Need some advice on using EQ on Yamaha P200

[LarryF]

Hi, I've recently been recording piano solos on a Yamaha P200 digital stage piano. The piano sounds rich and smooth on its own MIDI playback, but when I record the audio into digital performer 3.11, it sounds somewhat more boomy / boxy / twangy. After some experimentation, I found that if, in Waves Ren EQ, I cut 4.5 db at 440 hz with a Q of about 1.5, it sounds much better - most of the twang is gone and the depth is still pretty much there. But it bothers me to have to use that much EQ on a prepackaged well-designed sound that Yamaha obviously felt was properly EQ'd when they loaded it into the keyboard, and I wonder why the audio recordings sound worse than the MIDI instrument playback itself in the first place. I'm relatively new to recording, so if anyine has any insight/advice, I would really appreciate it. Is a 4.5 db cut excessive and indicative that something else is wrong, or is that a normal amount of tweaking to get a rompler sample to sound "right"? Thanks.

Larry

 

[Tonio]

You are running directly into the 828 right? analog or ?

You could run it through a mixer(if you have one) first, to hear what's its doing against the mix(other instruments). Printing midi tracks to audio seems pretty streamline, but you have to capture the midi in a way that it will fit in the mix as much as possible.

I don't know how your P200 sounds in general, or the patch you're using, and could be the problem.

I once tried to print a midi piano patch to audio that sounded good. Once rendered to audio, and started mixing-it just didn't work it was peaking around 800hz and too jangly fighting against guitar and other instruments. So I re-recorded the patch with a little cut at 800 hz, did the trick.

Just one scenario

Some synths just excentuate certian frequencies, especially the low end. Some are jaggly or too harsh.

IMO it could depend on if its a main part in the music or side instrument, and can alter your eq'ing needs. 4db of eq on a synth
shouldn't be too drastic.

JMO

T

 

[TexRoadkill]

But it bothers me to have to use that much EQ on a prepackaged well-designed sound that Yamaha obviously felt was properly EQ'd when they loaded it into the keyboard, and I wonder why the audio recordings sound worse than the MIDI instrument playback itself in the first place. I'm relatively new to recording, so if anyine has any insight/advice, I would really appreciate it. Is a 4.5 db cut excessive and indicative that something else is wrong, or is that a normal amount of tweaking to get a rompler sample to sound "right"? Thanks.

Larry

It's good that you have a healthy distrust of EQ because it is the most overly abused tool by newbies. You have to remember that the piano sample was made to sound great by itself. They don't know what type of arrangement you will be using it in. No instrument track lives outside of the mix so whatever you have to do to make it work with other tracks is the right decision. Don't worry about how the solo track sounds. Only worry about how it sounds when mixed with the other tracks.

4.5db is not that excessive. You might try doing a bass roll of instead of just that parametric cut. A roll off lets you pick the start frequency and then it gradually reduces all the frequencies above or below. It's very common for mixes to get crowded in around 800hz and below so a few bass cuts on your non bass tracks are pretty normal.

The piano is a full range instrument and a frequency hog. To use it in a mix can take a lot of EQ carving to make it work right with other instruments. Usually the best pop/rock piano sounds are somewhat tinny or mid rangy sounding by themselves but they cut through a mix nicely.

EDIT-
I Just realized you are talking about the solo recording sounding different. (doh!)

How are you recording it?