Well, I came to this board with a hundred questions, and was quickly directed to this thread. Now I only have a couple of dozen.
Harvey,
I don't know if you still check out this thread from time to time, but I thought 'why not take a shot at a few questions.' At the least, perhaps some other knowledgeable folks will have some advice.
You touched on grand pianos several times, but never really got that in depth on them. To give you a bit of background, I want to make recordings of my grand in my home. It's in a fairly small and dead room, and this is the only instrument I intend on recording in the foreseeable future (of course, like any project or hobby I get involved with, it will probably become an addiction
). I've read this thread entirely, and I also read and absorbed the "Microphones: Method of Operation and Type Examples" by Gore and Peus that you recommended.
If I have indeed understood things, then I should be looking for a small diaphragm condensor or dynamic microphone for accuracy instead of coloration (that larger diaphragms give), and a fairly low self noise to catch intimate passages adequately. I also gather that I should be looking for an omni-directional or wide cardioid pattern. And, I should probably look for a pair (matched if possible) for stereo recording.
I'll stop here and ask a question: there was a list of possible microphones given a few pages back, and you gave some general comments on those (and I've made a note of that list). In my case, I don't have the luxury of having multiple microphones to play with looking for the sound I want, or a convienient way of purchasing on trial different mics to audition. Instead, I'll have to make the best informed decision I can, and hope that the mic pair I purchase is satisfactory. Could you give any suggestions for a specific mic? If you only had one shot at recording a grand (not in a concert hall, mind you), and could only choose one mic model and hope for the best, what mic would you choose?
Now, about placement. As I said the room is fairly small and dead (and could easily be made 'more dead' if that would indeed be helpful). From reading your wonderful advice, it would seem that an X/Y pair (or perhaps even near-coincident) a couple of feet to the side of a high-stick lid would be a good place to start with placement... if the room was nice. Mine is not. Perhaps bringing the mics closer (under the open lid) to record in their near-field would help to reduce the effects of room modes and odd wall reflections.
Which brings me to my second line of questions. I've heard several people speak of good results with wide spaced micing under the lid of a piano. Wouldn't that cause phasing problems? I'm not really interested in mono compatibility (since this will be primarily for friends and family), but I want to avoid as many complications as possible. Would an X/Y setup under the lid have trouble with a balanced frequency response, especially considering that some strings might be in the near-field while more distant ones would not? It would seem for that omnis might be better suited than cardioid...
I suppose the bottom line questions is: If you were attempting to record a grand in such a room, where would you start? I know that mic placement plays a role in mic choice as well, so that makes it that much more difficult for me. I think you understand what I'm after... the crucial part is choosing a mic pair that is workable, and I can play with placement
ad infinitum (but starting suggestions are nice).
Also, I'd like to add my thanks to that of many others over the past year and a half. I can't imagine how much time it would have taken me to assemble the collection of information contained in this one thread by scouring the web. For that, I am forever grateful.
