Demos - using upright piano with vocals.

[Walter Mitty]

I have a Yamaha P22 upright piano and plan on doing some live recording in my living room. I have the following equipment:

MacBook (brand new)
Logic
Presonus Firebox
MXL V67
SM58
ART Tube MP preamp.

I have $225 in gift certificates to Guitar Center from Christmas.

I want to start small and work up. My immediate desire is to record just myself singing while playing the piano and record. Judging by my current equipment what would be the best way to spend my gift certificates? For example would I need another good mic? anything I'm missing, etc?

The key here is that I have a wife and small kids. When they go out and I am able to record, they are usually gone for only a couple of hours and I don't have a ton of time to experiment with mic/recording techniques and need to work fast. Treating the room is not an option as well as moving the piano. TIA

 

[SonicAlbert]

Get a couple good PZM's that you can permanently tape inside the piano or to the back of the piano. Then you'd be good to go, and with little to no setup time once you have a few quiet minutes to do some recording. Anything else with mic stands, cables, etc., you'll be wasting a lot of time setting up.

It's important when recording piano to have two matched mics. In your case you need two matched mics and a vocal mic. You already have the vocal mics, so I suggest spending the $225 on a couple PZM or other small mics that you can permanently position. I believe Shure also makes a very small mic that you could use this way, in pairs.

You already have everything else you need, you just need the two matched mics.

 

[Walter Mitty]

Get a couple good PZM's that you can permanently tape inside the piano or to the back of the piano. Then you'd be good to go, and with little to no setup time once you have a few quiet minutes to do some recording. Anything else with mic stands, cables, etc., you'll be wasting a lot of time setting up.

It's important when recording piano to have two matched mics. In your case you need two matched mics and a vocal mic. You already have the vocal mics, so I suggest spending the $225 on a couple PZM or other small mics that you can permanently position. I believe Shure also makes a very small mic that you could use this way, in pairs.

You already have everything else you need, you just need the two matched mics.

that sounds like a terrific idea. definitely something to consider.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I know you said you can't "move" the piano, but does that mean even a little bit, temporarily? All I'm talking about the the possibility of pulling one side out just a few inches so there is about a 15-20° angle between the back of the piano and the back wall. This can reduce standing waves between the soundboard and the back wall, and greatly reduce any "boxiness" in the sound.

Is there anyone else who can play the piano beside you, even a little bit? One of the best tricks, IMHO, with a home upright situation is to simply walk around in a semicircle behind the pianist, from one side of the room to the other, a good 3ft behind the pianist's back to 6ft from the piano body. Simply walk around, bob abd weave your head a little. You'll more often than not hear ditinct differences in sound as you move, and - if you're lucky - find a pretty sweet spot where the fullness and clarity will sound distinctly better than in the other locations. Just stick a mic on a stand at that location and height facing towards the piano, and you'll have a farily decent mono recording.

For stereo, Al's idea of the boundary mics is a good one. Depending upon the sound that you like, another option I'll throw out on the table will be to get a stereo pair (a couple of nice SDCs, for example) and use those to mic the harp a few inches to a foot above the hammers. This requires removing the kickboard, but they are made to come off and go back on easily for tuniing and repair purposes. This can give a brighter, less "boxy" sound than miking from the top or from inside. The downside is that if you have noisy footpedals, this technique can pick that sound up easier than any other.

G.

 

[Walter Mitty]

I know you said you can't "move" the piano, but does that mean even a little bit, temporarily? All I'm talking about the the possibility of pulling one side out just a few inches so there is about a 15-20° angle between the back of the piano and the back wall. This can reduce standing waves between the soundboard and the back wall, and greatly reduce any "boxiness" in the sound.

I can definitely move it around a few feet here and there and even six feet off the wall if needed. it's on rollers on a hardwood floor. I guess I was referring to moving in to other rooms, etc.

 

[Walter Mitty]

Get a couple good PZM's that you can permanently tape inside the piano or to the back of the piano. Then you'd be good to go, and with little to no setup time once you have a few quiet minutes to do some recording. Anything else with mic stands, cables, etc., you'll be wasting a lot of time setting up.

It's important when recording piano to have two matched mics. In your case you need two matched mics and a vocal mic. You already have the vocal mics, so I suggest spending the $225 on a couple PZM or other small mics that you can permanently position. I believe Shure also makes a very small mic that you could use this way, in pairs.

You already have everything else you need, you just need the two matched mics.

wow, it's been months and I still have the gift cards. life goes on. i know guitar center has the crown pzms there but i think they are mainly used for meetings, conferences, etc. how do you think they'll sound on the upright? TIA.