abate activity studios because they bulk several thousand dollars each. Still, I wouldn't put the brakes on a affair or recording activity if these mics weren't available.
Today, companies are authoritative absolutely acceptable mics for beneath $500. For the CD I just completed, Rock & Roll Saxophonist, I acclimated several altered mics; two were beneath $500 and one was $3000. The absolutely acceptable bargain ones are the Shure SM7 and the AKG C1000.
Pre-Amp
Directly in-line afterwards the microphone is a pre-amp. This is just an amplifier which can addition your arresting to the recording machine, computer etc. A pre-amp is the best way I've begin to get that absolutely "hot" sax sound. Basically, it has a akin bulge and an achievement knob. You crank the accretion on the ascribe bulge until it's about in the red, red getting a boycott because that will accord your complete animal distortion. Just afore the baloney is a accomplished line; you can agreement with it for the bulk of addition you wish in your sound. I've acclimated it on the low setting, about in the middle, and absolutely hot. It all depends on the complete you wish for a accurate recording.
Compression
The next toy to agreement with is the compressor. I'm not a abstruse architect (you may accept noticed) but, basically, compression on a sax will actualize a beam for your aggregate akin and accompany every agenda up to that beam level, acceptation that all your addendum will be even with anniversary added in volume. If you go abdicate with this effect, you will apprehend it manipulating the tone, so again, you've got to experiment. Personally, I sometimes like a little bit of that in my sound; it all depends on the song. If you accept closely, abnormally with headphones, you'll apprehend how it magnifies things in the sax accent like breath, discharge on the reed, and even little beat sounds fabricated by the agenda pads.
Equalizer
Even afterwards accession up your complete with the pre-amp and compressor, added physique and broil can be added with the blaster (eq).
For some added broil or sparkle, I like to add some top end frequency, about 10k but you charge to agreement here. You may get the appropriate addition of the animation you wish from 8k or 11k. If you use a acceptable mic the boosts in eq will not charge to be huge, just amid 1 and 3 db's (decibels).
I never acquainted that my sax needs any added from the mid ambit frequencies, the midsas advocacy them can accord you an animal honky tone, but generally a little low end eq will advice to annular out the tone. Again, you charge to agreement but I go in about 125 - 250 hz (killahertz).
Reverb
Everyone wants to apprehend some reverb as anon as they apprehend themselves in the flat headphones. That's because, reverb gives an actual big, wet complete which can accomplish your arena complete bigger and so ability advice you feel added adequate during the recording session.
I've noticed reverb has been like appearance over time... altered types and styles appear into vogue; sometimes it's hip to use lots, sometimes you use about none at all.
The aboriginal way to almanac reverb was to use the complete that occurred by itself in the room, and the bulk you had depended on the admeasurement of that room. People still almanac like this today, and we still apprehend belief how some bandage went into a big old abbey to almanac or somebody's basement or bath to attain an amazing sound.
Plate reverb units are an bogus way to actualize reverb in studios.
Plate reverb is produced by cavernous big metal sheets. Obviously, this way of bearing reverb fabricated acceptable faculty cause, creating altered allowance sizes afterwards accepting to leave your own studio. These canicule there are abounding kinds of reverb due to agenda technology, and every admeasurement flat will accept a few acceptable ones to bung into. The blazon and bulk of reverb you use will depend on your claimed taste, alone I use actual little; if you can apprehend it, again it's too much. I like to set it so you can't aces it out of the complete but if you about-face it off you apprehension that it's missing.
Delay/Echo
Delay or answer is the aftereffect of repeating addendum afterwards the aboriginal accent is played. Like if you were to bawl into a well, HELLO... HELLO... HELLO. When application adjournment I acquisition reverb isn't bare and usually gets in the way.
I adulation this aftereffect on my saxophone. The bulk consistently varies depending on the music.
The abbreviate "slapback" adjournment is a lot of identifiable in rockabilly music abnormally on the vocals and guitar. All aspects of this aftereffect are controllable, from the all-embracing akin of the aftereffect to the amount of repeats you want. Sometimes a nice adjournment ambience is the absolute affair on a sax, abnormally on a rockin' tune or a ballad. I acclimated this absolutely a bit in my contempo recording, actuality you can apprehend my sax with just a little adjournment and again with a lot.
Wah-Wah
Finally there's the wah-wah pedal. This is usually heard on a guitar. But did you know, that it was invented so the guitar could complete like a trumpet? When a trumpet amateur uses a plunger to get that wah-wah sound, that's the complete guitarists capital to imitate.
Back in the 70's, I bethink audition some bands accepting a sax amateur and application a wah pedal on their horns. Frank Zappa and Steve Winwood's bandage Traffic appear to mind.
Since those days, I hadn't heard it getting acclimated on recordings for a continued time so I gave it a try on one of the tunes from my contempo recording;
To use this pedal with your sax, just affix the mic cable anon into it and addition cable comes out into whatever aftereffect box you may accept in-line. The pedal is confused up and down to actualize the wah-wah.
This was my start-up while experimenting in my home studio, but already in the bond studio, we noticed some abhorrent alternate "noises" and I had to re-do the accomplished sax track. That was bad account back I admired the absolute one! The acceptable affair that came out of this, was the architect appropriate demography 2 curve out of the wah pedal, one for just the effect, the added that alone would accept the accustomed sax traveling through it. This formed out great. Now, we could mix and alloy the 2 channels and add or yield abroad the wah-wah aftereffect depending on how it was alive in the track. I begin assertive addendum or phrases articulate bigger with a little beneath of this aftereffect and carnality versa... added control, bigger sound.
Have fun experimenting with your complete in the studio. Sometimes application all these toys will advice to get the complete you want, sometimes it's just one or two of them, and sometimes none of them are needed. Let the music behest to what acute you should use these effects.