Piano miking
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Posted on Feb 21, 2006 02:18 pm
solipsism
Member Since: Nov 28, 2004
Does anyone have some good advice about miking a piano? Like what kind of microphones and how to place them. I guess it would bee idealistic to get it stereo.
Some basic info to get started would be helpful.
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zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
Feb 21, 2006 03:35 pm Last fall I recorded an upright piano with one mic an Sennheiser ME66K6... but Sennheiser makes a regular small diaphram condenser for a bit less that should be essentially the same. I also used a Rode NT1 but large diaphram condensers are slower to respond than small diaphram condensers...
...oh and the mic was about three feet away
Jason H.Jack of all trades master of ___Member
Since: May 28, 2004
Feb 21, 2006 04:02 pm Last summer I recordeded a piano session. The piano was upright. I opened the lid and ran two dynamic mics about 6" above the opening with the mics at a 45 deg angle. I spaced them out so that the diaphrams sectioned off the opening in thirds...
It turned out pretty good.
It all depends on the musician...and the room. I guess I would suggest taking the time to experiment if you can since theres no sure way of placing mics.
I have also read somewhere on upright pianos that micing the backside of the piano is a good technique too...However in my case it turned out extremely boomy because the piano was 18 inces away from an acoustically treated wall...Which is why I miced it with the top open...
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Feb 21, 2006 10:55 pm Then yes, a pair of small diaphragm condensors would be perfect.
What type of piano are you going to mic? That info will help determine how to set the mics up.
Feb 22, 2006 08:45 pm If it's a baby grand or grand you can pull the lid off for a more "open" sound. It's subjective, some like small diaphragm condensors some like large. One mic over the low strings and one over the high. You can start at a height of 4 to 6 inches and move up as much as a foot depending on the piano and sound you are looking for. If you want more "attack" move the mics closer to the hammers. Just always keep both mics at the same height off the strings to avoid cancelation problems. If it's Rock Music you are probably going to want to compress it as well. The best advice is to lay down the piano track and compress it in the mix. You don't need a lot of compression on piano so don't overdue it.
