Johnathan Smith, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Engineer/FOH, Picks Sanken CU-55 Microphones
Johnathan Smith, Jazz at Lincoln Center orchestra engineer/FOH, has embraced the compact yet powerful Sanken CU-55 microphone for trumpets both in the renowned New York City venue and for touring worldwide with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. The trumpet is one of the loudest instruments in orchestras, typically ranging between 80 and 110 decibels in SPL.
“I’ve started using the CU-55s as my trumpet microphones and they work beautifully,” says Smith. “The off-axis response is so smooth that when Wynton or any of the other trumpet players play a bit off-axis it still sounds amazing.”
With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and guest artists spanning genres and generations, Jazz at Lincoln Center produces thousands of performance, education, and broadcast events each season in its home, Frederick P. Rose Hall, known as The House of Swing in New York, NY and around the world, for people of all ages. The organization was founded in 1987 and opened the first performing arts hall designed for jazz on Columbus Circle in midtown Manhattan in in 2004. Wynton Marsalis is the managing and artistic director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Sanken’s CU-55 microphone houses a side-firing 16mm capsule. Designed with a resonant chamber like the popular large format Sanken CU-51 and CU-44X MK II microphones, it is tuned to create a perfect cardioid pattern without proximity issues.
Johnathan Smith elaborates, “We have four trumpets with four CU-55 mics, including the one for Wynton. The sound is very good when the brass comes through big hall sound systems, which is where we perform most of the time.”
FOH Jazz at Lincoln Center mix engineer Johnathan Smith.
Jazz at Lincoln Center produces performances by the orchestra and by visiting musicians and many concerts are streamed live on the Jazz Live app. For information, visit www.jazzlive.com. The organization also produces educational programs in person at Frederick P. Rose Hall, online, and in schools throughout the world.
Wynton Marsalis is seen playing with the Sanken
CU-55 microphone during the Midwinter Tour 2024.
Smith continues, “The CU-55 has a very natural warmth at the low end, so it helps capture the natural body of the instrument. I also use them on piano a lot because it’s so rich sounding – all the Sanken mics that I’ve used have a very natural sound. With piano, because of where the drums are, the 55’s not only have the smooth off-axis response, but behind the capsule it’s almost a 10 DB drop. I get much less drum bleed in the piano mics than any other microphones I’ve used. I like to put them across the strings, one on the high side, and one on the low side and actually flip them upside down so that the capsule is closer to the strings than the body. It just helps mitigate that drum bleed. And that way the back of the mic is pointing at the cymbals, which are at the tail end of the piano.”
“Masters of Form: Duke, Jelly Roll and Mingus,” featuring members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis at Rose Theater. Sanken CU-55 microphones on guitar and piano.
Smith has also found a sweet spot for the CU-55 in drum miking. “I’ve been really enjoying it on the snare drum, because it’s small, with side address. It’s difficult to get any other mic in there because the cymbals and the high hat are so close to the snare drum. I can just set it up near the rim and I’ve got the sound I’m looking for. The CU-55 can handle very high SPL and totally takes it like a champ.”
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis performs in The House of Swing, and tours around the world. Concerts are also streamed on the organization’s Jazz Live app. Since 2015, the orchestra’s albums have been issued on JALC’s in-house record label, Blue Engine Records.
“I’ve really grown love these microphones,” Smith concludes, “and I love showing people these mics. I recently lent a pair to Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra pianist Dan Nimmer and he wants to get a pair for himself. These mics are clear, transparent and natural, giving me the sound I want when miking the orchestra.”
Jazz at Lincoln Center:https://jazz.org/
ABOUT SANKEN CHROMATIC
The Sanken Chromatic range of 6 professional studio microphones provides musicians, sound designers, engineers and producers with the optimum set of pure, transparent sounding mics for a wide variety of applications. They are designed and meticulously engineered in Japan using the latest technology and include many innovative features. The result is a set of mics that have phenomenal frequency response, accurate off axis response, exact patterns, minimal proximity effect, low noise and high SPL tolerance. https://www.sankenchromatic.com
Sanken Chromatic mics are distributed in the USA and Canada by plus24.
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