Help with mic placement and cheap sound dampening

C

clntgn

New member
I'm going to be recording a vocalist/pianist tomorrow (for free of course, I'm not going to charge for amateur skills). And this is my first time recording a piano, excluding the one time I recorded my own as a background instrument on a song (where the creaky old quality of my piano was welcomed).

Anyways, since this is my first time, and its in a different environment, I'm obviously going to have a little trouble. I took the liberty of looking up a few mic techniques for grand piano (she has a baby grand) and all of them seem to require multiple mics. There's my first issue. I have only these mics:
-(2) Blue Snowball USB
-(1) Sm58 knock-off that's pretty decent (not fantastic, but got the job done when I was in a band).

Obviously I'm going to use the snowballs for vocals, but how do I record the piano with such limited and cheap equipment and still get a DECENT sound. Not super professional, but enough that you can't easily pick up things that you don't want in there.

Also, there's the issue of the room. I'm not sure how big it is, but she says its in her parlor room, and there's windows on one side and double doors on the other. I don't have any professional damping equipment, but I have a ton of pillows and a futon cushion. I don't really know how well any of that would work though. Also, would bed mattresses work at all? I kind of figure they won't since they're mostly hollow and full of springs.
 
The best answer...wing it. ;)

It's hard to tell you specifically without seeing/hearing the piano and room, but pianos sound good in live room rather than a dead one, so I wouldn't worry too much about matresses and pillows...just experient with mic positions for the piano.

If she is going to sing while playing...I would actually use the fake "58" for vocals and the two Snowballs for the piano.
 
You haven't told us what you are using for an interface, either. USB mics seldom have great sound characteristics. If you can experiment with placement of the mics in the room, it'll be your best option.
 
I have an m-audio firewire solo. So, only one mic input. From what everyone tells me, the Snowballs are the best you can do with USB mics, and I've personally had some great results with them on acoustic guitar at least (I've used professional gear at the studio at my school, and it sounds fine compared to it. Not better or matching of course, but certainly not horrible).

We're going to multi-track since that's easier on me (for mixing afterwords) and I think she said she liked to do it that way anyways. I've tried using the "58" on vocals before, but it always sounded a little muffled. I tend to use it on my amps more than anything.

Thanks for the help! I'll bring along my pillows anyways just in case to see if I need it.
 
miroslav said:
I would actually use the fake "58" for vocals and the two Snowballs for the piano.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking too. The "58" will prolly do a lot better for the close-mic'ed vox than it would a few feet from a piano. The snowballs will prolly sound ok on either.
 
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