Good microphones for recording acoustic piano

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sgoodwin49
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2011/05/03 15:09:58 (permalink)

Good microphones for recording acoustic piano

Can anyone recommend which condenser mics would be best for recording acoustic piano?
 
Also, I will be recording onto my laptop PC with a cheap onboard sound card.  I will then copy the .wav files onto my desktop PC with a SoundBlaster X-Fi Audio card so I can add more instruments and sounds using HS7XL.
 
Should I replace either of the sound cards?
Thanks for your advice.
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    Beagle
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    Re:Good microphones for recording acoustic piano 2011/05/03 17:16:23 (permalink)
    what's your budget?  acoustic piano is difficult to record well.  here's what I would love to have for acoustic piano, but there's no way I'd be able spend that much money on it
    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PianoMicSys/

    the next thing I would consider would be something like what this guy is doing:
    http://innig.net/music/recordings/method/mics.html
    he has an LD condensor and a boundary mic

    Also, I will be recording onto my laptop PC with a cheap onboard sound card.  I will then copy the .wav files onto my desktop PC with a SoundBlaster X-Fi Audio card so I can add more instruments and sounds using HS7XL.
     
    Should I replace either of the sound cards?

    YES.  you should replace both of them.  look at my website for soundcard recommendations.

    http://soundcloud.com/beaglesound/sets/featured-songs-1
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    #2
    Beagle
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    Re:Good microphones for recording acoustic piano 2011/05/03 20:19:58 (permalink)
    Note, I just thought - you didn't mention if it was an upright or grand or studio or what.  I automatically thought of a grand.  personally I am not sure I'd spend a lot of time trying to mic anything else. 

    http://soundcloud.com/beaglesound/sets/featured-songs-1
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    sgoodwin49
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    Re:Good microphones for recording acoustic piano 2011/05/03 22:05:04 (permalink)
    Thanks Beagle for your reponse, advice and great links to more info.  I'm new at this, so I can use all I can get.  BTW, my piano is a 6' Kawai.
     
    I went to your website to view sound card recommendations, but coud see no content where I assume the recommendations would be... ?  I even clicked on the "Click here..." button, but still blank.  My laptop being funky??? 
     
    Thanks again.
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    Beagle
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    Re:Good microphones for recording acoustic piano 2011/05/03 22:20:24 (permalink)
    if you're using IE 64bit instead of 32 bit then it won't work.  there may be others it won't work with.  I can give you a more direct link to the pdf's or email them to you.

    see if these links work for you
    http://www.scribd.com/doc/46838615/Sound-Card-Text#archive
    http://www.scribd.com/doc/46839273/Sound-Cards

    most home recording musicians record MIDI for piano and those with discerning piano sound tastes use high quality piano sample libraries like Ivory or Garritan Authorized Steinway, many others instead of trying to mic a grand.  it's not impossible, but it really does take a lot of work and experience to get a good recording from mic'ing a grand.  and like I said, I wouldn't even bother trying to mic an upright.

    http://soundcloud.com/beaglesound/sets/featured-songs-1
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    Jim Roseberry
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    Re:Good microphones for recording acoustic piano 2011/05/04 02:00:57 (permalink)
    Can anyone recommend which condenser mics would be best for recording acoustic piano?

     
    FWIW, A pair of AKG C414s will do an excellent job recording acoustic piano...
    But I wouldn't record them using onboard audio or a SoundBlaster.  
     
    The point I'm trying to make is that it doesn't make sense to invest in quality mics if you're not going to have a commenserate level audio interface (and mic preamps).
     
    I'd start with a decent audio interface... and (if you're on a budget) look at a pair of Studio Projects B3 mics.
    Note that a decent audio interface need not be overly expensive.  $180-$500 buys a pretty decent audio interface.
    Choose based on your I/O needs and budget...
    I'd suggest going with a proven rock-solid unit.  Aside from the PC, the audio interface is the second most critical choice for a trouble-free DAW. 

