Removing harshness from muted trumpets on HD system

[bruceup]

I'm mixing some library music on my HD-3 system that has a track of harmon-muted solo trumpet, and being an engineer by necessity(and not by trade), I was wondering if there are a couple of kind souls who could assist me in the fine art of removing it's inherent harshness. It was recorded well(performed beautifully), in a pro studio with a U-87 at a distance of about two feet, with no eq and minimal compression.

There seem to be two offending frequencies:
1. A brittle, spit-your-head-in-half shrillness somewhere in the over 1k range, and
2. A harsh, grungy sound somewhere below that(it seems to be player generated, this has been a sound that seems to vary from player to player in my experience).

Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated(also alternate mic choices for the future would also be welcome).

[Robocop]

it's the mic. try doing a hi cut at 7 or 8 k. then bring some 10 k back. you might be stuck with wahat ever your hearing at 1k.

[john a]

For the piercing high problem I would use a multiband comp- C4 or the McDSP one. The C4 should
do pretty well-
Best thing would probably have been to use a ribbon to begin with; or record with eq and compression!
I compress the p out of trumpets generally, Harmon mute or no.

[bruceup]

Thanks for your replies.

Is it that ribbon mics have a more pleasing frequency response to a muted trumpet, or is the mechanics of the mic?

I'll try the 7-8k cut, 10k add and see what happens.