Which Naiant mic/how to record upright piano?

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mellotron

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I'm looking for a low budget solution to mic a Yamaha upright piano. I already have one SM57 and one AT4047....Could I somehow lift the lid, mic the inside with the dynamic, then mic behind the lower back of the piano with the AT4047? If I get two matched pair Naiants, I'd probably use ORTF. I'm also considering just miking the piano in mono, given the complexity of the piano's sonics will create too much of a piano with phase cancellations? Will it sound too 1-dimensional recorded in mono? That's the fear I have with recording guitar in mono too.

Or would I not run into that problem as long as I use no more than 2 mics?

Any other suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.
 
I'd say how you record piano will be determined by how you want it to fit in a mix. If it's a super dense, busy mix, I'd say just go mono with it. If its a sparse mix, maybe piano, drums, bass, vocals, I'd go stereo. From there you can determine what mic setup to use. Do you want a big roomy sound? Put up a spaced pair of room mics. Do you want a more direct sound? Get your mics in under the lid and figure out where it sounds best.

There are many, many ways to mic a piano. All of which sound great, none of which are exclusively the "right" way to go.
 
mono or stereo really depends on the track and situation. i like mono piano when the track calls for it (hard to explain) and when the room is not too hot sounding and/or i just need something to poke thru.

in extreme situations when both the room and the piano are bad (often lately - everyone seems to be picking up junk pianos and asking me to record them) i wrap a mic in a towel and stick it in the piano and close the lid.

Stereo would work out fine as long as you use a coincident pattern. Phase has not much to do with it in that mono case. I LIKE mono's ability to sound three dimensional.

Are Naiants those 5 buck mics like the Karmas? I used a Karma directional mic for an upright piano and miced the soundboard. It sounded ok though we were going for a more unusual funky sound.

I think the 4047 would rule in the right room with the right piano. Great mic. The 57 in a towel in the piano would rule in the wrong room with the wrong piano. :D

Laters...

Mike
 
I think a pair of naiants would be great (also for guitar) you can deal with phase once set up - do a test recording (as you would) and suss it for phase issues - use the phase button on one of the preamps & it's, in a useful if not complex & complete way, dealt with.
Placement of the mics will REALLY depend on the room.
 
Okay, thanks. Yeah, I'd say the piano's just average. It's a 20 year old Yamaha.

Would it help the sound if I made it so that the piano isn't parallel with any walls. I'm not sure if my room classifies as a good sounding room. It's around 9 x 13 x 13 and rectangle, with a 6x4 rug in the middle. The doorway's pretty wide and leads into a foyer with maybe an 18 ft. ceiling. Are larger rooms generally better?

Oh well, not much I can do about the room it's in. I'll just try both methods you mentioned and see which sounds better.
 
Dax Productions said:
I'd say how you record piano will be determined by how you want it to fit in a mix. If it's a super dense, busy mix, I'd say just go mono with it. If its a sparse mix, maybe piano, drums, bass, vocals, I'd go stereo. From there you can determine what mic setup to use. Do you want a big roomy sound? Put up a spaced pair of room mics. Do you want a more direct sound? Get your mics in under the lid and figure out where it sounds best.

There are many, many ways to mic a piano. All of which sound great, none of which are exclusively the "right" way to go.
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great answer. that actually helped me as well
 
No prob!

Another tip I've used for piano (along with many other instruments, but especially piano) is to just walk around the room and find out where the piano sounds best to you. Start off micing here. You might end up right on top of the piano, or across the room. This will ultimately help you figure out whether you like your room or not! (further away = good room, closer = not so good room)
 
Dax Prod has hit in on the head; you need to decide what kind of sound is needed. Do you need a modern, bright, compressed sound like a Coldplay piano? Or is it going to be for flassical recording?
 
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