there are many ways to mic a piano, and you may as well start experimenting to find the best setup for your piano and room environment. i have seen good results from several setups for an upright. i recommend tracking pianos in stereo, and the last version i saw used at a studio in portland had the mics placed in an XY config just above the players head to simulate just what the player hears. others open the top and mic just above, or just inside, the opening. i have also seen uprights mic'ed from the rear with both XY and separated pair. in a live room, if it is quiet enough, you can try a blumlein array (if you dont know what that is, do a bit of reading about stereo mic techniques). also, search the archives (this topic has been discussed many times before), and do an internet search - there are lots of resources out there on this subject. as usual, mic selection is critical to obtaining good results. if you dont own good mics, there is usually a local sound reinforcement business or studio that will rent you some good mics when you are ready to do some serious tracking. start with a pair of small diaphragm condensers, or even a mix of one good condenser and a dynamic, like a sennheiser 421, and blend them. depending on the music style you may or maynot want to use some compression. the piano is a very dynamic instrument. in a group, you will need to do some compression, but as a solo instrument, use little or no compression to retain the original performance dynamics as best you can. maybe limit just the peaks a bit (high threshold, high ratio). good luck.
