Sample of piano...

[kgirl72]

I don't understand. How close do you suggest? Where? I put the panel back on on the bottom and mic'd it probably about a foot away. One near the treble, one near the bass. should they be closer? Do I point them away from the bass and treble, so they're facing each other basically? I haven't tried the soundboard yet. I actually like these little mics. Frankly, I don't hear much difference between my first file and this one. My ears suck though.

 

[kgirl72]

I'm not sure what you mean. On this one, I placed the two mics about a foot from the strings, and more than 3 feet from each other. I faced them both inward. I put the panel back on on the bottom strings...I had it off for the first recording. I like these little mics. Should I be placing them further out, or closer in? There's so much to learn. I frankly can't tell much difference between this and the other.

ps. lots of noise in the beginning. I forgot to slide the track over, and I'm using Reaper, when I'm used to Sonar in my studio. That rig is much nicer than this one. I'm budgeting this stuff.

 

[XLR]

Can't listen right now but...

My experience is that very close mic'ing of acoustic instruments gets artificial sounding results. I usually prefer to mic from a few feet away.

Try the "finger in one ear method" of mic placement: Yeah, it's a real technique and it really works well. Have someone else play your piano while you walk around the room with one of your ears plugged, so you hear the sound like a mic does. Find the best sounding spot in the room. It might be a foot off the floor. It might be a foot from the ceiling. It might be 3 ft away from the piano, or 10 ft away. Take a long time to find the spot. A few inches difference in placement can make or break the sound quality.

Then put a mic exactly where your ear was, with the matching mic a foot or so away, equidistant from the source (classic spaced omni configuration).

 

[Vagodeoz]

Sounds great. A lot better than the last one.

One tip about mixing room tracks in general: Compress the hell out of it!! With almost no dynamics at all, almost pure sustain (which is the main porpuse of the room). You get the definition by close miking and the sustain from the room

 

[kgirl72]

Yeah, I have no compressor here, and don't know how to use reaper. Haha. I do want more volume. Compression is probably the key.

 

[XLR]

Yeah, I have no compressor here, and don't know how to use reaper. Haha. I do want more volume. Compression is probably the key.

IME the more compression or EQ that's done on an acoustic track, the more it starts sounding like an electronic instrument. If you need dynamics control to increase the file's average level, do some peak limiting, not compression that affects the overall sound. Peak limiting can be very unobtrusive, yet allow you to raise the average level by a lot. I like Voxengo's Elephant limiter, and also the Waves L2 for that, but the Event Horizon limiter that comes in Reaper is very good (though it adds some color of its own). Or if the peaks are few and far between, use Reaper's volume envelopes.

 

[kgirl72]

Hmmm, I am absorbing all of this! I tried the soundboard again, and it gave me more volume (no compression) but does it sound better? I know I need to screw around with placement. I have no one to play for me to do this mic thing!

Try this on.

 

[XLR]

I know I need to screw around with placement. I have no one to play for me to do this mic thing!

You can still do a similar testing for mic position. Set up the mic's as a spaced pair anywhere in the room, at least a few feet away from the piano. Record a short bit on the piano after verbally describing the mics' position in the room. Press stop. Move the mic's a foot over and repeat. Do a whole bunch of positions, describing each one, then listen back. Try every place in the room, high and low. It takes a lot of time but you may end up discovering the sweet spot and get a great sound. The better the room acoustics, the more sweet spots there are, IME.

And you can vary the sound possibilities even more by moving the instrument.

 

[kgirl72]

Well the room has an all wood floor, and I think that's good...I pulled the piano out and angled it. (My living room looks like shit, lol) I'll try your method. I want a good clean sound.