What's the best, cheapest way to amplify my saxophone?

[Funky Chicken]

I'm currently playing in my school band with regular mics, but i noticed lately that it scratches the bell of my new saxophone (yani T902) and the sound is pretty bad- i like my regular sound much much better.. i know that theres those small mics that clip on the bell of the sax.. but i know that its really expensive and alot of guys told me that the quality is not so good compared to the regular mic.. so i got pretty confused...
what should i do? :oops:

[Funky Chicken]

and another question- what most of the pros are using today for their shows?

[Bill Mecca]

I have a question. If by "regular mics" you mean mics on stand like a Shure SM57 or 58 etc, then how is that scratching the bell of your sax? If you are bumping the mic with your sax youa re too close and probably overdriving the microphone. back off formthe mic a bit.

check this thread http://saxontheweb.myforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=923

[hotsax]

FunkyChicken,
I understand "scratching the bell" of your horn,but bill is right if your are doing that you are too close.After all these years of playing with an AKG C419 ( clip-on mic ) I have resolved to a Shure SM58.I tried the SM57 but wasn't totally satisfied with the sound.The SM58 is virtually a vocal mic, but gives a warm,deep,rich sound to a sax when used & placed correctly.For my mic placement this is how I do it..place the mic on the stand even with the bell of your horn,now go up about 2 inches and aim the mic at your keys on the horn and when playing NEVER place your horn directly under the mic stand off about a good 3 inches (edge of bell to grill of microphone ). As far as the sound that YOU desire that is tweaked out in the EQ...how much highs mids & lows you like....but PLEASE don't let your horn eat the mic!!!!! :lol:

[saxboy]

I always hated the sound of the AKG clip, very boxy and not natural.
The problem with stand/mics is you have to stand like a stone to keep the sax untouched. The problem with being boring is that it is boring.

I pulled some mics after reading and responding to threads here at SOTW just this past Wednesday Night.

I forgot how different and good some of my old mics sounded. The Beta 57 and Sennheiser 421 do sound really good.

I have played my Audio Technica Clip-on for the better part of 10 years now. I actually like the sound of this mic. I use it for wired and wireless situations on stages all over the world with great success. I have even used it in small studio's that had lame mics for sax for sessions.

The reason I pulled mics this week was looking for a better sound on the Bari and not real happy with my clip-on with that 1 instrument. I set up mics, and of course, just used the mics (on Stands) on all my saxes to keep things simple.

All this to say, I am a pro. I have numerous mics. I have played clips of many makers. I love the AT Clip for sax and have played it for years. I just went thru the stand and mic question this week.

Stand/mics sound really good; there are many more options of mics; they are used in studio's every time for a reason; most sax players use them.

Clip-on mics are great for performance issues. You can actually not be boring and move if you want. You can interact with the other players by being somewhat mobile. You can get a really good sound. You can carry less into the gig. You don’t have that lame, old-school sound that most sax players are guilty of; sax on-off on-off as the guy swings back in forth in front of the mic. I hate seeing a guy blowing and only hearing 40% of the notes due to bad mic technique.

Most guys that use stands are either boring or not heard half the time.

I have been on stage a lot and there are few live situations that you can have a mic hot enough to stand in front of it, maybe even moving a bit, and not pick up Bass, Drums and whatever else makes noise around you. Mic bleed is a real issue if you are a sax player that plays more pop styles meaning you would want effects on the horn too. I have been a huge groove killer with verb and delay on my sax, and bass, drums, ect… Can’t do that and not **** off everyone but your girlfriend.

Just a few thoughts and reasons why this pro went to clips. I can blow and entertain and sound good.

Check some of the other threads on mics here too.
Good luck

SAXBOY

[Andrew]

Make sure your tech is good as well...I remember back in my high school ours wasn't good at all. I ended up just blowing w/o a microphone most of the time. I stood up in front of the band and used tons of support....I sounded best this way...

[Subtone Sam]

There are clip mics with good sound like Shure Beta 98.Not as expensive as many others.

[chappy]

I have a sennheiser e604 condenser mic that I love. you could pick one up for around $150

[Sax_Pete]

When I bought my Sennheiser Wireless mic I was advised to buy an AudioTechnica Pro35R instead of the Sennheiser mic.
It's a great mic. The clip is made of rubber. The rest of the mic is also very soft. It can't scratch the horn

[Mark R]

SaxPete,

When I bought my Sennheiser Wireless mic I was advised to buy an AudioTechnica Pro35R instead of the Sennheiser mic.
It's a great mic.

Which mic is a great mic? The AudioTechnica Pro35R or the Sennheiser :?:

[Sax_Pete]

You're right. My reply isn't clear :-)
Imenat the AudioTechnica

[Sax_Pete]

Can't post a clear reply and I can't type either....... :

I meant the AudioTechnica

[paulwl]

I too have a Pro35X and find it to be just the thing.

