micing a grand piano

[slidey]

I should post this in the keys forum but this one gets more attention

I have a baby grand & there's a good chance I'll have to mic it live........there will be no other instruments except the player's voice for 90% of the time

I'll also be recording the show live & having never mic'd up a piano before I could do with some help

I have a pair of AKG C1000 SDCs, behringer C-2 matched SDCs, 2xSE2200a LDCs & can get access to a pair of neuman TLM103 LDCs (the player always uses an EV N-dyme for vocals so that's written in stone)

I'm leaning towards the C1000s for focus in a tight X setup but I don't have clue where to put the mics (there's a lot of space even on a baby grand) & I don't have the time to experiment a great deal so any advice & tips would be greatly appreciated


Thanx
Slidey

 

[Kore]

Warning: the following is not based on personal experience, but a conversation I had with a sound engineer last week.

If you're resording it, then you will want (as much as possible) to have the higher keys more in one channel and the lower ones in the other. One way to achieve this is to do a sort of straighter X/Y setup, with two mics on the OPPOSITE side of the piano as the player(not above the strings, but just outside the edge of the piano), pointing down down the strings, but to opposite corners of the piano (one towards highest keys' corner, the other the lowest). I've also heard of doing this with the mics parallel pointing straight down the strings, but spaced apart. THis will still get you somewhat of a stereo spread.

Another option is to throw a mic under the piano. This allows the wood of the bottom platre to (hopefully) evenly distribute the sound.

The problem with micing a piano is that you can't be too close to the strings, or else the closest strings will be noticably louder, and you want a fairly even distribution. Pointing along the strings at a bit of a distance apparently helps with this.

However, in this situation, with a singer, you might get bleed in from the vocals. Just something to be aware of.

 

[Big Kenny]

You like the way it sounds when you play? put the TLM right next to your head or a foot behind

 

[slidey]

sweet

If I point the TLM where BK suggests, it's pointing away from my PA rig so feedback shouldn't be a problem & I'm not looking to burst any ear drums so that could be good

Only problem is I've got to compromise with the number of feeds I have into the studio from my live room once everything else is in the picture & I would like the piano as seperate as possible from the voice which will be there so I'm thinking about the 2 C1000s & the N-dyme for vocal. But having said that the TLM underneath sounds good as well....................

I have to get the best live sound 1st & foremost & that's being fed to pro-tools via channel outs from an LX7 (not ideal but it's all I've got)

The upshot is the player might decide to use the RD600 stage piano in which case I won't need to bother other than 2 DIs & a voice, but I now have a much better idea of how to go about it

For straight solo piano I like the sound of a LDC by the head, I'm all for the natural sound

Thanks guys
Slidey