Arnold Krille wrote: ahem, no, it doesn't. a *lot* of the sound comes from the holes (unless you play the lowest note, of course :) that means the sound comes from different directions dependent on the note played. which is why you should be looking at a wide polar pattern mike with good sound _off-axis_. that's why everybody and their grandmothers are using the RE20 (or PL20 these days iirc), even though they are fiendishly expensive for dynamic mics. don't ditch the mike into the bell too much, and be sure to have the sax player play the entire range of the instrument during sound check. watch for bad honks and move the mike accordingly. you can't remove those honks with eq - they affect only a few notes, and an eq would harm the sound for all notes. for tenors and altos, i usually have the mike 20-50cm above the bell, slightly angled towards the holes. for straight sopranos, there is no way to do it with a single microphone, unless you can mike it at a distance and have a really good sounding room. if all you have is a 58, your results will be somewhat limited. try to get a nice cheap condenser instead. true, but especially in big band situations, having such sounds on the soloist can bring a nice shade of intimacy to it. sometimes i do it on purpose (or bring out the bow on stringed instruments in a similar manner). don't underestimate the positive effect of such "imperfections".

Which reverb, please? Steve.