wrote:
a friend wants me to make a CD of classical solo piano for her. she
owns a wonderful bosendorfer 7'4" grand piano, but it is in her dinky
living room in a small house - maybe 22'x 11' at most, with 8' ceiling,
sheetrock walls, carpet floor. i am thinking of a close-spaced pair of
DPA 4061s right up inside the piano, and a spaced pair of 4006s out in
the room (about 6 feet out), and then blend to taste when mixing. any
other ideas i should consider for this project? thanks.
Important question - does the friend like the sound of the piano in the
room it is in?
If she does, then she may be expecting the recording to sound as it does
in the room it is in. In which case I'd suggest 2 mics as close to the
strings as reasonable (in the front lid would be best). Then put 1 mic
directly above the middle of the piano, and 1 mic in the best listening
point in the room (move around until it sounds cleanest and brightest up
and down the scale and put the mic there).
Your ears (or your friends ears) are the best tool for placing the mics,
and doing what sounds best is the only real test. Experimentation can
often get you where logic cannot.
Otherwise hire a pro sound recording studio (who will record the piano
in an acoustically "dead" environment, and then add reverb etc later on).
If you cannot afford this, or it's not practical, you will need to
"deaden" the acoustics of the room. This is achieved by putting an
asorbent layer (lined blackout curtains are good for this, or duvets -
the carpeted floor will count as 1 of the surfaces) around the room on
at least 4 of the 6 surfaces. This will be much like the wadding used in
speaker boxes to absorb standing waves, and will produce an acoustically
"dead" environment. To place the mics, read this web page for some
ideas: http://innig.net/music/recordings/method/mics.html . A google
search for "piano recording" will come up with a few other ideas too.
Scott Dorsey wrote:
Rent a better hall and use the piano there. It'll cost some money, and
you'll probably need to call a piano tech in, but you'll be a lot happier
with the end result.
By far the best solution if you can afford it. A local concert hall
would be best depending on where you live. The sound of a really good
hall is impossible to re-create properly with effects (places like the
Palau de la musica in Barcelona have a unique sound, and really add to a
recording - if you can find (and afford) somewhere like that, then do so)
And if you can afford this, then the in house engineer is a must for
setting it up, as they will know from experience what works best.
The local village, or town hall is probably not worth the hassle though,
unless you go in, and the acoustics really stand out.
Remember, if you want to move a piano, it will need re-tuning at the
other end, and is best left in the location for a week or so before
recording (in order for the wood and strings to adjust to the new
environment), otherwise the sound may not be stable, and may change
while recording. Picky, but if you are going to all the effort of moving
it around, you want it to sound as good as it can.
This is all IMO though, and is based on experience mic'ing other
instruments (I've done a piano once, and nothing like the piano you are
talking about). I have done a fair range of other difficult instruments
though, and drum kits regularly which is a similar problem to the piano.
Hope it helps.
Leo