A Classic Jazz Sound With A Clear And Authentic Edge

To get an idea of the sound my band were going for they provided 2 reference tracks

Both reference tracks have a different style of recording and the perceived space differs from one to the other.

The Printworkers - A Breath Away

The first track “A breath away” has a very similar setup to what we will be recording and I find similarities in the vocal tones when referring to the demo track. A large stereo image given by the width of the overheads. The bass is very present in the mix. Vocals are upfront with keys and sax sitting just behind. Barely any kick drum can be heard in the mix however I still feel it’s necessary to have a mic on the kick drum just in case the same goes for the snare.

McCoy Tyner - Afro Blue

The second reference track has a lot more going on however we can see some similarities in the mixdown referring to the first track. Once again the kick drum is very distant and so is the snare however they are audible and important at recreating the sound of the band however once again the overheads drive the rhythm of the track and really add to the stereo image. I could notice the mix felt very symmetrical, when one wind element would come in panned to the left another would come in shortly after panned to the right is a sort of question response manner and play together. The piano adding to the stereo image sits upfront with the brass elements slightly panned to the right-hand side.

My mic choices changed a lot over the course of planning. From the initial choices to having to change due to mics not being available here are the choices i made and how i positioned them on the day.

The drum setup consisted of 2 x Aston Spirit condenser microphones for the overheads which I decided to use after having a very nice vibe off them every time they’re used. Their large frequency range and little hump around 10 kHz I thought would give the effect I was looking for and bring out clarity and brightness in the recording. The gentle roll-off at 80 Hz would sit perfectly for the toms and its unique warmth to the high end I felt would really add the flavour I was looking for. Paul White (2016)

On the kick drum, I used the AKG D112 and we tuned the drum to give a small yet round sound to the drummer's preference. Close micing the snare with an SE1A on the top to catch any subtle snare rolls and once again bring out the clarity from the drum and on the bottom, I placed a Beta SM57 facing the springs to catch any sizzling snare action.

Having spoken with Flynn McBurney a well-reputed sound engineer in the live sound scene about close miking brass elements he recommended I try out an RE20 on the trombone which had a particular brightness in the mid range that would suit the style of recording I was after. I placed the mic slightly above the bell of the instrument to avoid any over-powering blasts and tonal issues due to the sheer amount of pressure coming towards the mic. On the Saxophone i used a C414 for its precise representation of sound and flat frequency range, we faced this towards the keys of the sax so as to pick up any noises from the player’s finger notes. Hugh Robjohns (1999)

My approach to the double bass was to capture it in a natural way and to bring out the higher harmonics of the instrument and as with the saxophone to pick up the player’s finger notes. The original idea here was also to use a large-diaphragm condenser mic having it placed towards the bridge with a small-diaphragm condenser placed pointing down the fretboard of the instrument. However, not having a C414 left from my selection, I had to improvise and decided to use the Audix D2 that I had leftover from the Drum Kit bundle. I would have preferred the precision from the C414 but I'm still happy with the result and the bassist was also very experienced at recording and knew exactly where to place the mic for it to sound great.

The Piano was recorded with a stereo DI box from a NordStage 2, I planned to run them through some lamps to get back to that analog touch before the final mix and to help them sit better with the other elements.

For the vocals I used a TLM 103 placed just slightly over the singer's mouth to avoid pops and harsh sibilance. The use of a reflective filter was also necessary to try and block out spillage, however, it was still quite inefficient, maybe because she was placed in a corner and there could have been some reflection from the walls. Ideally, I would have put the singer in an isolation booth but she was also vital at conducting the group and hence needed eye contact with each member.