Piano recording--sort of long

[Geoff Sykes]

Having been a recording engineer for many years I would like to offer this
advice on micing techniques. 

The choice of mic is always a good place to start. What you are looking for
first is the desirability of that mics frequency response. In other words,
do you like the way it colors the sound it is picking up. Flatter is not
always better. Second, consider the pattern in which the mic will pick up
sound. Omni, directional, figure 8 etc. The environment should be your guide
in selecting pattern. FWIW, the PZM mic is NOT directional. When placed
properly it has a somewhat non-directional hemispherical pattern and is
designed to pick up everything in the environment. 

A pair of PZM mics are great if you want to make a stereo recording of an
entire performance where the environment plays a big part of the sound. Like
a play or an acoustical performance with a number of musicians. You place a
pair of them on the floor in front of the performers a couple feet apart and
you press record.

In recording a piano you need a microphone that not only has a wide
frequency response but also one that will handle the dynamic range. Any
decent high quality condenser mic should work. But remember that just
because it's "flat" or expensive doesn't mean it's going to sound the best.
The one you actually use really winds up being personal choice. Regardless
of graphed frequency response or cost. Again, what's important is deciding
which one captures the sound in a way that is most pleasing to YOUR ear.

TIP #1: Borrow or rent mics until you find ones that you like. Then do an
ebay search to buy. They'll be there.

Now, on to placement. If you are in a studio environment you are going to
mic it differently than if you are in a performance environment. A lot of
the "science" of mic placement is pretty much understanding what mic, where,
in which environment. After that, most good recording engineers will tell
you that mic placement is a process of listening. Basically, you get the
artist to sit and play and then you stand in front of them and/or the
instrument and you simply move your listening position until you find the
spot where is sounds like what you want to record. Then you put your mic(s)
right there. If you go back into the control room and find yourself doing
extensive EQ in order to get the sound right you've miced it in the wrong
position. Go out and move the mic. Micing an instrument, even for the
experienced engineer, still relies on at least a little trial and error.
Every instrument sounds different and projects differently. Experiment.

TIP #2: If you place your mics too far apart relative to their distance from
the instrument you will wind up with a stereo image that is missing the
center. If you place your mics too close together relative to their distance
from the instrument you will wind up with a stereo image with insufficient
left/right definition. Again, experiment. 

Capturing that sound digitally requires good A/D converters and a stable
clock in order to keep the recording clean and reduce distortion. At least
44.1 Hhz sampling. and don't rely on headphones when making quality
decisions. Having those little tiny speakers so close to your ears may sound
great but it's not really what's going down. Get some decent speakers and
learn them. 

Geoff Sykes
Assoc. Los Angeles


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf
Of J. Brandon Robertson
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2005 7:43 AM
To: pianotech@ptg.org; ricbrek@broadpark.no
Subject: Piano recording--sort of long


Ric,

The Earthworks mics are great and will be the most precise...but probably
not recommended if you want to do it cheaply.  If your intention is only to
record some examples of pretty good quality, you don't have to spend that
much.  If you want truly excellent quality, get them.

A recording made with your built-in laptop microphone will probably sound
closer to hearing the piano over the telephone than just about any external
mic you can get.  Boundary mics are good if you will always have something
to put them on.  Also, check out the miniature omni condenser mics from
core-sound.com.  They can handle the high SPL of a piano very well.  You can
always find places to clip them inside the piano for a dry sound, affected
little by the room you are in (helpful if you just want the sound of the
piano or maybe a dry jazz piano sound, but not a good technique for
classical or other music).

As far as mic positioning goes, you will have to experiment.  Any recording
engineer will tell you that the science of mic placement only gets you so
far, and beyond that you have to use your ears.  Sometimes moving the mics a
couple of inches will change the sound dramatically.  Michael G.'s
suggestion for placement is a good starting point.  Sometimes I find that
moving them to the right of the curve, toward the bass strings (still about
6 feet away), gives a more balanced sound.  Sometimes the dampers and the
room are both so noisy that you'll have to mic from underneath the
soundboard...as a last resort, IMO.

All of this advice would be different if you were talking about recording
classical music complete with the reverb of the room, fully developed sound,
etc., but for what I think you are wanting to do (just record the sound of a
piano for others to hear and help diagnose problems) this should work well.

Also, check out Audacity for pretty good free audio editing software. Start,
like Doug said, with a good sample rate (44.1khz is CD quality) and compress
to mp3 later for posting to the list.

I hope that's helpful.

Take care,
Brandon Robertson

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