[CAUT] Miking pianos

[Jeff Tanner]

On Nov 30, 2005, at 1:39 PM, Alan McCoy wrote:
>  Is there anyone who has some expertise in setting up pianos for
> concert amplification? What I'm looking for is some nitty gritty  
> details so
> if need be I can do it myself.
>
> Like I said, the last straw!
>

I forwarded your question to our recording engineer.  Though very  
much a novice (particularly in regard to high end equipment), this  
subject is a bit of a hobby of mine, and I started to post my own  
ideas, but decided to wait until I got his response.  Turns out, we  
had very similar ideas.  After his comments (between the quotation  
marks), I will paste what I'd written.

"If you ask 50 engineers how to mike a piano, you'll get at least 493  
answers!

In live amplification situations, everything is a compromise.  The  
piano doesn't develop its natural, full, blended sound until you are  
a few feet away.Unfortunately, that is a worthless location with  
respect to gain before feedback (GBF).  In order to actually amplify  
the piano without feedback or too much bleed from other instruments,  
the mics need to be close, often extremely close.  This is affected  
by sooooooo many variables, from the piano and its setup, the mic  
choice and its directional pattern, mic placement, position of lid,  
how much reinforcement is needed, the volume of the piano and other  
instruments, PA and monitor location and level, hall acoustics, etc.

So the engineer has to pick which portion of the sound he wants to  
amplify, he can't get them all.  It is common to choose the bright  
attack portion of the sound near the hammers, since this will cut  
thru a mix.  A little of it in the PA system will give the impression  
of piano without muddying up everything else.  This is especially  
common in big band, where you need lots of amplification to compete.   
It is a choice between hearing an unnatural 'banjo' piano sound, or  
having a natural piano sound and not hearing it at all!

(BTW, It may be that the 'banjo' sound came from a piano pickup,  
rather than microphones.  These are great for GBF, but are very  
unnatural sounding.)

Suggestions for more natural sound:
-Get the piano to be heard more acoustically by positioning, opening  
the lid, and having everyone else play less
-reduce bleed into piano by placement on stage, possible use of  
gobos, and having everyone else play less
-use at least 2 high quality directional condenser mics, placed  
behind and above the hammers, facing toward the hammers.  Maybe a  
foot above the strings and a foot back.  Spaced to split the range of  
the piano into thirds.
-carefully EQ piano mics for natural sound and nearby monitors for  
maximum GBF
-pray

There is no formula.

Hope this helps,
JF"

This was my post:

All kinds of sounds are available through micing, and the sound you  
get totally depends on placement.  But mic placement for  
amplification is a completely different animal from that of recording  
because of the feedback factor.   I tuned for Livingston Taylor  
several years ago and he was quite adamant about a three mic  
placement very near the strings.  Same for Jim Brickman, and seems  
like Bette Midler's band used a similar arrangement.  One near the  
treble dampers, one near the bass dampers, and the third further back  
in the midrange.  I recently tuned an S&S B (on the bright side) for  
a Gaither gospel concert in a large venue, but they hadn't placed the  
mics before I left.  I was very curious how that was going to turn out.

These were studio mics, but I did a "just for fun" recording of a  
buddy with his accompanist on her S&S B at her home a few years back  
with a Shure SM 58 vocal mics and that sound turned out surprisingly  
full.  Not close micing, mind you, but not out past the rim either,  
and again, this was a recording situation.  It can be done, but your  
sound engineer MUST have an ear for piano.

I don't know who it was who got it started a few years ago that the  
"best" way to mic a piano was from underneath, but I wish that would  
have never happened.  A lot of church music directors heard that myth  
and decided it was law.  That mic placement produces a very dark,  
muffled sound every time I've ever heard it - probably because  
they're using a cheap mic and don't have an ear for using an EQ, but  
I've never really liked that sound at all.  That placement may work  
ok for some recording situations, but it is horrible for  
amplification IMO.

Another part of it can be where you're sitting in relation to the  
directional throw of the pa speakers.  What can sound very full at  
the mixing board position can sound completely strange in other parts  
of the room. The type of amplification and speakers used will also  
put limitations on how the piano can be EQ'd.  The room itself, other  
instrumentation, there are just so many factors...

Jeff Tanner