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MixRecipes:SaxophoneEQandDelay
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WrittenbybvescoonDecember15,2007

Thesaxophoneisaclassicandgreatsoundinginstrumentthatcanheat RecordingStudio
upanyrockorjazzarrangement.However,sendingyoursaxthrougha
DJMix
microphoneandleavingthetrackuntouchedinamixcanreallykillthe
moodandeffectiveness.Throwonalittleslapbackdelayandabitofeq
andthatsaxwilljumprightoutofyourspeakersandintoyourroom.
RecentComments
Homestudioengineersneednotfear.Thetoolsforsendingyoursax
overthetoparesimpleandincludedinnearlyeveryDAW.Thesetipswill WhatisCompressionandHowDoI
helpyougetgreatsoundingsaxtracksinyourhomestudio! UseIt?Mixing.GQonMixing
AReflectionOnTheTrimester|Tim
Thesaxophonebigfour:space,heat,body,quack KnoxAudioEngineer&Produceron
Manyofthebestrecordedsaxlinesevoketheimageofsittingina Mixing
smokyclub,groovintothemusic.Thisisthefeelingwearegoingto bvescoonConnectyourhomestudio
reproduceonourhomerecording. usingasmallmixer
GidzonConnectyourhomestudio
Spaceisthesoundofthesaxbouncingaroundinourimaginaryvenue. usingasmallmixer
Givingyourlistenerthesenseofbeingintheroomwithyourmusicians bvescoonPODPatches:Lincoln
isthebestwaytodrawthemintothemusic.Aconventionaldelay Brewsterguitarsounds
configurationismorelikeanechowithseveraldiminishingrepeats.This
isnottheeffectweregoingfor.Inasmall,smokyjazzclubyouare
goingtoheartheimmediatesoundofthesaxfollowedquicklybythe
soundbouncingoffthebackwallofthevenue.Thistypeofdelayis
commonlyreferredtoasaslapback.Togetagoodslapbackdelayset
yourdelaytimeinthe70140msrangewithnofeedback.Ourearsstart
toheardistinctlydifferentattackonanotesomewherearoundthe60
75msrange.Ifyoutakeyourdelaydownbelowthisrangeyouwillstart
tohearitasmoreofathickenerinsteadofourdesiredslapbackeffect.If
yougettoofarabovethe130160msrangeyoursaxwillsoundabit
unnatural,oratleastcertainlynottheeffectwearegoingforhere.
Turningthefeedbacktominimumwillcausethedelayeffecttoproduce
onlyasinglerepeat.Thiswillputtheslapinslapback.Keepthemixor
wetcontrolofyourdelayfairlysubtle.1530%wetnesscanreallywork
wondersonyoursax.

Heatgivesyoursaxasenseofexcitement.Greathorns(andevenmost
mediocre)oneswillhavealotofnaturalheattotheirsound.Inthese
casesyoumaynotneedtodoanywarminguponthetrack.Butifyou
lostsomethingintranslation,micpositioning,orjustdidnthaveavery
highqualitysax,doingalittlewarmingupofthetrackcanworkwonders.
Sometimesthesaxcanhaveahardtimefindingspaceinthemix
aroundguitarsorotherhorns.Theeasiestwaytofixthisisbyaddinga
bitofheataroundthe2kHzarea.Aboostof34dBshouldgiveyou
plentyofheatonanalreadygreatsoundingtrack.Youmayhavetoget
abitmoreagressivewithalargerboostifyoutrackispoorlyrecordedor
thehornwasnotthatgreatsoundinginthefirstplace.

Bodyisthethickpartofyoursaxsound.IdonotoftenneedtoEQthe
bodyofasaxtrack.Thesaxophonesbodyisprobablytheeasiestpart
tocaptureonarecording.Alsowhenyouaremixing,thebodywillbethe
mostidentifiablepartofthesaxsound.Yourbrainwilltendtojudgeall
otherelementsofthesaxinrelationtobody.Forthoseoccasionswhen
http://www.benvesco.com/blog/mixing/2007/mixrecipessaxophoneeqanddelay/ 1/5
11/24/2017 MixRecipes:SaxophoneEQandDelay|BenVesco.com
yoursaxtrackisabitthin,youcanusea12dBboostsomewhereinthe
700900Hzrangetothickenitupabit.

Quackisanicequalityofthesoundofthesaxbutonlyifitiskeptin
check.Fortunately,thenaturalsoundofagreatsaxwillhaveonlyavery
subtlequack.Unfortunately,theprocessofcapturingthesaxinthe
studiocanaccentuatethequackandgetyourhornsoundingmorelike
DonaldDuckthanCharlieParker.Fortunately,itisrelativelyeasytofind
thequackandnailitwithsomeeq.Unfortunately,thequackusuallylives
veryclosetoourpreciousheatandcannegativelyaffectthatquality
whenwetameit.Ifyouneedtoremovequackyoucancut12dBaround
1.01.6kHz.Ifyouwanttoaddsomequackyoucanincreaseyour
searchareaandgiveagentleboostof13dBsomewhereinthe900Hz
2.0kHzrange.Thesearchrangeforaddingquackextendsalittlelower
andalittlehigherthanremovingit.Thisisbecausewewanttoprotect
thebodyandheatofoursaxsoundsotheydontgetremovedwiththe
quack.Whileaddingquackitcanbehelpfultoaddmoreofthequack
thatoverlapsthebodyortheheattokeepitfromgettingtoohonky.

