How To Record Trombone If You Aren't An Audio Engineer: Part 1

[@jojomaguwa]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing your knowledge on mics for the trombone.

[@janinnz1261]

Thank you for sharing this important information for many of us !

[@ersinozertbone]

Thanks for this video, very helpful :)

[@ChipTingle]

Good stuff, and thanks! I hope you might also address distant mic placement to give more “air” and “room” sound when in better quality spaces. To my ears, this aural perspective is lacking in the vast majority of modern recorded music, especially now that quality studios are out of business. A bone section on two stereo mics, for instance, is a glorious sound unavailable in close mic-ing, let alone a big band or brass quintet or orchestra or… Thanks again!

[@ShawnBellMusic]

Absolutely! It's hard to beat great playing performed in a great sounding space even if the technology aspect is relatively simple/minimal.

[@instrujam]

Thanks so much, this is very useful info and excellently presented, really appreciated!

[@digerydan8673]

this is such good info

[@JadsonOliveira1]

Sou do Brasil e sempre acompanho os seus videos. Parabéns pelo conteúdo, me ajuda bastante!

[@vewilli]

Very interesting except the introduction which was too long until you came into medias res! But the rest was very okay and helpful!

[@eulman09]

Great recommendations.

[@chrisg0001]

Okay, I have a room dedicated for recording...most of my music is digital and I don't really like to print off everything I'm playing. How can I set up my space to play off my monitor? or should I just print everything off and play it on a stand?

[@ShawnBellMusic]

I tend to read most things off of a tablet in recent years. It saves on paper and is a lot easier from an organizational perspective. If you are looking to avoid printed paper, that might be the way to go.

[@paulmorris8465]

I've seen recommendations to record yourself and listen back when practicing, if that is the main use of the mic as opposed to making music for public consumption, which type of mic would you recommend then? To my mind the more "accurate" the better as it's less likely to "mask" issues you might be trying to improve on in practice, so it seems to me the condenser is the right call? What are your thoughts? Thanks!

[@ShawnBellMusic]

When I record myself in my daily practice, I actually just use my cell phone. The quality is "good enough" for me to hear what I am trying to hear, and the ease of use outweighs the less than pristine recording quality. I do always listen back through a Bluetooth speaker. That improves things significantly. If you do want to get a better, more accurate, sound, I would actually recommend a good quality dynamic mic rather than a condenser. Sennheiser md 421, Electro voice re20, and Shure sm7B all sound great on trombone. The challenge with condenser mics is that they are very sensitive and will pick up both ambient noise in your house (think of the sound of your dishwasher running two rooms away) and will pick up a significant amount of the sound of your room. Most of us practicing or recording at home have rooms that actually don't sound very good on recordings without acoustic treatment. Square rooms with sheetrock walls lead to less than ideal recording spaces Since condensers are very sensitive, they will pick up all the aspects of your sound bouncing around the room. This will actually cloud how you are perceiving your sound rather than provide the clarity you are looking for. Dynamic mics, like ones mentioned above, are not as sensitive and reject a significant amount of that room noise. This is especially true is you use the mic relatively close, maybe 4-10 inches from the bell. I have recorded in a fair number of professional situations where I play on a md421 or an RE20 and am very happy with the results.

[@paulmorris8465]

Thanks very much for the quick and detailed reply@@ShawnBellMusic I'll take a close look at those 3. a quick looks seems to show the Sennheiser and Shure are the lower cost options, what do you think would make you pick one over the other if budget is a consideration? Thanks again!

[@ShawnBellMusic]

@@paulmorris8465 I really like md 421s. I use one as my go to mic for live shows. It tends to sounds good even if the sound engineer isn't super experienced mixing or EQing trombone. Honestly, the differences are going to be very subtle between these three mics, so if budget is a factor, go with one of the less expensive of the three. They are all great options.

[@stephenthompson9722]

I havent recorded trombone in quite a while but id always use a rwally nice condenser. Bit battle with a yuck sound. Im thinking lowering from 3K up to 15K will help a bunch

[@ShawnBellMusic]

You could also try a tube condenser if you have access to one. I have found that tube mics usually sound pretty good on trombone. You still may need to tame some of the high mids and the highs as you mentioned to get a sound that isn't too harsh or airy.

[@stephenthompson9722]

@@ShawnBellMusic Live I always used a Shure beta clip on mic and that's fantastic. But that was playing ska and punk rock so no one notices. It would sound just like my horn it was amazing. But record that on its own and listen back...the amount of air flow picked up sounds horrible. Your video has given me motivation to try again

[@MathinusG]

You're not using a XLR microphone?

[@ShawnBellMusic]

All three of the mics I referenced are xlr input.

[@sydney3963]

👉 promo sm