Introduction 

The purpose of this guide is to provide all you need as a music director to get you started with recording and amplifying your jazz ensembles. For the purpose of this guide, Jazz Ensemble refers to an ensemble made up of traditional jazz instrumentation but can also include commons substitutions such as flute, clarinet, euphonium, horn and tuba. 

The guide is broken down into two sections, each with three Tiers to help you get started regardless of the equipment you may have or plan to get. Since most Jazz Ensembles perform concerts, the main focus will be on capturing and recording your ensembles regardless of where they may be performing. 

Techniques and Placement

Start with your favorite main array found in Tier 2. From here we will add the following mics to the ensemble in order to best capture the ensemble. These individual microphones will also make it easier to capture solos played by the musicians. Because jazz music is specifically written for 17-18 musicians, each part is unique and is not shared with any other instrumentalist or section. For that matter we will use the following:

Saxophones:

Saxophones are unique in that they are omnidirectional instruments with sound emanating from the keyholes and less so the bell. Because of this, we want to place either a dynamic microphone or a large diaphragm condenser microphone to the left (facing the instrument) of the instrument.

Trombones:

Trombones being directional require microphones to be off axis in order to avoid a harsh sound. Because they produce very high sound pressure levels (SPLs) it is important to use microphones that can handle it. My recommendation is to use either a dynamic microphone or a large diaphragm condenser aimed off the axis of the bell with a great low end response (especially on bass trombone)

Trumpets:

Similar to trombones. Trumpets are also directional and require microphones capable of handling high SPLs. My recommendation is to use either a dynamic microphone or a large diaphragm condenser aimed off the axis of the bell.

Piano:

If using an acoustic piano, please refer to the Individual Mic Placement Page for more information. If using a digital piano, run the outputs of the piano through a DI into the mixer, preferably in stereo. 

Bass:

If using an acoustic or upright bass, please refer to the Individual Mic Placement Page for more information. If using a bass guitar, run the output through a DI into the mixer. 

Guitar:

Run the output through a DI into the mixer. 

Drum set:

Due to the nature of jazz drums, we don’t need to mic each individual drum and cymbal like we would for a rock kit. Instead we will capture our set using only 3-4 microphones. The first two are either small or large diaphragm condenser microphones used as overheads to capture the majority of the kit. Place these 18-36 inches above the cymbals. The third microphone is a large diaphragm microphone placed 2-3 feet in front of the kit to capture the warmth of the kick and tone of the toms and snare. If you need a more pronounced snare, add a dynamic microphone on the snare to be able to adjust the snare. This is especially useful when using brushes. 

Vibraphone:

For live application, I recommend underslung microphones for the vibes, placing one microphone by the resonators.