Piano Home Recording beginners help

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robg_88

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Evening all!

I am very new to all this recording malarkey so bear with! I have only been researching online about home recording over the last couple of days so my knowledge is pretty limited on this topic.

In a nut shell I'm after setting up a pair of mic's (I've heard condenser mics are the best for this application), and recording my live acoustic piano playing onto my windows laptop where I am able to edit using audio software.

My laptop is a pretty bog standard spec (Dell Inspiron, Windows 8, 4GB RAM, Intel Core i5-3210M CPU @ 2.50 GHz) with the standard on-board audio.

My understanding is that I will have to buy an audio mixer and possibly even a pre-amp? (no idea what that is!) I understand that condenser mics need 'phantom power' to function correctly and this is achieved using the pre-amp - is it possible to get a pre-amp/mixer combo and kill 2 birds?

Do I need to buy a better sound-card to the one that is already in my laptop or is a sound-card integrated in the mixer? What different does a dedicated sound card make? It is crucial as in i wont get ANY sound? or will the sound quality be lacking?

I am not looking at spending big bucks, just something a bit better quality than just video camera. My budget is hopefully not much higher than £200 all in. Obviously I'm after some decent sound quality but nothing too overboard.

I know microphone configuration around my piano is obviously important but at this stage I'm more interested in trying to get my head around a mic/mixer/laptop setup - any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated as I'm getting a headache with all this technical jargon and really can't wait to buy some gear!

Sorry for asking the most dumbest of questions...thanks in advance!!

Rob
 
thanks for the info mjb. had a good read and most of it makes sense!

However, was wondering, with the audio interface is it possible to control EQ etc for each channel? or is that more of a mixer? I'm after a device where I can control the 2 mic channels independantly (change treble,mid bass, gain, volume etc.) before sending the signal out to the laptop.

If i were to use an interface setup alone, would i need to buy a better sound card? Or would my laptop on-board audio suffice?

Rob
 
robg_88 said:
thanks for the info mjb. had a good read and most of it makes sense!

However, was wondering, with the audio interface is it possible to control EQ etc for each channel? or is that more of a mixer? I'm after a device where I can control the 2 mic channels independantly (change treble,mid bass, gain, volume etc.) before sending the signal out to the laptop.

If i were to use an interface setup alone, would i need to buy a better sound card? Or would my laptop on-board audio suffice?

Rob
Click to expand...

That is not how it's done Rob!
At least not by most folks these days. The piano is challenge for anyone to record well but let's concentrate on the hard and software for now? You must get an Audio Interface.

Now these are legion and my just telling you that makes more trouble for you! But I am going to make it very easy, buy a Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 interface. Just under £200. Trust me, overall you will not get better for that money or even a bit above.

You then record the piano "flat and dry". That means you do not apply any effects whatsoever to the sound. The Ka6 comes with some software called Cubase (le5). Now, once you have your recording in the PC you will find all sorts of effects and processes in Cubase that will allow you to change the tone "EQ", compress, and add reverberation. All done in the digital realm and the quality of software FX is vastly better than those on a cheap mixer, the verb for instance probably could not be done in hardware as well under £1000 a pop!

Condenser mics, yes. I would suggest a pair of Small Diaphragm Capacitor (same thing) mics.
JUST a suggestion, there are plenty more excellent samples..The AKG Perception 170. Then you need a mic stand or two and two XLR to XLR mic cables. Have a really good look around for mics, stands and cables, many package deals where for almost just the cost of two mics you get stands and cables.

Err, how big is the pee-ahhno room?

Dave.
 
Nice one Dave, cheers for the post.

Ok, sounds like I need to ditch the whole mixer idea and stick with the audio interface! I just assumed that you 'tweaked' the piano before the recording with all the fancy knobs and sliders. How much would you spend on mics in total? more or less than the interface? which factor (mic or interface) determines the quality of sound (if you had to pick one?) obviously in the ideal world you'd go expensive all round..

Sooo.. what exactly am I looking for in this interface card i need....

1. 2 input XLR mic cables
2. make sure it has phantom power to power the mics
3. usb connectivity
4.if the audio software will be compatible with windows 8?
5. what output am i looking for?? anything else important that i've missed?

my peee-anyo is sitting in my lounge. not terribly big room (15m x 5m approx.) but acoustics sound OK with sofas,carpet,curtains, furniture etc.
 
robg_88 said:
Nice one Dave, cheers for the post.

Ok, sounds like I need to ditch the whole mixer idea and stick with the audio interface! I just assumed that you 'tweaked' the piano before the recording with all the fancy knobs and sliders. How much would you spend on mics in total? more or less than the interface? which factor (mic or interface) determines the quality of sound (if you had to pick one?) obviously in the ideal world you'd go expensive all round..

Sooo.. what exactly am I looking for in this interface card i need....

1. 2 input XLR mic cables
2. make sure it has phantom power to power the mics
3. usb connectivity
4.if the audio software will be compatible with windows 8?
5. what output am i looking for?? anything else important that i've missed?

my peee-anyo is sitting in my lounge. not terribly big room (15m x 5m approx.) but acoustics sound OK with sofas,carpet,curtains, furniture etc.
Click to expand...

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS

Now ^ you know what you are looking for!

I see it now comes with Cubase LE6 and I cannot see that being any problem with Windows 8. I certainly have not read any of the horror stories that went about when Vista hit the streets and NI are Top Men when it comes to software and drivers, second only perhaps to the lofty RME.

You have missed mic stands* off the list. Do not need to be anything grand, you want boom stands but for "domestic" use $20-30 US apiece will be fine.
Money is NEVER wasted going for the best mics you can afford. Cost ratio to interface? It would be very hard for anyone, save perhaps a professional recording engineer, to tell a $150 and a $1500 interface apart (if then!) Mics do improve as price goes up more linearly but there are many very good $100 capacitor mics about now.

*But this ties in with recording technique. There are two basic aproaches. Two mics quite close to cover the piano (being such a big instrument you cannot get in close and cover the whole string range) or a pair mounted in what is known as "X-Y stereo" which will be futher back in the room...WHICH I might add IS a big one! I think 1/2 my bungalow would fit in a 45'x15' footprint! (there is another technique called "MS" but leave us K.I.S.S. for now?)

Then you will need some means of hearing your creations. Headphones will be fine for a quick check but any meaningful listening needs to be done on speakers, proper monitors for preference but I dare say you have a decent hi fi setup? That will serve to start with. In any event you should be very wary of which monitors to get. Pianos are capable of a tremendous dynamic range, few monitors or domestic audio systems can reproduce the full level cleanly. Monitors truly capable of quality piano sound are going to be expensive.

I dare say some of the pros here will come by with recording advice but have a look at Sound On Sound | Recording Techniques | Audio Technology | Music Production | Computer Music | Video Media for articles on recording just about anything.

Dave.
 
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