The baritone saxophone has played a significant role in jazz and even rock music. It’s a sound that most people recognize, even if they can’t identify it. (Do some research on the internet, and you’ll find that some people can’t tell a bari sax from a tenor sax or even the difference between a bari sax and a bassoon. Some even confuse the bari sax with a bass harmonica!) Players such as Gerry Mulligan, Pepper Adams, Bob Gordon, Harry Carney, Cecil Payne, and so many others have elevated the art and the prominent sound of the baritone sax through the years. The bari sax has such a distinctive sound — with that bark and growl — that it contributes a lot to the low end of a song. But how do you capture that guttural tone without sounding pinched and nasally? That’s every engineer’s challenge.
But how can you get sounds as good as those heard in classic recordings — whether you’re playing in a live venue or in a recording session? What microphone and what mic placement will capture that unique baritone sax sound the best? Well, there are many options for mic placement, but we decided to explore the sonic influence of the microphone. We wanted to hear how different each mic would sound when placed on the same horn in the same studio.
There are mics commonly heard on bari sax, such as the Neumann U87, Sennheiser 421, and the ubiquitous Shure SM58. And there are also newer mics you might have yet to hear. For this recording session, we gathered 21 mics and had Sweetwater Sales Engineer Craig Edgar play a bari sax through all of them. Here’s the bari sax and setup he used:
- Horn – Yamaha YBS-62II
- Mouthpiece – JodyJazz HR* 7
- Reed – Vandoren ZZ 2.5
- Ligature – D’Addario HBS1G H Ligature
For this session, we asked recording engineer Shawn Dealey to line up all the mics in Sweetwater’s Studio A, and then we routed them into Rupert Neve Designs Shelford channels with no EQ or compression and recorded them into Pro Tools using Avid MTRX converters. You’ll hear Craig play baritone sax into each mic so you can listen to how each mic interprets the sound.
The mics we auditioned included dynamics, condensers, and ribbons. If you’re unsure what those microphone types mean, check out our Studio Microphone Buying Guide.
The Microphones
Condenser Microphones
- AKG C414 XLS
- Audio-Technica AT4047/SV
- Mojave Audio MA-200
- Neumann U67
- Neumann U 87 Ai
- Rode NT1-A
- Shure KSM44A
- Telefunken ELA M 251E
Dynamic Microphones
- Audio-Technica AT2040
- Beyerdynamic M 201 TG
- Electro-Voice RE20
- Sennheiser MD 421-II
- Shure SM57
- Shure SM7B
- Telefunken M81
Ribbon Microphones
Take a Listen
Here are the performances. Listen and see which bari sax sound you prefer. These are grouped by microphone type: condenser, dynamic, and ribbon.
Baritone Sax
Conclusion
Can you hear any differences? Which did you prefer? Did that help you narrow down your mic options for your baritone sax? If not, call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700, and they can help you find the perfect mic for your needs.
To hear how different mics sound on tenor, alto, and soprano saxes, check out these articles:
