Recording grand piano in small room

[mitchnutt216]

Hello everyone! I want to mic a Yamaha C3 grand (6'1), but am wondering if the investment is worth it (given my current living situation). Simply put, I have no studio space -- no padded walls, wooden floor, or room to move the piano away from the corner. Also, my room is 19x19' with a 12-13' ceiling, and the floor is completely carpeted. Would this be sonic suicide? If not, what viable options would you suggest?

Thanks!
Mitch

 

[moresound]

Hey Mitch welcome to the forums.
How do you plan on recording your Yamaha?
Close micing may have no relevance to the room that you are in.

 

[gecko zzed]

Firstly, how does the piano sound in that room? If the piano sounds good, then you need not worry too much what's in the room.

Open the lid, park a couple of SDCs maybe 2 meteres away and go for it.

 

[moresound]

Or you could do closed lid micing and not be bothered at all!

 

[John Willett]

Hello everyone! I want to mic a Yamaha C3 grand (6'1), but am wondering if the investment is worth it (given my current living situation). Simply put, I have no studio space -- no padded walls, wooden floor, or room to move the piano away from the corner. Also, my room is 19x19' with a 12-13' ceiling, and the floor is completely carpeted. Would this be sonic suicide? If not, what viable options would you suggest?

Thanks!
Mitch

The only answer to this is your ears I'm afraid.

I once had to record a double CD of all of Chopin's Nocturnes on a Steinway Concert Grand in the front room of someone's house.

The mic. position was a matter of listening and experimenting to find the best place - which ended up being very different from what I would normally use - but it was the best compromise for that piano in that room.

I still ended up using a 20cm spaced pair of Sennheiser MKH 20 omnis at about 2-metres from the piano, but they were behind and to the right of the pianist instead of more in front of the iano.

It's on Cirrus Digital Classics if you want to listen, it's still available, look HERE.

 

[Ronan]

Also, my room is 19x19' with a 12-13' ceiling, and the floor is completely carpeted. Would this be sonic suicide?

Not a perfect shape, but its actually a pretty good sized room. I would not be too worried about it, especially as the other guys have stated you bring the mics in a little closer.