recording

[R Barber]

Yes, I tried a few while recording grad school audition cds.  Here is my 
personal favorite.  I picked it up watching PBS's "Sessions at West 
54th" and saw it once on Saturday Night Live:
Remove piano lid, place directional mics in an 60 degree X/Y pattern 
from 5 feet above the strings, right above the center of the soundboard.
That was really great for dry studio recordings, eliminating lid reflection.

For live sound, I often use an omni 8" above the second octave bass, and 
a large diaphragm directional 6" above the last 2 octaves of treble 
strings, major lobe toward the center.   I hi-pass @ ~200Hz the omni, 
and low-pass the bigger mic in the treble @ ~8k.  This mixes down well 
to front-of-house mono.

Ive never been satisfied with "soundhole" micing, although I had a few 
good results micing the board from underneath.  I have had a few 
requests for soundboard contact & PZM micing, but haven't bought any yet.

I've found the disklavier system to be very useful recording pianists 
who make really noise page turns!

Rick Barber