Piano recording--sort of long

[Joe And Penny Goss]

Hi JB,
Use of the neighboring keys as guides may help in getting the length and
angle near enough.
Hope you do not have too much trouble with the balance rail hole. The bottom
of the hole that sits on  the balance rail might be drilled out using a
neighbor to locate the hole and drill a smaller hole first and enlarge to
size.
Stack them bottom to bottom so that you have the key front correct. clamp
keys together and use a drill press to drill through the good key as a
marker then through the repair.
I save old keys just for this repair, and cut them to fit, slicing them at
an angle where needed and gluing them back together using side keys as a
splint. That way I can get a strong balance rail hole that has not been
ruined.
Joe Goss RPT
Mother Goose Tools
imatunr@srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J. Brandon Robertson" <brandon@heiwaarts.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>; <ricbrek@broadpark.no>
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2005 8:43 AM
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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