One tip: it needs pre-amping in some situations - like using it with a small monitor speaker, as I sometimes do. An ART tube amp fills the bill for me here. It's small, powerful, and under $100.

[saxboy]

My AT 35 runs on phantom power from most PAs.
It also uses a 9V if needed.
I have played AT clips for 13 years and really love them.
SAXBOY

[Sax_Pete]

What do you mean by pre-amping, Paul? I use the AudioTechnica on a Sennheiser wireless pack and I have to limit the input of the Mic on the bodypack itself

[saxboy]

He is talking about the wired clip. Your body pack acts as the preamp. The wired clips need power from somewhere. Most PAs have phantom power and my body pack for the wired AT also has a 9V to use if there is not Phantom Power available.
SAXBOY

[Sax_Pete]

I understand that my bodypack does some pre-amping. So the mic will also work without Phantom power?
I thought that condensor mic's allways needed power to work.
They contain a small preamp which must be fed with about 3 Volts.

[saxboy]

If you have the body pack with a battery, you need no other preamp. If the house system has Phantom Power you can run it without the battery. I use Phantom 100% of the time.

SAXBOY

[Sax_Pete]

I understand that. What I meant was why Paul uses a monitor sometimes to boost the sound

[shmuelyosef]

Anyone have any experience with the K&K sound mics and preamps...they appear to be convenient packages. I currently use a AT Pro35 with a Tube on tenor and alto, but am looking at the K&K Silver BUllet for flute, as I double often and don't like being stuck to a mic when playing flute.

[saxboy]

I had to figure out a way to get the AT to work on flute years ago when the House PA only had 1 input for me to plug into.

I use a piece of duct tape about 6-8 inches long, turn over 1/3 of the sticky side over on to the sticky side. It gives you a piece of Tape with about 1/4 inch with no stick and a 1/4 inch with stick. Attach the sticky side to the top of the head joint, leaving the non-stick lip hanging off the end of the flute and you have made a simple clip point for a flute.

The mic needs to be set above the hole, not in front of it, to keep the wind noise down. I basically have the mic on my nose. It looks pretty funny but works just fine.

As far as the piece of tape:

I keep it on the flute case and re-use it until it starts to loose the stick. Good thing about duct tape is you can find a piece around music situations pretty easy.

This has saved me many times on stage gigs and I now use the Sax mic on Flute, this way, on all small club gigs.

SAXBOY

[paulwl]

What I meant was why Paul uses a monitor sometimes to boost the sound

On gigs where I need to be ultra portable, the monitor is ALL I use. It's a Yamaha MS202, meant for keyboards, puts out about 45 watts and is about the size of a large breadbox. Combined with the ART amp, it's a lot of punch in a little package.

[Sax_Pete]

ok, thnx. I understand :-)

[Bill Mecca]

[quote="shmuelyosef"]Anyone have any experience with the K&K sound mics and preamps...they appear to be convenient packages.quote]

No experience with them, but I have checked out the website http://www.kksound.com and the sound file of the sax mic is pretty good, although it does have some reverb on it, I would prefer it flat and dry. No sound file for the "silver bullet" though.

Anyone use these mics? comments, criticisims, rave reviews???

[SaxyAcoustician]

saxboy,

Do you use the AudioTechnica ATM35 or the PRO35? Which would you recommend? The ATM35 looks to be double in price over the PRO35.

Thanks.

[saxboy]

I called my tech guy at A.T. and he said the PRO35x is a smaller mic, in the same casing as the lavaliere with a better capsule.
The ATM 35 is the one I use with the standard capsule that it ships with. I use the same mic and capsule for both the hard wired and wireless products for consistency.
The tech said the 35 was the one for sax.
I just checked to make sure nothing was new or changed on me.
Now you can order the 35 with a short cable - 6' foot and have it terminate with XLR or the body pack end. XLR would require Phantom Power at the board. The body pack gives you the option of using a 9V battery or board phantom. The standard store stocked version usually comes with the body pack and a really long cable that kind of drives me nuts. I need to get a short one soon.
The 35 with the body pack is the call bro.
Let me know how it works out.

SAXBOY

www.gregvail.com

[Sthallam]

I've got one of the K&K sax mics. It has a body pack/preamp with volume control and XLR output. The internal 9V turns off when plugged into a phantom power source.

Overall the quality isn't superb, but I haven't really had a chance to play with it much (placement, etc.) For the price however, I really don't have any complaints -- it also seems to be very sturdy. However, based on what I've heard, it may be worth spending a few extra to go with the ATM or Shure (the latter being the most expensive).