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Arny Krueger
 
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Default mixing live jazz recording (Earlier Thread Recording Jazz Drum Kit)

"Chris Hermann" wrote in message



Problematic tracks in my opinion are the two Piano tracks:
I'm missing the lower strings, they are hard to hear.


I have a grand piano that I've been recording about 50 times a year for
maybe 3 years now. In addition to overall micing, I have two mics on it that
I consider to be lifesavers.

(1) An old Shure SM91 PZM on the underside of the lid over the middle of the
strings.

(2) A SD cardioid (MXL 603) on a short stand on the floor, pointing up at
the far end of the underside of the piano.

The lid is usually kept closed or on the shortest stick.

They record opposite sides of the sounding-board so the PZM has a
reverse-polarity adaptor on it, as the majority of the sound outside the
piano comes off the bottom due to the no-stick, or shortest-stick propping
of the lid.

By mixing these mics and the far-field mics, and with some farily heavy eq,
I can mix up a large number of different takes on piano sound, many of which
are in some sense "natural".

PZMs inside the box have a reputation for being harsh, but IME the real
problem is a lack of warmth. The Kawai grand *wants* about 20 dB Q=0.5 @
200 Hz to be warm close up or inside. Then the inside is dry for contrast
while the outside mic has a bit of anacoustic guitar like-warmth.