How to record Upright Piano (IDEAS, types of mics)

L

loulou

New member
Hi,
I have been recently uploading videos on youtube (covers, original compositions, etc) on a kawai upright piano and I am facing a problem with the audio quality. I am using my Smartphone (Lumia 1520)

I am not quite sure if this is the right place to post but I would really appreciate your help and advice on how to record upright piano?

Current video quality:
 
I *typically* (depending on how it's going to sit in the mix - in this case, if it's the ONLY thing in the mix) pop the lid and spaced-pair slightly overhead with a pair of SDC's and shove a heavy dynamic (7b, RE20, M88, although a 57 will do the trick if that's what's available) right up against the soundboard near the bottom center.

IF the space is really nice, you can get farther away. If not, stay close. The space can easily ruin an otherwise wonderful sounding instrument.
 
I do as Massive, except I lay two condensers in the middle like this /\ on the shelf and then take a reading on the input and adjust to get the levels close on each channel. Then when I mix, group low and high, pan to taste, improve the balance and treat as a single instrument with a single EQ. I also think that, if the room is nice, using a four mic set up (two close, two room) would really add a lot of depth to the recording. Real piano is such a nice instrument with a competent player (which I am not).

For me, this method takes the room out of the recording and seems to do pretty good. But, my piano playing is not the focus and is a background instrument, therefore I get away with a lot more imperfection. I suggest if you try some of these approaches, you may have to play with your mic setting/positions based on the results, just don't think it is a one and done. Work with it until you get it the way you want it to sound.

When mixing (because that is where it is important), some people like to pan hard left/right, I usually don't like that much spread. Try a few approaches, mix it see your results. Once you get the right setup, then you it will be easier in the future. Just be patient in the beginning. But do try a few runs, with mixing before you decide what is good or bad.
 
Pull the piano back from the wall about a foot and place two PZMs on the wall about 3' from the floor and 3' apart. Pan the mics hard left/right.
 
Start by getting the piano tuned. :)

The way I do my upright to get a more of a bigger, grand piano sound... is maybe not so common, but I've tried a lot of different mic approaches, and this is what worked out best for me.

I remove the entire wood front panel (down by my feet) that is covering the strings/soundboard...and I also completely remove the top lid.

I put a stereo spaced pair low, on either side of my feet...about 3-4 feet apart and about 12-16" away from the piano.
That's my basic L/R stereo piano sound.
Then I add a center mic above the top open lid about 12-24" up above the top of the piano.
I use that as my center "fill" mic.
When I mix, I have the L/R mics panned hard L/R, and the center mic is...well, centered.
So the piano fills out the entire sound stage, but in a very mellow 3d way...and not up in your face.

The blend of the stereo pair and the center fill mic gets me a really great grand piano sound, and it's the best sound I've ever gotten out of my Wurlitzer console upright.
 
Any mic, close enough to the wall, acts as a PZM. It might not be quite as convenient to place, but if you're sticking mics in between the piano and a very nearby wall, it might be best to put them right on the wall.
 
ashcat_lt said:
Any mic, close enough to the wall, acts as a PZM. It might not be quite as convenient to place, but if you're sticking mics in between the piano and a very nearby wall, it might be best to put them right on the wall.
Click to expand...

Basically true, but those big condensers in the SOS article aren't going to get close enough to the wall. Ideally you want a tiny condenser element to keep the functional dimensions of the mic less than half the size of the wavelengths to be captured. If the spacing were an inch it would put any sound arriving from a perpendicular angle 180° out of phase at about 5kHz. At half an inch the out of phase frequency moves to 10kHz. At 1/4" the 180° frequency moves to 20kHz, but frequencies a little below that are still affected. A 1/8" spacing moves all the phase problems up out of the audible frequency range.
 
I stick a single large diaphragm up over my left shoulder on a boom and it works fine for me. Then again I like my piano sounds anything but pristine, and yes - I've used cell phone tracks in a mix. They can work fine for rock n roll piano.
 
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