Regarding microphones

Sorry - I've confused you. The trick is the manufacturers who design speakers to have more bass response than their size should be able to produce. It means that they are able to be 'flat' response wise, but most people use the extra bass setting - and you just need to experiment a bit to acclimatise your ears. It's common to do the mix then discover on other people's systems it's a bit bass light!

Piano = Yamaha and Roland make some very nice stage pianos, but the emphasis is on stage use. They really struggle in my experience to sound real when recorded. Most people use VSTi instruments for realistic pianos. I like the Pianoteq despite having lots of nice Kontakt grands. My concert pianist collaborator has a lovely Yamaha in his house, but all our recordings now feature the in the computer piano sounds. The 88 note real action keyboard will work very well with any of the VSTis. You will obviously start by recording it through the interface, but you can do so much better. Rolands, Yamahas and Kawai all make these things and all are improvable, apart from maybe the very expensive ones. The ones that have speakers - like the Clavinovas are even worse. They sound nice in the room, but plugged in by the headphone socket they have as the only output - they're thin and weedy.

Be careful buying an upright - get a real expert to help you choose. Loads are on the market second hand but often have dodgy frames and rarely stay in tune - and some of them record dreadfully! Nice to have, but probably your Roland and a VST will sound better! Have fun.
Hi again. You did worry me when you said that stage pianos don't record well. This is the stage piano of Roland that I have: https://www.roland.com/global/products/rd-300nx/
Can you please tell me what VSTi instruments are. Are they the sounds each DAW have? So for instance, if my Roland doesn't record well, I can use the VSTi instruments from the software and it would be good? If I am getting this right....
When you refer to the bass setting because of how it may need more bass as you are saying, what is the bass setting? Where is it? Is it on the speakers themselves or within the DAW itself? Thank you once more.
 
Well - VSTi - the instruments are software usually based on sample or synthesis technology. Sort of those Garage Band sound - but designed so your DAW of choice can access them - So the Kontakt libraries, the Steinberg ones and thousands of amazing things out there are VSTi's. The great thing is that old Roland, Yamaha and Korg all have VSTi versions of their popular synths going back years! My Roland 1080, my old Kong M1 - don't get used because the same sounds are now in my computer.


The Roland you have is excellent on stage - loads of useful live features and decent sounds. The snag is that the sounds are tailored to cut through on stage - they're very predictable sounds, and when recorded do sound like a grand piano - until you try a VSTi of a Steinway ABC or Bechstein XYZ or Yamaha C3, built own a Monday morning by John, the oldest piano tweaker they have - You get the drift? You are now facing a world where people really do pick exactly the instrument they need from a list.

Your speaker have knobs on the back to set HF and LF shelf, so you can tweak them to suit your room and your ears.

I fear you have some serious research to be doing here. The recording learning curve is quite steep and daunting! Somebody is bound to pop up and ask about your recording space next - especially if you plan on recording strings in the future.
 
Well - VSTi - the instruments are software usually based on sample or synthesis technology. Sort of those Garage Band sound - but designed so your DAW of choice can access them - So the Kontakt libraries, the Steinberg ones and thousands of amazing things out there are VSTi's. The great thing is that old Roland, Yamaha and Korg all have VSTi versions of their popular synths going back years! My Roland 1080, my old Kong M1 - don't get used because the same sounds are now in my computer.


The Roland you have is excellent on stage - loads of useful live features and decent sounds. The snag is that the sounds are tailored to cut through on stage - they're very predictable sounds, and when recorded do sound like a grand piano - until you try a VSTi of a Steinway ABC or Bechstein XYZ or Yamaha C3, built own a Monday morning by John, the oldest piano tweaker they have - You get the drift? You are now facing a world where people really do pick exactly the instrument they need from a list.

Your speaker have knobs on the back to set HF and LF shelf, so you can tweak them to suit your room and your ears.

I fear you have some serious research to be doing here. The recording learning curve is quite steep and daunting! Somebody is bound to pop up and ask about your recording space next - especially if you plan on recording strings in the future.
Well, it sounds like I may have to get my hands on the VSTi of a Steinway ABC - it sounds great. Do you have to buy it? Where can you buy it from? I have yet to set up my recording space, as I am just waiting for all the stuff I ordered that I will need, to arrive.
 
Sounds great! Thank you Dave!

I bought it years ago for my son (Was a bass player but I struggle with GSTQ on keys!) He used Cubase for the low latency and other instruments but then dumped the MIDI data into Pianoteq because the piano tone was better.

Dave.
 
I can personally vouch for the Lewitt LCT440 PURE. It's a great basic mic. All of the LCT series use the same capsule, the 440 is just stripped down to the bare essentials to keep costs down. But it sounds just as good as the higher priced mics in the line. I love mine.

The fellas here seem a little leery of the Lewitt brand, but that's just out of not knowing about them. They're a great up and coming brand, making some solid products. I wouldn't hesitate to invest in one of their mics. They're solid, sound great, and the company is a pleasure to deal with if you ever need support.
 
I don't think we're particularly wary of Lewitt, but for me - my choice of mics is quite wide, and my favourites tend to be old designs. Like your favourite screwdriver, it's just a comfy tool. Plenty of choice, but when buying your first microphone investment without hearing one - how can you compare. You might love it and then start to wonder why other people use different mics. Maybe it's my age, but I started with one second hand Shure 545 and then bought an SM57. I still have it. It's one of six or so in the mic box. I cannot tell which one it is, against the others. That's consistency in a product. Small firms pop up, build some nice mics, and make them look different by having oval or square shapes. Will they still be viable in 40 years? do they need tom have that lifespan? When my 57 was a little dull for a project, I bought a condenser and hated it. It was horrible. All that tinniness that I was eventually reminded about by the manufacturer's rep at a show. "That's treble Sir - perhaps you've not experienced it before". He was not wrong. So I had a Shure sound, then an AKG sound. Then I started to buy condensers that were a bit warmer and it snowballs. Nowadays I buy a mic as a result of a review from trusted sources, NOT the idiots on YouTube, then if it's nice I keep it, and if plugging it in and saying one two means it's straight back in the box, that's the way to go. I think I'd be happy to listen to a Lewitt, but it wouldn't be my first choice blind. When I hear one, I might be tempted, but they're unknown to me, sound wise. I will happily buy an expensive European or American mic, or a Chinese one. If it sounds good that's perfectly fine.
 
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