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R/E/P => R/E/P Archives => Fletcher => Topic started by: breathe on February 03, 2011, 11:21:10 PM

Title: Upright piano micing suggestions...
Post by: breathe on February 03, 2011, 11:21:10 PM

For my rock records where my upright Baldwin is an overdub, my Coles 4040 has been excellent, but I want to do a record with my favorite pianist and I want it to sound really nice.  Any suggestions?  Should I just get the (stereo) Coles 4050 or something else?  I also have the Mercenary KM-69 which I could get another of, but I find that mic works best for really crisp, compact sounds, not something that should sound bigger than G/d.

Nicholas

Title: Re: Upright piano micing suggestions...
Post by: Gio on February 04, 2011, 09:58:00 AM

Pull it away from the wall and mic it from behind. See if that floats your boat....

Title: Re: Upright piano micing suggestions...
Post by: bleen on February 04, 2011, 10:15:44 AM

I can tell you that Walla's fave method of upright micing is to pull the front panel off above the keys, put up a spaced pair of 57s, hit some MIllennia pre's and a maybe a TG-1. Done.

Title: Re: Upright piano micing suggestions...
Post by: meverylame on February 04, 2011, 06:49:49 PM

breathe wrote on Thu, 03 February 2011 23:21

For my rock records where my upright Baldwin is an overdub, my Coles 4040 has been excellent, but I want to do a record with my favorite pianist and I want it to sound really nice.  Any suggestions?  Should I just get the (stereo) Coles 4050 or something else?  I also have the Mercenary KM-69 which I could get another of, but I find that mic works best for really crisp, compact sounds, not something that should sound bigger than G/d. Nicholas

My fave for that recently has been a pair of rca 44's in a slightly modified NOS. I bet the coles would sound nice too.
Also, it just depends on what your definition of nice is. Do you want a very full, sturdy low end? Might just be easier to go to a studio with a full grand.

Title: Re: Upright piano micing suggestions...
Post by: J.J. Blair on February 04, 2011, 08:28:21 PM

A proper tuning and a U47.

Title: Re: Upright piano micing suggestions...
Post by: ssltech on February 04, 2011, 08:36:43 PM

Good part.

Great player, ready to go.

Useful piano.

Given the above three things... almost any mic.

Anybody else fed up of this?

Keith

Title: Re: Upright piano micing suggestions...
Post by: bgrotto on February 05, 2011, 09:54:09 AM

Open up the top and the side facing the player, revealing the hammers, and throw a u47 over it.  Position it according to the range the pianist is using and the amount of room ambience you're looking for.

You can also try using a stereo mic if you need the imaging; I recently had great luck with an sf24.

The other approach I use is mic'ing the back of the piano.  There's usually a pretty distinct place on the soundboard where you can really hear the sound "happening"; find it and point a mic at it.  On my piano, it's most often near the lower-right corner, about 2/3s of the way to the right (if you're facing the back of the piano; in other words, the mic is pointed at the side with the bass strings) and 2/3s of the way down.  My go-to mic here is a Gefell umt70s.

On a recent session, where I needed a wide variety of piano sounds, I used all three set ups.  The two "overheads" were placed in the same spot, so they were in-phase, and as it turned out, adding in the soundboard mic sounded great, so on a few of the tunes I was using all four mics.  Crazy stuff; you never know what's gonna work!!

Title: Re: Upright piano micing suggestions...
Post by: OOF! on February 05, 2011, 05:53:01 PM

I've got a great-sounding upright and have tried many ways to record it over the years but I usually come back to a pair of 4038s on the back of the piano.  usually through an ITI eq or a 550a adding a bit of 5-7K.   Other than that, I like putting the mics  out in the room and really "hear" the space around the piano (if the track isn't too busy.)
People always ask what kind of baby-grand it is when they hear the recordings.  I think the coles make the piano sound better than it really is....
Have fun,
David

Title: Re: Upright piano micing suggestions...
Post by: Strummer on February 05, 2011, 10:12:40 PM

ssltech wrote on Fri, 04 February 2011 20:36

Good part. Great player, ready to go. Useful piano. Given the above three things... almost any mic. Anybody else fed up of this? Keith

You mean the answer to each challenge isn't a new credit card purchase?

I'm stunned....

Title: Re: Upright piano micing suggestions...
Post by: OOF! on February 06, 2011, 09:03:58 AM

well, it's just always the case.  Some peeanos have an uneven freq. response and using a mic that will help compensate for that will deliver a better sound.  Uprights can have less low-end (unless you've got a U3). In my particular case the mics I use make the piano sound better than it does in the room.  If I used a pair of 414s I wouldn't have as useful a sound.  Perhaps its because of the sheer size of the instrument, but like an upright bass, the mc is pretty important on a peeano.
david

Title: Re: Upright piano micing suggestions...
Post by: Nick Sevilla on February 07, 2011, 10:22:25 PM

breathe wrote on Thu, 03 February 2011 20:21

For my rock records where my upright Baldwin is an overdub, my Coles 4040 has been excellent, but I want to do a record with my favorite pianist and I want it to sound really nice.  Any suggestions?  Should I just get the (stereo) Coles 4050 or something else?  I also have the Mercenary KM-69 which I could get another of, but I find that mic works best for really crisp, compact sounds, not something that should sound bigger than G/d. Nicholas

Hire a proper engineer?