Chel van Gennip wrote:
On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 21:22:23 +0100, Kalman Rubinson wrote:


On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 14:51:38 -0500, Todd Lipcon wrote:


Next time you might try micing the piano from a little farther off for
classical recording. Especially on a big instrument like a grand
Bosendorfer, the sound needs a little bit of space to spread/mix
acoustically before you get the mics on it. Assuming the room is good
and not noisy, you might like the stereo image more if you mic from 6+
feet away.

Right. Went to a live vs. recorded demo at Bosendorfer in Manhattan
last week and they used a closely-spaced pair of omnis. The reproduced
sound was just as muffled and congested as was the live since I was
seated less than 6 feet from the piano. When I returned to the room
from getting a glass of water, the sound of the piano at 15-20' was
vastly superior.


The lid on a piano suggests the sound comes from the top of the piano. A
lot of the sound comes from the bottom. So for a piano you should keep
some distance, and a reflecting floor, so the sound can blend a little.

The OP says the recording location was the pianist's living room. There
you have a dilema. Most living rooms have acoustics you want to avoid,
this results in rather close miking.

If you want a good stereo recording of a piano, keep your distance and
you can use a AB setup. If you must go closer, you better go to a XY
setup and try some pan to get the stereo image as good as possible. Close
miking with a AB setup combined with pan will give strange side effects.

I'm curious. The soundtrack from Antwone Fisher, featuring music by
Mychael Danna, has several wonderful songs with piano leads. I love the
imaging in these recordings. I feel as if my ears are inside the piano.
How were those done?

CD