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. 

Recording

As music directors, we all understand how much work it takes to put a concert cycle together. There's finding the right repertoire for your students, score study and preparation, and of course the countless hours both you and your ensemble have put in both in and out of rehearsal to get there. What sets Jazz ensembles apart however is the actual need for amplification of some or all instruments

All tiers of recording involve having a “main array” that is placed towards the front of the ensemble, usually close to where the conductor stands. As the tiers progress, additional mics are added to better capture the ensemble. 

Before we move on, it is important to note that jazz ensembles can have either acoustic or electric instruments such as piano, guitar and bass. For this guide, we will assume that if using an electric instrument, it is already amplified via an amplifier. 

Tier 1

Tier 1 is strictly for recording a jazz ensemble and involves using “all in one” devices such as phones and/or recorders as the main array.  

Equipment:

• Phone using a quality recording app (See List)

• 2 Channel Stereo Recorder:

  • Zoom H1

  • Zoom H2

  • Tascam DR-05X

  • Tascam DR-07X

Tier 2

Tier 2 uses more common stereo recording techniques as the main array is recorded to a mixer board, audio interface or external recorder. 

Equipment

• Audio Mixer

• Audio interface (min 2in/2out)

• External Recorder (min 2 XLR inputs)

• Microphones (omni or cardioid depending on the technique used) 

Techniques and Placement

XY (Coincident)

XY is a great way of recording small to medium sized ensembles. You get both a focused ensemble center while still recording the left and right sides of the ensembles. For this method you will:

• Need two Cardioid microphones angled 90 degrees toward each other

  • (Can be mounted on two separate stands or on one stand using a stereo bar)

• Place the array 10-12 feet in the air. 

• Aim the microphones toward the middle of the ensemble

*A high quality recorder such as the Zoom H4n or H6 can be used for XY configurations as well.

** This method can also be flown/suspended if you want a more permanent solution. 

NOS (Near Coincident) 

Similar to the XY method in that it uses two directional microphones, NOS is great at recording larger ensembles while getting slightly larger stereo separation compared to XY. For this method you will:

• Need two Cardioid microphones spaced 11.8 inches apart and angled 90 degrees apart.  

• Suspend microphones 10-12 feet in the air. 

• Aim the microphones at the center of the ensemble

OCCO

OCCO is a hybrid of NOS and AB without the need for several stands. The reason it is called OCCO is because it uses two Omni mics and two Cardioid mics in that configuration (Omni-Cardioid-Cardioid-Omni). This is a great way of capturing any size ensembles while giving you the freedom to use the four microphones in different capacities such as just the omni array, just the cardioid array or a mixture of the two at different levels. For this method you will need:

• Two matched cardioid microphones

• Two matched omni microphones (APE Spheres optional)

• A four microphone stereo bar (if using one stand)

• Can be mounted on large stands or flown. 

• Angle the inner array (Cardioid) 90 degrees similar to NOS

• Angle the outer array (Omni) 90+ degrees.

• Suspended 8-10 feet above the ensemble. 

• You can use similar sounding microphones, or microphones with different sonic profiles. 

Soloist Mic

Depending on the type of chart, a soloist mic can be added and placed at the front of the ensemble or in front of the individual musician. Please see the Individual instrument recording page 

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:

Vibes can be recorded by having microphones either underslung by the resonators or on stands 2-3 feet away from the bars aimed down. While both yield great results, if strictly recording, opt for placing one or two condenser microphones over the bars aimed down, this will minimize frame noise while giving you more “shimmer”. Underslung gives you more low end as well as gets the microphones out of the way which is especially useful if on stage.