piano plinking

[Erland]

Hi, I found a piano at Uni. I want to try and record something on it. What is the best method for picking up a good sound. In side out, on top under etc etc.

perhaps this should go under mic placment in the mic section. I don`t have a stand and am using a shure 606. Shall I use the compression effect also like I do with the guitar.

anyhoo, cheers

Erland

 

[littledog]

Um...

Are we allowed to ask for a couple more hints?

Like what kind of piano? (size and shape would be useful). What is a Uni? What kind of room is it in? What style of music are you recording? Any other instruments or vocals?

Also, can you tell me what a Shure 606 is?

Can I buy a vowel?

 

[mixmkr]

erland...I'm guessing you have access to an upright piano at school. What you want to do is mic the backside of the piano, and be maybe a meter away. One mic will make it hard to capture all the notes(two being best), and keep your levels low as a piano will send out some serious spikes, that your equipment (meters) won't be fast enough to catch and you can easily overload your equipment(preamps, recording medium...you get the idea).

no stand, eh?? set the mic, hanging off the edge of a chair, pointed towards the backside then (soundboard)...or whatever


If you've found a grand piano....open the lid and place the mic above the hammers.

with both setups, you're gonna have to experiment to see if your mic is equally picking up your low notes and the high ones....since you're using just the one mic. For your stuff, your mic ought to be ok too, for starters.

use less compression for more realism.....would be my motto.

 

[Erland]

Well erm yes. Man glad i posted it here and not in the expert mic section.

Uni is University. Auditorium with big reverb and noisy ventilaion. Its not a grand piano just an upright asian model I think. the top opens up, its on wheels....I want to record "let it be" Paul Mcartney, that helps with the genre. I will record other bits later. Shure 606 is a dyanmic mic.

Ah Mixmkr, thats the spirit. Thanks alot, I`ll try exactly that. Your a star!

Erland

 

[Aren]

Erland -

Here's an outrageous offer, that might get me flamed for the rest of my life (glad we're not in the mic forum ). You had great results with your 606, and it is dirt cheap (a friend of mine just got one after I promised him that I know someone who has had amazing results with it). Why don't you get anotherone of those, and a couple of mic stands. Then you can experiment with stereo recordings of your guitar (lots and lots of fun), and you could mic that piano, all for the price of less then one really good condenser.

BTW - I'm leaving for my Jewish-American summer camp job this Saturday, so I guess our joint effort would have to wait.
I'll have E-mail access there, but based on last year, I doubt that I'll have the time...

Oren