    Best Regards,

    Jim Roseberry
    jim@studiocat.com
    www.studiocat.com
    #6
    sgoodwin49
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    Re:Good microphones for recording acoustic piano 2011/05/04 16:58:31 (permalink)
    Thanks again Beagle.  So sounds like I should record MIDI on my Roland XP-60, then port it into HS7xl and utilize a piano sample library.  So do I still need to replace my Soundblaster X-fi sound card to acheive the best results?
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    windsurfer25x
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    Re:Good microphones for recording acoustic piano 2011/05/04 20:16:36 (permalink)
    There is a recording of an acoustic upright piano (done at my local church) on my website called "Be Unto your name" and it was done with just a pair of Audio Technica 4021's great pair of pencil condensers

    Here's the link

    http://maskensmobilestudio.com/recording


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    IK Obi
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    Re:Good microphones for recording acoustic piano 2011/05/06 22:14:51 (permalink)

    How much are you even looking to spend on these mics?    

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    Beagle
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    Re:Good microphones for recording acoustic piano 2011/05/06 22:43:12 (permalink)
    Aaron - that's pretty good for an upright!  oh, I love that song!  where did you place the mics?  was the piano up against a wall?  one method I tried mic'ing an upright was pulling it out from the wall, pointing the matched pencils toward the back of the piano about 1/3 of its height from the floor and about 1/4 of the way from the outer sides, pointing directly straight, with 90* angles to the floor and the piano.  it wasn't bad, but not as good as the recording you have here.  I do hear a little of the room in your recording as well, tho.

    sogoodwin49 - my opinion is yes, you would want to replace the soundblaster and you CAN mic a piano, obviously, it just depends on what you want to do with your recordings, too. 

    if you want to record MIDI (like I do and a lot of us home users do) and use a sampled piano then you'll also want a good sampled piano.  those are not cheap either.  some of the best ones are IVORY, KONTAKT CLASSIC PIANOS, GARRITAN AUTHORIZED STEINWAY and I'm sure there are MANY many others, those are just some of the ones that I'm fond of.

    http://soundcloud.com/beaglesound/sets/featured-songs-1
    i7, 16G DDR3, Win10x64, MOTU Ultralite Hybrid MK3
    Yamaha MOXF6, Hammond XK3c, other stuff.
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    windsurfer25x
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    Re:Good microphones for recording acoustic piano 2011/05/07 13:29:01 (permalink)
    Hey Beagle, 

    Yeah I love that song too! The piano at our church doesn't face a wall, it is against a "stage" which is probably about 1&1/2' tall. I found the best sound was coming from directly behind the piano too, surprisingly loud! From what I can remember I think I had them placed roughly 2/3 of its height from the floor (not the stage) and roughly 2 feet away from the back of the piano. I think they were positioned about 2/5 in from the outer sides and they weren't at 90 degree angles, I'd say they were angled 15-20 degrees below the plane of the floor and I don't remember how the angles I had them at towards the perpendicular of the back of the piano but I know it was slightly off 90 degrees, another plus was the piano had just been tuned like 30 minutes before we had started (we hadn't planned it that way, the tuner had just been booked to come in! Coincidence? ;)  )

    I appreciate the kind words, that session we recorded a bunch of hymns and praise songs and it was my first time micing an upright. I was pleasantly surprised with the results! 
    post edited by windsurfer25x - 2011/05/07 13:30:12


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    http://www.maskensmobilestudio.com

    #11
    Beagle
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    Re:Good microphones for recording acoustic piano 2011/05/07 13:49:32 (permalink)
    thanks for sharing!  it's really pretty good for an uprigtht recording!

    http://soundcloud.com/beaglesound/sets/featured-songs-1
    i7, 16G DDR3, Win10x64, MOTU Ultralite Hybrid MK3
    Yamaha MOXF6, Hammond XK3c, other stuff.
    #12
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