Piano Miking

Venesectrix

Venesectrix

New member
Okay, here's the skinny.

Yamaha upright piano.
Mic selection: MXL990, Shure Beta 87a, Audix OM-2, SM-57.
And I'm using an Mbox 2 so I can only use two mics at once..

So given my mic selection, what might some of you guys try?


Thanks!
 
I haven't tried anything yet because the piano is downstairs so I have to move all of my recording equipment down there. (also I don't have a laptop) And I don't want to keep my setup down there for too long.

One idea I want to try is placing the 990 a few feet from the front of the piano to get more of a room sound. The room is carpeted, so I'm guessing it will probably have a bit of a dryer sound.
 
First, don't even bother recording unless/until you have the piano freshly tuned. Seriously.

Second, pull out one side of the piano from the wall so that the angle between the wall and the back of the piano is about 15-20 degrees. This will help keep down standing wave buildup between the piano and the wall which can definitely muddy the recorded sound.

Third, remove the kickboard below the keyboard. This is no big deal, it is made to be purposely removable for the sake of maintenance and tuning access. It comes off and goes back on with ease.

Fourth, now expiriment with mic selection in either an ORTF-like near coincident or a wide stereo pairing with one mic intended for the lower 44 keys and the other for the upper 44 keys. Keep the mics close to the strings, only a couple of inches off of them. Move the mics closer to the hammers for a sharper and more honky tonk/western saloon sound, farther from the hammers for a mellower sound. Adjust for maximum balance between string sound and foot pedal noise.

If you're doing a more distant miking instead, walk around the piano while someone else is playing it (or at least banging the keys), somehwere in a radius of about 3-5 feet from the piano body. Duck and weave your head a bit as you move around, and find the one spot in that radius area where the piano soulds the best to you. Stick mic #1 there (expiriment with which one gives you the best sound you want). Possibly you might get a room mic grabbing stuff off the walls near the back wall if you have a good sounding room, and use that to add some natural verb to the front mic, but unless you have cathedral ceilings or something like that, I wouldn't count of that too much.

HTH,

G.
 
Wow, your awesome man :)

I'll definately try that. The piano is close to the corner of the room so I'm a little bit worried about muddy bass build up.
I would like more of a mellow sound. Which is how the piano sounds already.

The top is hinged too so should I open that as well?


Man, I wish pianos weren't so heavy. They need to make them out of bossel wood and titanium or something :P
 
I Know you dont have one but a PZM sounds really good if you just stick it to the inside of the hood (bluetack should do it nicely)

edit: dont know if it will work on an upright piano.
 
Venesectrix said:
The top is hinged too so should I open that as well?
Click to expand...
That's a judgement call depending upon the character of the piano itself and of the room that it's in (not to mention the available mics.)

I've miked an upright once by hanging a mic over the top of the open hood on each side of the paino, but that (IME, anyway, YMMV) doesn't work as well as often as the direct miking of the strings underneath or finding that near-field sweet spot as I described in the previous post. If you go with the nearfield/room mic setup, all I can say is try it with the lid open and the lid closed and just see which works best for your situation. It only takes a practice run of a couple of bars each way to see which one records better.

Some even mic the piano from the rear, getting the sound off of the back of the soundboard. And yes, what fishkarma suggests with a piezo boundary mic is a failry common technique in baby grands and grands, especially in high-leakage situations. I have never tried it in an upright, so I can't vouch for that there one way or the other.

G.
 
Thanks you guys for the info. Now I've got some kind of idea where to start.

I only have two condensers(beta87 & MXL990) so I'll try using them as a pair.
 
Got my best recording of an upright piano with a pair of small condensers in ORTF aimed at the back of the piano (and only about 2 feet above the floor), about 12 inches away. I pulled the piano away from the wall and slipped a large futon matress behind the mics. The futon was the life saver.
 
i have 2 991's, a 990, and a 57...and an upright piano.


i've tried a lot of things and didn't like the results..further back xy, spread stereo, 2 mics on each side and mix and match...

the best for me was taking off the bottom and top panels of the piano, sticking the 57 on the left side pointing at the bass strings from the bottom side, and taking the 990 and positioning it on the top right side and pointing at the treble strings. each mic was about a foot away from the strings. i think i used a 991 to get the room.

the 57 captured the bass a lot crisper than any of the condensers. no matter how i eq'd the condensers, it always had a fake bass sound.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top