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I bought what was supposed to be a sax mute, for quiet practising, but it doesn't work. It's similar to a trumpet mute, which fits in the bell end. It seems that a lot of sound would emanate from the bell, because that's where one attaches a mic to amplify a sax. Saying to me that a lot of the sound actually does come out of the bell!

We have a question on how to mute a Sax, but where is the best place to fix a mic - is it at the bell?

Doktor Mayhem
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Tim
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    The thing is that although the bell is the path of least resistance for the sound coming from a saxophone and probably where most of the sound comes from, the sound also comes out of any and all holes that are not closed off by pads. I bet your mute works pretty well on the low Bb, not too helpful. I saw something online that looks like a case and it completely covers the horn except for the neck and has 2 holes for the hands to go in and play. It is about $600, ouch! – John Belzaguy Dec 19 '22 at 07:49
  • @JohnBelzaguy Where most sound comes from even depends on what note you’re playing. The higher you go the less influence the bell even has. – Lazy Dec 19 '22 at 08:01
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    @Lazy I agree. I do still believe the bell is still the primary overall source of the sound since the air is going in that direction. There has to be a good reason why saxophones are pretty universally miked at the bell. – John Belzaguy Dec 19 '22 at 08:21
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    @JohnBelzaguy Saxophones are not miked at the bell, but either some distance away, or a bit above the bell, to give a nice blend of body and bell. If you mike a Saxophone directly at the bell you’ll get a very bright, tinny and nasal tone, as the depth body and richness does in fact come from the body. Here’s a short demonstration by AT of how to record a sax: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhpuQ6l4SZU – Lazy Dec 19 '22 at 10:46
  • I posed the first part of the question as a prequel to the second, but it seems that was ignored... – Tim Dec 19 '22 at 15:57
  • The question is closed so I can't post an answer, but brifely on (single) mic'ing in general: Mic distance similar to the length of the sound-emanating part of the instrument. For piano that's the length of the soundboard, for trumpet/trombone the width of the bell opening (almost all sound comes from the bell), for transverse flute the length of the flute (sound comes from all over), for sax/clarinet the distance from top to bottom tone hole plus the bell (sound comes from the first few open tone holes, the bell is primarily involved just for the "almost all fingers down" notes). – j-g-faustus Dec 22 '22 at 18:38
  • You want the mic to be roughly equi-distant to all the sound-emanating parts for an even sound, in terms of frequency spectrum/tone as well as for similar loudness levels for high and low notes. So for a sax, point the mic towards the middle of the instrument at a distance similar to the length of the sax. That's the minimum suggested distance, put the mic further away to get more room sound. https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/how-mic-anything – j-g-faustus Dec 22 '22 at 18:38
  • @Tim - I've made that minor edit, and reopened. – Doktor Mayhem Dec 23 '22 at 10:48

1 Answers1

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People often think the sound of a saxophone comes all out of the bell, but a large part of it comes from the tone holes, particularly for the higher notes. Aiming a mic directly at the bell gives you a thin, bright sound.

To get a fuller sound from an alto or tenor it's best to position the mic above the bell pointing at the body of the instrument at a distance of about 30cm. You'll need to experiment to find the best position.

For a straight soprano the best position is above the bell aimed at the body of the instrument.

For baritone most of the body is below the bell so the mic needs to be about bell height but offset so it picks up more of the body sound.

Fixing a mic to the instrument is sometimes necessary on stage, but it rarely produces an optimal sound.

Here's a video demonstrating this:

PiedPiper
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    It should be noted that these microphone techniques will typically not be suitable for a live stage, at least not in a louder band context. Close-miking would be necessary, typically with a dynamic microphone (e.g. Shure SM7, Sennheiser MD441, Sennheiser MD421, Electro-Voice RE20, Shure SM57) on a stand or a small-diaphragm condenser clipped to the bell (e.g. dpa 4099, Audio Technica ATM350, Sennheiser e908, Shure Beta 98, Audio-Technica Pro35 or the specialized [SD Systems LDM 94](https://sdsystems.com/products/ldm-94-instrument-microphone-for-saxophone-trombone/ldm94/)). – Jörg W Mittag Dec 20 '22 at 13:21
  • @JörgWMittag I agree close-miking is sometimes necessary on stage, but it doesn't produce the best sound. – PiedPiper Dec 20 '22 at 15:47