Hello!
I got a request from a friend to build him an amplifier to amplify his trombone.
He has a phantom powered microphone already.
If I understood correctly he will need a microphone amplifier, pre-amplifier, power amplifier and then a speaker cabinet.
As for microphone amplifier and pre-amplifer I guess it would be best to buy an already finished product. Am I right?
And then for the amplifier I thought of something like a guitar amplifier maybe?
What do you think? I'm no musician at all and I have no experiences with PA-audio and intrument amplification.
I got a request from a friend to build him an amplifier to amplify his trombone.
He has a phantom powered microphone already.
If I understood correctly he will need a microphone amplifier, pre-amplifier, power amplifier and then a speaker cabinet.
As for microphone amplifier and pre-amplifer I guess it would be best to buy an already finished product. Am I right?
And then for the amplifier I thought of something like a guitar amplifier maybe?
What do you think? I'm no musician at all and I have no experiences with PA-audio and intrument amplification.
You can build all these things if you want to, better in some ways to build everything integrated. You'll need to provide phantom power. I wouldn't distinguish between microphone and pre-amp, it's just a question of sensitivity.
Ask him what range he can play, you don't say what kind (bass, alto, tenor) of trombone. This will affect your choice of amp and speaker(s).
Probably not a guitar amplifier, they have a coloured tone. He'll get his tone from his technique. A PA or hi-fi amp style (clean). Basic tone controls or maybe a graphic eq. If you go for a multi-way speaker, then a signal level crossover and amp each driver for efficiency. Probably only 2 drivers, not too much top end required, it's a trombone, not cymbals, if he's playing it on stage he won't welcome something that gets a lot of feedback easily. Trombones are intrinsically loud, but about 100W total so he can stay with the guitars easily. Guitar amps have very efficient (loud) speakers as a rule.
This is all guesswork, I never built a trombone amp.
You can always suggest he goes to a shop and tries some amps, then pitch what you build to match his choice.
Ask him what range he can play, you don't say what kind (bass, alto, tenor) of trombone. This will affect your choice of amp and speaker(s).
Probably not a guitar amplifier, they have a coloured tone. He'll get his tone from his technique. A PA or hi-fi amp style (clean). Basic tone controls or maybe a graphic eq. If you go for a multi-way speaker, then a signal level crossover and amp each driver for efficiency. Probably only 2 drivers, not too much top end required, it's a trombone, not cymbals, if he's playing it on stage he won't welcome something that gets a lot of feedback easily. Trombones are intrinsically loud, but about 100W total so he can stay with the guitars easily. Guitar amps have very efficient (loud) speakers as a rule.
This is all guesswork, I never built a trombone amp.
You can always suggest he goes to a shop and tries some amps, then pitch what you build to match his choice.
I'd say you'd probably want the most accurate amplifier you can build. You don't want to add any extra distortion or coloration as you would find in other electric instrument amplifiers.
As for the mic...well I'm not too talented with mics, but the problem with standard recording mics is that you need to provide phantom power as counter already said. I think that's like +/- 48V or something big. Phantom power is typically only needed for condenser mics.
However, you can get a dynamic mic which does not require Phantom Power (typically) and many have very good performance despite being dynamic and not having an active preamp in the mic itself. A classic example of a good dynamic mic is the Sure SM58. I would highly consider an mic like that.
Find out the sensitivity of the mic you want to use and convert that to voltage. Then you can determine your preamp requirements. I don't know exactly what gain to use. I'd say keep it under 50. You should (could?) use an accurate op-amp for this like an LME49710 or something of that sort. You could probably get away with a much cheaper op-amp like an OPA or NE5532 if you wanted. After that, I'd say a Class A/B would probably be a good choice.
Driver-wise...how much power does he need? Is it for personal use or professional? If professional, probably a decent driver + tweeter from Celestion or Eminence. If you don't need that much power, perhaps a simpler 2-way setup with some idk..Tang Bands or HiVis or something?
Complete speculation here.
As for the mic...well I'm not too talented with mics, but the problem with standard recording mics is that you need to provide phantom power as counter already said. I think that's like +/- 48V or something big. Phantom power is typically only needed for condenser mics.
However, you can get a dynamic mic which does not require Phantom Power (typically) and many have very good performance despite being dynamic and not having an active preamp in the mic itself. A classic example of a good dynamic mic is the Sure SM58. I would highly consider an mic like that.
Find out the sensitivity of the mic you want to use and convert that to voltage. Then you can determine your preamp requirements. I don't know exactly what gain to use. I'd say keep it under 50. You should (could?) use an accurate op-amp for this like an LME49710 or something of that sort. You could probably get away with a much cheaper op-amp like an OPA or NE5532 if you wanted. After that, I'd say a Class A/B would probably be a good choice.
Driver-wise...how much power does he need? Is it for personal use or professional? If professional, probably a decent driver + tweeter from Celestion or Eminence. If you don't need that much power, perhaps a simpler 2-way setup with some idk..Tang Bands or HiVis or something?
Complete speculation here.
Arent trombones loud enough already?😀
They usually are unless its a bigger room, and then there is usually a PA. Whats he plan to do?
If the mic needs phantom power it has a built in amp. You will still need a mic pre amp, but it wont need much gain (around 20db) because of the mic amp and the level a trombone puts out. A popular way to mic horns live is to clip a small condenser mic on the edge of the bell. This way the level and tone are consistent no matter how much the player moves and very little of the rest of the band will leak into the mic. The catch is the mic needs to be able to take the high sound levels. Dynamic mics usually dont have the high freq response needed to capture all the horn harmonics.
They usually are unless its a bigger room, and then there is usually a PA. Whats he plan to do?
If the mic needs phantom power it has a built in amp. You will still need a mic pre amp, but it wont need much gain (around 20db) because of the mic amp and the level a trombone puts out. A popular way to mic horns live is to clip a small condenser mic on the edge of the bell. This way the level and tone are consistent no matter how much the player moves and very little of the rest of the band will leak into the mic. The catch is the mic needs to be able to take the high sound levels. Dynamic mics usually dont have the high freq response needed to capture all the horn harmonics.
As far as I know, trombones are really loud!
I asked him what he would use it for, and he answered "it would be fun to have". I know he's traveling around a bit playing music but I'm not sure if he will actually need an amplifier. I'll ask him again if he's sure he really needs one.
He said he had a small mic that he attatched to the end of the horn. He said it looked like one you might see people in tv have attatched to their shirt.
I asked him what he would use it for, and he answered "it would be fun to have". I know he's traveling around a bit playing music but I'm not sure if he will actually need an amplifier. I'll ask him again if he's sure he really needs one.
He said he had a small mic that he attatched to the end of the horn. He said it looked like one you might see people in tv have attatched to their shirt.
Yes, they are called lavaleir mics and are very popular for live horns, just make sure it can handle the sound levels (probably can). I have never seen a "trombone amp" as they are always loud enough until the rest of the band needs a PA then you run the trombone thru the PA also. Is he planning to play solo to a large crowd?
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