What Microphone for a Piano.

[superpete]

Hey everyone, I will be recording a piano next week away from the "studio" at a local high school and am not 100 percent sure on what mic from my "arsenal" i should use or where exactly to position it..apart from the usual wherever sounds best.

I have the following mics that i can use for thins recording:
Shure Beta 52a
Shure SM57 x3
Shure SM58 x2
Shure PG56 x2
Legacy Axis1 Small Diaphragm Condensor x2
Rode m1

If anyone could make a suggestion with using a mic from my collection along with a possible placement option it would be great

Piano wil be similar to the one pictured..

[venuestudio]

A big question would be are you going to record other instruments at the same time. It makes recording a real challenge if you are because it is tough to get good gain without picking up other instruments.

I would guess that if I was given the choice I would go with the Legacy's. As to placement the logical choice is one at each end of the sound board. The second choice would be outside in an X/Y above the piano with the lid open. I would start a few feet up and adjust. Either way it is a very difficult instrument to record without a very good mic setup. I have recorded piano on 3 occasions and was never really happy with the tone. One was a upright and two baby grands. All of those were live with jazz bands and setup time was limited. Take a bit of time to place and listen. I can tell you if you are inside you probably will not need much gain.

Hopefully someone who has done a good deal of piano recording will jump in.

[garageband]

I have had real good luck with a SM58 on a boom stand pointed across the strings with the kick board off. Actually sounded like a piano. Leave the lid closed, though.

[garageband]

To put a bit of perspective on the upright piano: Try to record it from above the lid is like recording an acoustic guitar by pointing a mic at the peghead.

[paul999]

I own 3 piano's and record them frequently. Most often I record my baby grand. When I record upright I take all the panels off. It's louder and you get less odd reflections. If you want a diffuse jazzy sound try ORTF with 2 57's over the piano players head. Add in the condensers Ortf between the player and the strings above the head level of the player. I haven't used those legacy's so you may need to swap them with the sm 57's. You can then play with the balance of close and distant mic's

[venuestudio]

Guys - thanks for the info. I don't record piano much so if I do I will have a better chance of getting something I like. Paul, do you have any favorite mics you like for piano?

[paul999]

Originally Posted by venuestudio

Guys - thanks for the info. I don't record piano much so if I do I will have a better chance of getting something I like. Paul, do you have any favorite mics you like for piano?

I like km84's ORTF up close and 414's above the players head. Some times a wunder C7 about 4 feet back in cardioid gives an awesome mono piano and adds some natural compression from the mic. I also like sm-81's on piano they did better then tlm 103's but they where also nice. 57's do a surprisingly good job. For a particularly dense mix once I used a mono PR-40 and it was just right.

[Husky Band]

Check this out.
How To Record a Piano: Microphones, Techniques, and Mixing

[garageband]

I've read that article before. It blows. It's not about upright pianos, either. Other articles that guy has written blow, also.

[garageband]

Another example of one of his articles that blows:
How To Record a Hammond B3 Organ with Leslie Cabinet - Microphone Techniques

He characterizes this configuration as ORTF:
ORTF.jpg
And this one as X/Y:
XY.jpg