Piano Recording

Setting up microphones for recording the piano can be an arduous task. The piano is a complex instrument due to the many strings spanning the width of the keyboard. Another factor is that all pianos have different characteristics of sound. One way of recording might work perfectly with one piano and then be disappointing on a different one.

You can achieve the best results by using a basic pair of of microphones so the sound is in stereo. The the piano operates in a way where the bass is always on the left side and the treble is on the right. Correcting phase issues is an absolute. It may be difficult to have the sounds rendered as realistic if the microphones are out of phase. In such cases certain frequencies will be muted.

Phase problems often occur because there are so many different sounds inside the body. You'll need to use your ears to determine whether you prefer to use a comped mono sound or stereo. You will have plenty of sounds which need phasing out so use your ears to listen for the best results. You'll gain a lot with an experimental attitude to find the optimal sound that you'd like to achieve. The general rule in achieving good results is to judge success, after all is said and done, with your ears.

Take a listen in mono to see if there are any phase problems to be solved. When you are satisfied, listen to how good it is in stereo. If you're happy with both the monaural and stereophonic results you know you are on the right track. At this point flip the phase 180 degrees a couple of times; eventually you will find the best results for the piano. You can also check the phasing by using an oscilloscope although one should really go by sounds rather than the scope. YOU know whether it sounds or not even if the waves look disorganized.

If you have more than one instrument in the studio it may cause you problems. Make sure the drums are well away from the mics for the piano as it can cause a lot of difficulties with the sound. Be open and try re-positioning the instruments with some iso gobos in a few places to find out which locations work the best.

Listen right behind the player's head to help you discover the best places to position the microphones. A piano more often than not sounds the best where the player is positioned and this is a great place to begin. The stereo sounds are balanced so two microphones in an XY pattern placed above the player can create some really great sounding notes. Point it downward approximately 12" for really great results.

If you are hoping to capture the player singing at the same time then have an omni mic positioned slightly closer. You might unavoidably pick up some natural sounds such as the body of the instrument making creaks as it is played. These are often unavoidable and some models will suffer more with this issue than others. You'll gain a lot with an experimental attitude to find the optimal sound that you'd like to achieve. Don't worry overly much about mic placement; as long as it sounds acceptable to you, it will probably also sound good on playback.


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Bruce is a renowned recordist, film composer and producer. Through his experience Bruce is and expert on microphones for home recording, studio recording and stage performance. Check out his site where you'll find information and great deals on microphones. You can also visit the site for his projects at Excello Recording in Williamsburg, Brooklyn