Miking a digital piano ? How to arrange the mics ?

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indigo_dave

New member
I have a Yamaha DP that sounds pretty realistic to my ears. I have an AKG C414 and another one ordered - should arrive next week. So for best advantage, do I do some sort of one mic down underneath and one mic overhead arrangement ?

I also have a Shure SM81. I'm going to try using it as an overhead until the new C414 comes.

Any specifics to arranging the mics ?
 
A digital piano is not an acoustic instrument. I am assuming this has a set of stereo speakers in the unit. Doesn't it have some kind of line out??

I think you'd be better off recording it that way than using mics.
 
RFR said:
A digital piano is not an acoustic instrument. I am assuming this has a set of stereo speakers in the unit. Doesn't it have some kind of line out??

I think you'd be better off recording it that way than using mics.
Click to expand...

agreed, why would you want to mike it? what model is it?:D
 
Triple agreed.

Although my usual advice is to mic a guitar amp, I'd never work that way with a digital piano. Take the line outs (or, at a pinch, the headphone out via a suitable adaptor).
 
quadruple agree. I have a Technics sx-px554 which also sounds pretty darn good, but I always take the line outs.

Having said that, I might consider miking one up if the room in which you played the piano was an important part of the sound you wanted to capture, and also if you wanted to capture the mechanical sound of keys.
 
I don't think I have to tell you my stance or what keyboard I've got for you to get the gist of what's going on here, Dave. ;)
 
I'd like to say that no competent sound engineer would mic a digital piano, but I've seen it done. The results, which I had to mix, weren't pretty.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I'd like to say that no competent sound engineer would mic a digital piano, but I've seen it done. The results, which I had to mix, weren't pretty.
Click to expand...

I found this on page 51 of the manual:

AUX OUT[L/L+R][R] jacksYou can connect these jacks to a stereo system to amplify the F11/F01 or to a cas-sette tape recorder to record your performance. Refer to the diagram below and useaudio cables to make the connection

Connections; Connectors - Yamaha F10 Owner's Manual [Page 51]


it has 2 aux out jacks, I would use them. why would you mic it if you have direct outs?:spank:
 
Eh, what you got to lose. try it (mic) and post the results.

Still, unless the room it is in sounds awesome and contributes to the sound, I still say go DI. A digital piano sounds the way it does not because of the "acoustics" of the instruments, but because of the digitally created sound.
 
OK. I recorded a couple of songs. I'm hoping to redo my jazz standards demo folder on Soundcloud, with recordings from these two AKG C414's. This is "Killer Joe" , a jazzy bluesy standard.

This was done with 2 AKG C414's. One, a little under the keyboard (on a boom of course) and the other about 1 ft above and maybe 6 inches back.

https://soundcloud.com/david-goethe/killrjoewav
 
Still sounds like a digital piano.
Plus...you've now added the room anomalies of your space, into what was probably already a well done sample of a piano in a proper recording space.
I'm curious...what were you hoping to achieve by miking up a digital piano?

The only thing I ever do with digital samples if I want to give them some "analog life"....is to run them out to a tape deck.
Miking an actual digital piano is a bit odd, and it doesn't have any real net value...so why are you doing it?
 
This is exactly the problem, a good recording using excellent mics of a sub standard simulation of a real piano.
These instruments don't sound that realistic int the room, although they're hugely better than they were. There are some really good VSTi/stand alone pianos now that just make this sound like a beginners instrument - even DI'd, it's never going to convince anyone.
 
Now, plug it directly into thew recorder and re-record the piece. Then compare the two recordings and you will see why everyone is wondering why you insist on micing the piano.

Think about it, micing a digital piano is equivalent to copying a CD by micing up your stereo.
 
Speakers on a digital piano aren't there for the sonic benefit, they are for the player's convenience, so he doesn't have to connect an external amp.

What you're doing is essentially taking a proper recording of a piano and reamplifying it through some speakers. Degraded sound quality is practically inevitable.
 
indigo_dave said:
OK. I recorded a couple of songs. I'm hoping to redo my jazz standards demo folder on Soundcloud, with recordings from these two AKG C414's. This is "Killer Joe" , a jazzy bluesy standard.

This was done with 2 AKG C414's. One, a little under the keyboard (on a boom of course) and the other about 1 ft above and maybe 6 inches back.

https://soundcloud.com/david-goethe/killrjoewav
Click to expand...

Yeah, that didnt work out. Sounds like a Casio keyboard.

Two AKG 414s are great mics, one of my faves. But there are much better uses for them than this.
Keep in mind no one is busting your balls here, just trying to point you down a path where you get a better result.
:D
 
Farview said:
Think about it, micing a digital piano is equivalent to copying a CD by micing up your stereo.
Click to expand...


Excellent analogy. No one would EVER think of doing that, knowing full well it would be a degraded recording.

I DO admire the OP's willingness to experiment. Thats how we learn. By trying things.

Hey, the good side of it is, he now has a pair of 414s.
:D
 
That recording has that boxy, recorded-in-a-bedroom sound.

Does that keyboard have MIDI output? If you don't like the sounds the piano comes with you might pick up a sound module with more piano options. If you record the MIDI performance instead of, or along with, the audio you can do things like change the instrument after the fact. Played it as a grand but want to hear it as a tack piano, harpsichord or B3? No problem. With MIDI the performance and the sound are separate.
 
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