Saxophonebigfourquickchart
Morespace:120msdelay,0%feedback,20%wet
Moreheat:+4dBat2kHz
Morebody:+1dBat700Hz
Lessquack:2dBat1.5kHz
Morequack:+1dBat900Hz

Saxophonemixrecipes
Starthereforawarm,ambientsaxsound

Delay:135ms,0%feedback,30%wet
EQBand1:+2dBat800Hz
EQBand2:+1dBat2.5kHz

Starthereforahot,immediatesaxsound

Delay:90ms,0%feedback,15%wet
EQBand1:2dBat1.2kHz
EQBand2:+4dBat2.7kHz

Startheretohelpanalreadygreatsoundingsaxcutthroughamix

Delay:115ms,0%feedback,20%wet
EQBand1:+3dBat2.5kHz

Saxophonereverb
Imnotgenerallyabigfanofreverbonasaxtrack.Imuchpreferthe
soundofourslapbackdelay.Anaddedreverbwilloftenmuddyupthe
soundandmakeitmuchhardertogetthesaxtocutthroughinthemix.
Ifyoudowantareverbonyoursaxtrackthentrystartingwiththesame
typeofreverbyoumightuseonavocalline.ThiscanworkwellbutI
wouldsetthewetmixtoabouthalfwhereyouwantitonavocal.
Reverbssoundgreatonalotofthingsbuttheyoftenservetodrawan
instrumentintothemixwhileaslapbackwillhelppushitoutofthemix
andintothelistenersroom.

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Categories:delay,eq,fxtips,HomeStudio,Mixing,reverb

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13ResponsestoMixRecipes:SaxophoneEQand
Delay
Readbeloworaddacomment...

EugeneXsays:
December25,2007at4:11am

thanksforgreatarticles!

waitingforbassEQandmixing,thenbass+drumsmixing

NelsonGonzalez says:
January3,2008at7:57pm

Hi!HappyNewYear!Idliketoknowaboutsaxpreamps.And
aboutthebestandcheaperones.Thanksforgiving!

NelsonGonzalez says:
January3,2008at8:02pm

Hi!GreatinformationaboutEqandDelay!CanIusethesame
forplayinglive?Please,excusemyenglish.Itsnotmyfirstlanguage!

bvescosays:
January4,2008at9:23am

Youcanabsolutelyusethesamesetupforplayinglive.The
mainthingtokeepinmindisyouwillalreadygetaslapbackintheclubyou
areplayingin.Besuretolistencriticallytomakesureyourartificial
slapbackisnotcompetingwiththenaturalslapback.Thiscanresultina
muddysound.Imnotbigonrecommendingparticularpreamps.Justuse
somethingdecent.Ithinkagreatsaxplayerwillsoundjustasgreatthrough
aMackiepreampastheywillthroughanAPI.

NelsonGonzalez says:
January16,2008at8:10pm

Thanksalot!FromVenezuelawithlove!!!!

Mishmirsays:
June7,2008at12:42pm

Thanksalot!

LarryWilliamssays:
June25,2008at5:53pm

PleasehelpmeselectarigsoIcancontrolmysaxsound
quality.Iplaymostlyastheonlyhorn.Whatwouldyourecommendforrack
mountedsound:
1.EQ
2.Reverb/Delay
3.Compressor
IwouldliketohavesomethingthatIcanpresetdependingonthehornIuse
(soprano,alto,tenororbaritonesax)aswellasthesong(funk,ballad,
smoothjazz,straightahead)Theequipmentshouldberackmountable.

Pleasehelp

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Panthersays:
April15,2010at11:28am

Yourblogkeepsgettingbetterandbetter!Yourolderarticles
arenotasgoodasneweronesyouhavealotmorecreativityandoriginality
now.Keepitup!
Andaccordingtothisarticle,Itotallyagreewithyouropinion,butonlythis
time!:)

AriyoJoshuasays:
July14,2010at12:37am

Hithere,
Likeyourstyle!Thoughistillavtotryitbut,lotsofmypeplikeit.
Goodjob

onlinemasteringsays:
June5,2011at11:17am

Ihavealwaysfoundasaxophonequiteachellenging
instrumenttorecord,youneedtocapturetheentiresoundoftheinstrument
andthatiseasytogetwrong.goodpointersforbettersoundingsax!

glennzottolasays:
February29,2012at8:53am

Ben:greatarticleandiamexperimentingwithyour
suggestionsandsentthemtomymasteringguy.Ihaverecorded40
albumsasajazzplayerforlabelsneverpayingmuchattentionandleaving
everythinguptotheengineer.Nowiamrecordingathomeforthefirsttime
andfinished2albumsandiaminthemiddleofathirdforalabel.Having
playedineveryvenuefromCarnegieHalltoTelevisioniknowwhatthe
naturelsoundofmyhornis.Gettingthatathomewithlimitedequipmentis
achallengeisee.Checkmywebsiteandyouwillmseewhatiamtalking
about.thanks,
Glenn

richardtrotterRichardW.Trottersays:
March23,2012at1:51pm

@glennusemultiplemikes.Mikethebellandbodyanda3rd
about6feetaway.ihavemyholeinthegaragepaddedinonecornerwith
studiofoamforminimumreflections.Thedifferenceintherecordedsound
nowisphenominalandiamusingcheapmikes.Beforethesoundwas
muddy.

LuoMcVungsays:
November21,2012at10:56am

Thisisinteresting.Mysaxophonehastwicebeenslapped
backonthebackslaponce.Forthis,Ineededsoup.Thanksforthe
reverberance!!!AvoidtheShureSM57andSM58stheyhavebuiltin
echO0oontheinside.

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