Mic for Recording Upright Piano

[cielvert]

Hello everyone,

This seems like an informative, helpful forum. Glad to be here.

I am looking to purchase a microphone to record myself playing the piano. Currently, I use a mic for talking on the computer so the sound quality is mediocre.

The purpose of the microphone would be to record what I play as I practise so that I can listen to myself playing afterwards. Since I play classical music, I would need this microphone to be able to record nuances and rapid changes in volume. I play an acoustic upright piano so my sound source would be from the top (when the piano lid is open) and from the back of the piano. My piano is in my living room, surrounded by the typical four walls.

Since I am a neophytic on microphones, could someone please recommend a microphone for my uses? My budget is up to $100.

If you need more information, please let me know.

Thank you very much!

James

 

[hairylarry]

Radio Shack

Hi,

In your price range I'm going to recommend some Radio Shack options. These are used but appear regularly on ebay.

Recording piano for video I used an EV 635a about 6 feet behind the piano. This sounded good. The EV 635a is the same mic as the EV RE50. The Realistic 1070 b ( or c or d) is an RE50 clone made by Shure with an extended frequency range.

A good pair of these mics can be had under $50 used. Don't let the price or brand fool you. These are very good mics and will pick up the detail and nuance you are looking for.

Using omnis like this for stereo I prefer the spaced pair. Just make sure that your mics are as far apart as they are distant from the piano. If they are three feet from the piano they should be at least three feet apart. If they are 6 feet from the piano they should be at least 6 feet apart. If they are closer together you will end up with a mono recording. Experiment with distance and mic placing.

Realistic also sold a PZM mic, 33-1090, based on a design they licensed from Crown. These are also recommended for upright piano. They run a little over $50 used. Try hanging one of these on the wall behind the piano.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

 

[leddy]

http://www.naiant.com/studiostore/microphones.html

He no longer makes the MSH1 that I have (I have 4 of them). They are decent little mics. A pair will be less than $100 for sure.

 

[cielvert]

Thank you very much, hairylarry and leddy, for your replies.

@hairylarry: JW, if I wanted to purchase new microphones for the aforementioned mics, how much would they cost?

In general, would I be able to find these items with ease in a Circuit City/Radioshack store? I am looking on their website with no search results.

 

[rmaier]

+1 on the Naiants. A pair of the XQs will give you an honest, detailed image. I use them for classical guitar and vihuela (spanish renaissance lute).

 

[ofajen]

Using omnis like this for stereo I prefer the spaced pair. Just make sure that your mics are as far apart as they are distant from the piano. If they are three feet from the piano they should be at least three feet apart. If they are 6 feet from the piano they should be at least 6 feet apart. If they are closer together you will end up with a mono recording. Experiment with distance and mic placing.

All the mike recommendations are excellent. In part it might matter what preamp you have, since the dynamic omnis need no phantom power, while the Naiants do.

Just a minor point, here, but omni mikes do not need to be spaced as far apart as the distance to the source to create stereo. That is wide enough to possibly create the "hole in the middle" effec that can occur with spaced omnis.

Any spacing will create some locational cues based upon the arrival time differences of the same sound event at the two different mikes. Even a separation of one foot will create a 1 msec difference and 2 msec is enough interchannel difference to move the apparent location of a sound fully to one speaker or the other.

The general "rule" for spaced omnis is that the spacing should be about 1/3 to 1/2 of the width of the source, and the source to mike distance helps you determine the ratio of direct to reflected sound: closer sounds more direct, distant sounds more "ambient".

Then there is the OSS where the mikes are 16.5 cm apart, centered on either side of a 12" disk.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[kbenton]

If you get a chance- post a link to what you end up recording with. I'd like to start recording my own piano as well.