Recording a TOY piano...seriously

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needlewithaprun

New member
I've read many threads about best practices when recording grand and upright pianos but my client next week is a musical cast which involves a toy piano on some songs. Ya know, the kind you buy a kid to dink around on? I didn't see anything in here specific to TOY pianos and wanted to ask if anyone had some experience with it.

Toy pianos vary a great deal from regular pianos obviously so I imagine the recording techniques used would vary as well. Does anyone have any ideas?
 
Try a sdc and move it around and try to find a sweet spot within a foot of the piano....second choice ldc, same deal.
 
Yeah, you probably won't find someone who regularly mics up toy pianos, so just bring a friend over to move the mic, have someone over to play the toy piano, and then you sit in the control room while your buddy moves the microphone around while the other plays the piano.
 
I had to record a toy piano once.

I did as Wish suggested: SDC about a foot away. But maybe I didn't search too hard for a sweet spot. Just aiming in the general direction worked fine.
 
MrWrenchey said:
Yeah, you probably won't find someone who regularly mics up toy pianos
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I regularly mic up toy pianos :thumbs up:

I've got a load of them, I love 'em! If you've got one of the little wooden upright sort, like a Schoenhut or similar stick a condensor about 12 inches away from the back as if you're micing a guitar amp (!) and you wont be far off.

Interesting though, a lot of them like to be mic'd from underneath to get a really crisp 'plink' sound. Depending on what I'm doing I'll either roll off all the bottom end to lose some of the mechanical noise, or use plenty of compression to BRING OUT that mechanical noise.

Love these little pianos!
 
Is this an acoustic instrument you're talking about?
Just treat it like any other. Try it - move stuff - try it again. :)

I have a toy Ukelele here that I use a lot. I usually end up with an sm81 or mk219 about a foot away just pointed in the general direction of the instrument.
 
You guys are all awesome with wonderful suggestions and input. I love it!

Wish14 - I've been given the same advice on another forum. That's exactly how I plan to start.
MrWrenchey - The toy piano isn't mine and I won't have a chance to mic it until it's time to record.
geck zzed - Sounds like you did the right thing!
theseventwenty - Very informative and made me laugh. Thanx, man!
ecc83 - Not using MIDI at the moment.
Steenamaroo - Thanx! On it!

How about this? If you had only the following mics to mic a toy piano and could use them in any creative way you wanted (i.e. position, placement, etc.), what would you do?:

RODE NT1 LDC
AKG Perception 420 LDC
Audio Technica AT4040 LDC
Sterling S50 LDC
3 AKG D5 dynamics
AKG D330BT dynamic
Audio Technica AT4041 Pencil SDC
Sterling S30 Pencil SDC

Ordinarily I would not ask such a question but I'm not going to have much time to field test all of these when I'm on location. I'm gonna have to use the mics I already know will sound good with the other elements in the songs and put what's leftover on a freaking toy piano. I guess I'm scared of over tones tearing through the whole mix.

Thanx again to everyone!
 
You are over thinking it. Just throw a mic up and see what you get. Move it around or try a different mic if you don't like what you hear.
 
ecc83 said:
Or! I bet you could find a MIDI app to do it?

Dave.
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I use this fucker way too much.


But it so completely depends on what you're doing with the thing and how it's meant to fit in the mix. The only right answer is to pick the mic most likely to get you the tone you want, and stick it where it sounds right. Then, if you the tone isn't quite right, try another mic in about the same place. If you don't have time for all that shit then stick every mic you have in multiple locations and figure it out in the mix.

Edit to add -
I definitely understand the desire to have everything planned out and ready to go so that the session will run smoothly and you'll look like a pro, but I think you can get yourself in trouble that way. One might argue that if you go into the session with any preconceived notions at all, you're cheating everybody and will almost necessarily end up compromising the end result. A cook takes the ingredients listed on the recipe, combines them as described, cooks it for the recommended time, and serves it. A chef looks at the ingredients available, and combines based on experience and an understanding of their effect on the dish as whole, cooks it until the flavors have developed to their full potential, tasting all along the way to be sure that what hits the table is the best possible version of the dish.

Edit again -
I would say try not to have any hard flat surface bouncing the higher frequencies at the mic. Don't just put it on a hard floor or a big table if you can avoid it. I'd be inclined to put it on a couch, soft chair, or bed, though that might make it tough to play. A small stand, or maybe even the player's lap...
 
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