Suggestions for micing a piano in a church

[tenrange]

I have been asked to record a piano piece at our church. I am somewhat limited on mic choices and do not have extra money for a new purchase at this time.

Here is what I have to work with.

1-Studio Projects B1
1-Behringer C5
2-MSH-1

The piano is a very nice baby grand. What would be the best mics to try and what would be the most effective way to place them? I will only be able to record two channels simultaneously.

 

[dgatwood]

Given those choices, I'd say two MSH-1 mics, one above the high strings pointed somewhat away from the bass strings, one above the bass strings pointed somewhat away from the high strings.

Ideally, though, I'd try to find a pair of cardioid small diaphragm condensers from a few feet away, in an X/Y configuration.

BTW, what's a Behringer C5? If you meant a B5, it's a shame you don't have a second one, assuming it sounds reasonable. (I've never heard one.)

 

[tenrange]

BTW, what's a Behringer C5? If you meant a B5, it's a shame you don't have a second one, assuming it sounds reasonable. (I've never heard one.)

You are correct. It is a B5. Sorry about the typo.

 

[Innovations]

I would use the pair of MSH's. I would use them one of two ways:

1. Mounted in a XY or ORTF pair on a stand located at the curve of the piano body covering pretty much the whole range of the strings with the lid wide open.

2. Taped to the underside of the piano lid (thus acting as PZM's) and the lid only partially open. The position would be widely spaced along the hammers. This may require some EQ on the tracks since certain strings will be very close to one mic or the other. You would definitly want to give this a test first as the results would not be as 'natural' as the first positioning. it will however get you a recording that is JUST the piano with no room or crowd noise at all.

 

[Harvey Gerst]

I have been asked to record a piano piece at our church.

Will there be an audience?

 

[the_crowing]

Will there be an audience?

As always, Mr. Gerst asks the important question. People absorb sound quite well, actually I have a couple bodies thrown in a corner for a bass trap...

 

[RightOnMusic]

^coheed and cambria fan eh?

 

[cello_pudding]

when you say piece...are we talking schumann or are we talking churchy Emajor Asus2 mumbo jumbo?

 

[rory]

As always, Mr. Gerst asks the important question. People absorb sound quite well, actually I have a couple bodies thrown in a corner for a bass trap...

I would guess Harvey is thinking about moving the mics to the room instead of close micing the piano, not necessarily the effect human bodies have on sound.

If its a church that was built to be a church, it probably has some pretty good acoustics. If there was no audience, I'd stick those MSHs in the room. If there was an audience, I'd get there early and experiement.

Are you limited to just 2 channels? If so, I'd try the MSHs in the cabinet and underneath to see which sounds better. If not, I'd play around even more. Perhaps your cardiods on the inside and the MSHs way above or below the piano.

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Ok, I can see where my question might take on weird aspects as to why I asked, so lemme explain the reason for my question:

I'm trying to put myself in this person's shoes and determine how I would go about doing this recording, with their equipment. But I have certain priorities:

1. What the hell am I getting myself into?

2. What is the purpose of this recording?

3. How can I pull this off and make myself look good?

Those 3 factors are where the bulk of my question comes from.

So, let's look at each part:

1. What the hell am I getting myself into?
I need enough information to make some decisions about the recording. Is this gonna be a one-shot recording in front of a live audience, or will we just be using the church piano, so I'll have time to try various mic positions, and do several recordings if needed? Will we have several days to do the project, if we need them? Can I hear the pianist playing the piece on that piano, before we actually try to record it?

2. What is the purpose of this recording?
If it's for the artist's personal scrap book, it's less of a big deal. If it's for sale to church members and the artist's friends, it's a little bigger deal. How big is the congregation, and how many friends? If it's for distribution and they plan to make a 1,000 copies of this recording, that's a whole 'nother thing.

3. How can I pull this off and make myself look good?
As the stakes go up (depending on answers to 1 and 2), I want more control of the situation. If the artist wants live (with an audience), that's fine, but I want another recording with NO audience. I'll use the intro and applause from the live show and add it into a pristine performance I already have in the can. If the live show comes out "better", I'll use that.

I aready have a pristine non-live performance tucked away, and I'm now familiar with the venue's acoustics and the piano sounds.

Basically, the choices are simple:

If it's live with an audience, you have almost no control of anything. The best you can hope for is no coughers or screaming babies, and a decent, but not great, recording of the event.

For any other recording situation, you hafta take control, especially take control of any available time. If it's gonna be a serious recording, do it right, or don't do it at all.

 

[the_crowing]

I would guess Harvey is thinking about moving the mics to the room instead of close micing the piano, not necessarily the effect human bodies have on sound.

Close micing a piano in a church never crossed my mind. What I meant was that if it's a live performance with an audience, 'tenrange' would have to deal with the fact that a considerable amount of the high frequency content might be absorbed by the crowd's bodies, clothes, etc., along with the other difficulties Mr. Gerst has listed (coughing, sneezing, whatever).

 

[tenrange]

Thanks for the advice guys. A bit more on the situation. It is a song that one of the kids in our youth group wrote (a very talented guy). It will not be in a live situation so we can take some time to work on it. It is just for the song writers personal and family use so it does not have to be top notch but I would like it to be as good as I can make it with the equipment that I own. I am limited to two channels at a time because the interface that I have for my laptop only has two channels. This will be the first time for me micing a piano so I really had no idea where to start. Thanks again for all the thoughts.

 

[dgatwood]

Thanks for the advice guys. A bit more on the situation. It is a song that one of the kids in our youth group wrote (a very talented guy). It will not be in a live situation so we can take some time to work on it. It is just for the song writers personal and family use so it does not have to be top notch but I would like it to be as good as I can make it with the equipment that I own. I am limited to two channels at a time because the interface that I have for my laptop only has two channels. This will be the first time for me micing a piano so I really had no idea where to start. Thanks again for all the thoughts.

You might also mention where you are located. If anybody reading this happens to be in the same area, someone might be willing to let you use some other mics.