Best (and cheapest) microphone for recording F. Horn sound??

Ok..so I have an idea. There's a competition for brass choir on the site. And I thought that what if I would not just participate but do a live recording of me playing the parts.

But I have a very lame mic...so guys in your opinion what mic would be the best which is around 80-100 dollars? I saw a guy on youtube using a T.Bone SC 300...is it good, anyone could help me? Which is the best type of mic for recording brass instruments (especially horns)?---> dinamic or condenser or what?

I don't particularly like the sound he's getting, but I understand that the results HEAVILY depend on mic placement and settings. Also the fact that he has it on YouTube.

Check out this forum: http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=53081

"Sennheiser md421 is pretty good for close micing brass instuments."

I've heard that Sennheiser are pretty good and that forum seems to have come to the consensus of using ribbon mics. They're expensive, but that means used for under $200. You'll be lucky to find a mic to fit your need at such a low price range and if you're going to get a mic, why not invest now in something decent and use it for years to come? I'm waiting for the right time to purchase a mic myself, and I have in mind that it will need to work on everything, especially brass.

Yeah its not the best sound he gets but its hundred times better than the sound I can get from my crappy mic. I dont have any money to buy something more expensice stuff now...

Thanks for your help anyway :)

I don't really have a microphone suggestion, but just in reply to this:

"Sennheiser md421 is pretty good for close micing brass instuments."

I personally wouldn't ever mic a horn closely if I wanted a good sound. The sound of the horn directly at the bell is by far not what a horn actually sounds like when you hear it in a concert hall etc. There are few other instruments that depend so much on room acoustics and placement as the horn, because of it's peculiar build (i.e. playing -away- from the audience, with the only sound arriving at the listener being indirect, refracted sound), and you'll give up that specific sound by putting your mic too close to your horn. Close micing is only really used if you're playing together with other instruments and want a clean signal from the horn. Otherwise, take some distance.

Usually I would go for a pair of condenser mics, but also a single one may do if you don't want to afford a stereo pair. (But recording with two gives you more freedoms and is often a good idea when recording single instruments, especially winds.) I only have a pair of small diaphragm condensers, and I'm happy with those, but large diaphragm condensers may also work well on horns - but that really only depends on what kind of colour you are looking for. I probably wouldn't go for dynamic mics unless you are micing closely and are often playing really loud, in which case it simply might be too much for a condenser (but as I said: I don't recommend micing too closely anyways). But again: If you happen to like the particular coloration a dynamic mic will generally give you, there's no reason not to go for it.

But I actually think that for a horn, the room you are recording it is much more important than the mic you use. So try to find a nice sounding room.

Thanks for the advices!! :D

But I actually think that for a horn, the room you are recording it is much more important than the mic you use. So try to find a nice sounding room.

That's half the problem and why I'm kinda in favour of closer mic'ing myself. The one time I did get to fool around with a decent mic I didn't close mic and the room sound when I listened back was awful. I didn't really get to play around with things very much, so it may have been settings or placement that made the sound yucky, but with close if you know how to do it right it's close to the same every time. I guess it depends on what you're after. I thank you, too! :happy:

Hmm...

...I guess there is a reason why people spend so much time studying recording -- both through practice and school. ;)

A good mic for vocals will do the trick. Of course you only get what you pay for, so pretty much whichever mic you buy in the same range price will sound pretty much... well the same. That is of course if you don't buy something really stupid like a bass drum mic. ;)