Looking at doing things a little differently this weekend...

We'll (the quartet) be using a sub for our regular sax guy. This sub ONLY plays tenor sax (no clarinet or flute). He comes highly recommended and I'm looking forward to hearing him.

My curiosity is about how to mic him. Usually our regular uses a Sure sm58 from the early 80's. I need to provide a mic for the sub and have three choices:

1) A SHURE SM58 from 2004...

2) A SHURE SM57 from about the same time...

3) A AKG Perception 220...

...the event this weekend will be a ballroom dance at a fairly large Country Club in Dayton, OH. Ages range from 50's to 80's or so...

...My PA is a Bose L1...

...we'll be watching volume closely most of the night...

Either of the SHURES would be fine, no question. I get a little higher frequency response on the 57, but nothing too dramatic.

If I were to use the AKG, its a whole different ballgame. This is a recording mic that is extremely sensitive. (If a truck drives on my street while I'm recording with it, it picks it up...) Given that, I'm wondering if it would be more of a headache than anything else on stage that night? It will certainly pick up the PA (which is behind us) and the drums for sure...

It'd be interesting to hear how a superior mic handles the sax that night. I'm just concerned about the other sounds (PA, Drums, etc...) causing more problems than its worth....

Any feedback, (no pun intended) would be appreciated...

Thanks...




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Bill in Dayton

Hi Bill - glad to hear that you're still using a saxy sideman on your gigs! If it were me, I'd prefer the Shure option. While the recording mic does a better job of capturing all the nuances of the sax sound, you may have to fiddle a lot with the settings to avoid picking up the unwanted additions like key and pad noises. And as you say you might also pick up some of the other unwanted sounds. If the guy turns out to be a Michael Brecker type maybe next gig you can use the AKG but my personal belief would be that the Shure will do just fine for your gig.

My 2 cents! Have a great Fall! The temps in FL are finally starting to get reasonable... down to 63 this morning! YIPPEE!

Randy

[This message has been edited by saxxman (edited 10-01-2010).]

Hey Randy-

If there was one guy who I hoped responded, it was you.

That's what I'm leaning towards, for shure...

I know there won't be any issues with feedback if I go that route, and i don't want to put the new guy in a bad position.

Thanks-

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Bill in Dayton

I too like the Shure. I use it for vocals and for my tenor sax.

My guy prefers a 57 to a 58, especially when he plays flute. He and most people I use bring their own mics and prefer to use them. I see more 57's than anything else for horns and more 58's for singers.

Russ

[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 10-02-2010).]

Yeah... I would have thought the sax player would have his OWN preference for a mike, and probably owns one, too. Maybe even a radio system and a clip-on...

Have you asked HIM, yet?

Of course I did...

He's usually provided a mic from his regular bands,...

The closest I have was the 58, which worked great...

I preferred 58 to the 57 that my regular uses...

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Bill in Dayton