Recorded Grand Piano

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bburch88

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I recorded a coouple of hours today a 9' grand baldwin piano using only a rode nt4 stereo x/y mic. I used sonar xl 3.1 and mackie mixer vlz pro w/mic preamps. I moved the mic around, in and out of the cabinet. I was never really happy with the sound. I plan to try again in a couple of days. I have another rode nt1-a but no other mic choices yet.

Anyone use Sonar for recording instruments?

BB
 
Sorry, I don't use Sonar... but the room your recording in will have a lot to do with how your piano recording is going to sound. Also try moving the piano to different spots in the room and etc.
 
<I moved the mic around, in and out of the cabinet. I was never really happy with the sound.>

What was wrong with the sound, I mean, why you did not like it?
The NT4 is a fine mic and I think the problem is with the mic positioning. It is not enough to move it in and out of 'cabinet' (I think you mean 'piano'), but also left and right--this way you get differnt amound of bass or top registers. Also, it is very important to find a right 'tilt', when you get right balance between direct sound from the strings and reflected from the open lid. Piano is a very dificult instrument to record right and very often even a few inches can make a huge difference in a given room. But if you find this 'sweet spot'--it is very rewarding.

Good luck.
 
A couple of SDC's in a stereo placement like XY or better ORTF at some 1' above the strings, right behind the hammers, should give you a bright but full sound without the problem of a not so good sounding room.

Experiment a lot, try to position your NT4 at the round end of the grand, opposite of the keyboard. It must give you a warm sound and very wide stereo image.
 
Consider the following two configurations, both with lid fully open.

NT4 above the pianist's head pointedtowards the harp, and the NT-1A in the middle of the piano harp/strings facing downward towards the bass register (hinge side).

NT1A by itself half way along the strut, facing down towards the hammers or towards the middle of the piano harp. NT4 back 6-10 feet in the room, on the pianist's right.

If you have curtains in the room, then shut them. If you have the option of putting mats, blankets or mattresses around the room over / against flat hard surfaces, then do so.

Baldwins are often dull and woody in sound, so EQ add about 2dB boost at 2kHz and 12 kHz and drop 500Hz-1kHz by 2dB.

If you want honky-tonk use a chorus pedal, or a digital delay of 50ms with some feedback and some modulation.

If you want ambient then add reverb to taste.

If you want classical, then move around the room until you find the "sweet spot" where the piano sounds best. Put the mic at this position.
 
Recording Grand Piano

Thanks for all the replies. When I say I didn't like the sound, I mean that it really didn't sound like a true stereo image. With the NT4 inside the piano over the harp near the middle it sounded best but too much sound. The player really plays a lot of keys with the gospel songs and plays aggressive which was hard to capture without way over doing it. I tried the NT4 above the pianists head and it sounded almost mono, not much separation. I am sure the NT4 is capable of much more than I am getting so far. The piano is on a wooden floor on stage with curtains to the left of the pianist and at the small end of the piano, audience is to the right of the pianist. I can play with the position of the piano which I haven't done yet.

I brought the signal from the NT4 to a mackie 1202 vlz pro mixer with phantom power and routed it to a computer interface by m-audio and to sonar xl 3.0. I have the mic (xlr) inputs hard panned right/left. I have never mic'ed a piano with sonar before.

I will try again this coming week. Again, thank you for responding, feel free to make suggestions.

BB
 
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