I have made a microphone reflection filter, a little like this. (Cool, I still remember some html!) My deflector is not quite as glamorous, nor has it cost me a penny, so I think for now it will do. Pics to follow.
I made this because I might be recording in a reverby room - there is a shortage of studio space, and there is a Steinway grand in the room that might be the venue for recording - anyway, I am just being prepared, I have heard recordings destroyed by room reverb! Anyway, I am testing this with my CAD Trion 6000 Ribbon mic. This is perhaps what we will record the Trumpet with, though the final test will be with the engineer's mics and our ears! Ribbons have a way of very naturally rounding off the higher frequencies and creating a nice warm body of sound; perfect for horns. Anyway, regarding stressing, this is it. Getting the venue sorted! Deep breaths...
I have done over 30 different recording tests where I change placement, using the baffle and not, and it does help to vastly reduce the 'crap room' sound of my dining room. I chose the worst room in the house deliberately; it really let me hear the affect the baffle had. My results; close micing seems to give me the best results on both trumpet and flugel-horn - it cuts down the bad room sound, and due to the proximity effect that the ribbons inherently have, it warms the sound a little when closer, this is pleasing to me!
Recording, especially solo, is brutal. I have always tried to record some practise sessions, rehearsals etc... but I will be doing it much more because it is really exposing my faults. There are things that I play, and strangely have worked despite thinking 'oh, that won't come across well' and sadly there are times when I have thought 'that was pretty safe' and it came across like a turd; it is now time to find a balance between working and turd... I am getting all philosophical again!
I have my work cut out for the next couple of weeks, and I need to learn how to sleep all over again. I think something involving a sharp blow to the head will fix me. In any case, tomorrow should hopefully pan out to include:
Finish the baffle (some glueing to do, a mount to make).
Practise (scales, lines, chords, time).
Fill out forms, job applications.
Arrangements.
Record to backing tracks the tunes I am going to do in a couple of weeks, record several versions of each. Critique.
Brass band rehearsal (now, where is my Cornet... haha!).
I want to test recordings of the Curry 3TF mouthpiece VS. the 3BC I usually play. The TF is a very deep "V" shaped Trumpet mouthpiece (TF: Trumpet-Flugel - the Flugel cup is deep) whereas the BC is classed as hybrid-deep, more of a "U" profile. The implications are simple; the deeper and less "C" shaped the cup is, the fewer high harmonics are present in the sound which sounds "darker" or "mellower", the problem is that it can sound dull and lifeless. To get an idea of dark VS bright sound, it is easy; the opening top C in the Trumpet section in the Star Wars score, and indeed most of the brass is a bright sound. Also The Incredibles has a bright brass section, along with most movies come to think of it. A dark sound is equally easy to think of; Chet Baker and Miles Davis had famously mellow tones, Wynton Marsalis will also have often what I would class a dark sound, I say often because he varies it on some recordings and is brighter. Use your ears! Finally, the Curry Mouthpieces make life really easy, this may not mean much to a non-Trumpet player, but the rim is exactly the same between depths of mouthpiece cup from extremely shallow to extremely deep. This means that as the player, you can switch very easily and not have to adapt so much to a new rim and feel. It was about time someone did this for brass players, some have tried and come up short, Mark Curry hit the nail on the head! Really worth a look here!
I currently use a 3M for Big Band Jazz or general playing, a 3BC for the solo Jazz and for a bigger Classical sound and a 3TF for combo work and working the chops out! I have a 3B in the post (its cool when you can trade stuff) and plan to try the 3STAR or Z for really bright sounds and the 3TC because it is the one most people seem to rave about! On Flugel I play a 600 series Curry 70FLD. This is like the 3 size, but a cushioned rim, and an exceptionally (0.875") deep cup. I actually prefer the regular 3 rim, so the 70FLD will be swapped for a 3FLD or FL, though there is no great rush.
My personal sound concept is that of a darker tone, though this is only for Jazz, and combo work, working in a Big Band or Orchestra requires you to blend. That is another topic. My tests tomorrow will help me identify how the sound comes across in the recording, something which is paramount for me. I can cope with splits and the odd naff note, but if the tone isn't worth listening to, I will be unhappy! Currently the 3BC mouthpiece is helping me produce a fairly dark sound which isn't dead or lifeless, the fact that my sound is 'ok' on the tests is good because as a player you don't get a true representation of your sound because you are behind the bell of the instrument and so I worried that what I was practising and working on would end up sounding horrifyingly different when recorded. It didn't sound too different, attacks were a little breathier than I can hear from behind the bell which isn't necessarily a bad thing in Jazz, but for Classical I will need to tighten this up. More on this later, I have some wise words from other fantastic players which are well worth reproducing on-line.
Time to try and get a night's sleep!
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