Recording An Electric Piano Directly
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Posted on Oct 14, 2004 11:34 pm
Locked ON AuDio
Member Since: Oct 14, 2004
I'm looking to record a few compositions I've written all of which are 100% piano. I've done some recording without using mics and some experimenting (I'm new to the whole biz) and all my recordings are coming out muddy, distorted at times, and have way to much bass for the songs that are being recorded. Any suggestions?
-Bryce
P.S. I'm using Logic Platinum 6.0 with M-Audio's Audio Buddy, the orrigional soundcard that came with my Tower G4 (Dual processor model) and a Yamah P-200.
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Oct 15, 2004 12:25 am Are you hooking directly from the keyboard through the audio buddy and then directly into the computer?
Of are you running through a mixer first?
It sounds like you are recording the tracks to hot and they are clipping. Make sure your meters in logic are set to moniter input, and then dont let them even touch the red at all.
Also, one point of interest. The audio input that is built stock on any mother board will not handle line level inputs very well at all. And the audio will probably not be very high quality.
The other thing to check is that you are recording into the line in and not the mic in.
Just a couple places to start.
And welcome to HRC.
Noize
Oct 15, 2004 08:50 am One other option,
Depending on your recording software, if they support soft synths, then you might just try recording in MIDI data and using a soft synth like Mr. Ray's EP for your EP sounds.
-Scott
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Oct 15, 2004 11:34 am Ya, gotta agree with Noise. First things first. Get a commercial sound card. Look in the gear bag for recomendations. The consumer grade sound card provided with the PC will never achieve excelent results especially as you move into lower frequencies.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Oct 16, 2004 12:02 am Thanx Walt, I did miss kinda the point of where I was going. The piano covers a huge frequancy spectrum and honestly most consumer grade sound chips just cant cope with the range. And especially as Walt stated in the lower frequancy range. That is probly were the mud is coming from in the mix.
Oct 16, 2004 01:47 am Thanks everyone, this is been a great help! I now have some direction as to what to do to improve my recordings. Thanks!
MurphyAn outburst for perfectionMember
Since: Dec 11, 2002
Oct 16, 2004 10:14 am My experiences…
Anything recorded direct on cheap sound devices isn’t good.
I used my SoundBlaster Platinum for a few years and realised that, anything direct just doesn’t work well.
I used to spend hours on EQ just to try and get the instruments out the way of each other, and that was just on two guitar tracks!!
Using a mic was fine though, must be something to do with line-level, mic-input or whatever... but the results were way better, left plenty of room, no clips, and sweet sounding.
I also found using a plug-in compressor had very little effect when recording direct; it was only when I used to mic it made a huge difference.
It did work direct, but it was painful, spending hours on mixing, EQ, when everything fitted just fine via a mic.
Maybe my problems were different in some way, who knows? but I’d thought I’d share it anyway.
I’d like to add…
Everything sounded like it was recorded hot, even at -4dB
The wav files didn’t look good, more like Rectangular blocks than spikes, and you could see the frequency range it was taking up was HUGE.
You also may find (like I did) When you use more than a few plug-ins at a time, when playing the wav files back, they’ll just start clipping anyway, even if they didn’t during the recording of it.
A performance thing I think?
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Oct 16, 2004 12:44 pm A commercial sound card is "calibrated" to accept and process the full signal of an instrument. The sound card provided for consumer use is calibrated to accept a "mixed down" or processed signal. There is a huge difference between inputing the signal of a cd player into a sound card and inputing the raw signal of a bass or keyboard. It has not only to do with the amplitude of the signal but the density of that signal as well. A microphone will also provide a "buffer" for this effect as well, as it develops a less demanding signal than that of the output of an instrument.
I am sure these physical constraints could be better described by someone in more technical terms, but it is a lot like driving headphones with an instrument amplifier; massive fuzz.
Oct 16, 2004 08:46 pm Well since the idea of micing has been brought up does anyone have any suggestions on how I would mic an electric piano with sterio speakers or if this would even work as a subsitute for a good sound card?
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Oct 17, 2004 06:11 pm I have seen it done, and it depends on what you are going to mix it with. If it is going in a piece with rock type guitars, it will probly work allright, but I would suggest keeping it deep in the mix. With the right reverb added and a little judicious EQ you could get it to sit fairly well in the mix.
But that said, no, it wouldnt really rplace getting a decent sound card at all. The converters on the consumer grade cards are just not up to the task of really capturing the sounds you are looking for.
