Hear For Yourself . An excellent piano library is Pianoteq … Place one mic near the bass strings and one near the treble strings about 8 inches away. Mission: Our mission is to provide excellent quality and service to our customers. From my research, I understand that I need two condenser microphones and an audio interface to record stereo sound. Even the phrase “Grand Piano” evokes a sense of majesty, of power, of complexity. On an upright piano, place Spire Studio on top of the piano in the center, facing you. Audio sample 3 features a pair of AKG C414 large-diaphragm microphones set to cardioid and positioned with one near the hammers on the high side of the piano and the other over the point where the bass strings cross the mid strings. I would like to use a … Most teachers would just think to record piano through their phone’s voice memo recorder, but trust me, getting comfortable with GarageBand is a great way to make your piano lessons fun. In this post I will go over some Piano plugins that I believe to be the best. Although you can record your digital piano into a DAW as an audio file, when it comes to MIDI, you will still need a piano VST, as your digital piano acts more of a MIDI controller to send notes and CC data to your computer/device. With an upright piano, the best results come from using close mic techniques. the music stand, sound of pianist's fingernails on keys, sound of pianist (e.g. Is this an experimental kind of record that might benefit from an effected approach? Let’s get straight into the list! Difficult to get bad sound with them, although, I honestly don't understand why you want to use an omni pattern for upright piano. try aiming the mics at the strings and hammers, not the back of the piano. Keyscape by Spectrasonics ($399) … Best Piano VST Plugins; Updated for 2020 (Includes Audio) Read More » Re: muffled sound. At any rate, good luck. Having said that, the room in which the piano sits will obviously still have an impact on the recording — so you should try, at the very least, not to record in the tiny little practice cupboards within which upright pianos often lurk. This was the first school / church piano… If the room where the piano is does not have great acoustics, I would stick with dynamic microphone(s) as they tend to give better results in poor acoustic environments than condensers. All rights reserved. I have an upright acoustic piano that is part of the family now. First of all, I took the front off of the piano and put an SM-58 right in the middle and got a great sounding recording. An old-timey tack piano sound can be achieved by cutting the low- and high-end, boosting the percussive midrange, and recording to tape or tape-emulating plugins. Record Live Piano through GarageBand. I have an old upright piano (slightly out of tune). There are so many factors with a live acoustic piano. In a world of sampled instruments and midi sequencing, recording an acoustic grand piano is not always an easy task. Both microphones should be just above the top opening. No matter where i place the mic i keep on getting a soind either placed in the back and without presence or something that is too loud almost distorted. In case you’re using a tricky time choosing the best upright piano for you, this review makes it feasible to limit your choices. ... How should I record an upright piano? The piano is a Kawai upright grand I have already gotten rid of the noise ... it is the muffled sound that I am attempting to clear up. 'They are touting this hand-made upright German piano as one of the best sounding and unique soft piano available. Tags: Audio mixing EQ tips, Piano keyboard music production techniques. I like across the back of the soundboard on an upright specially when doing a live vocal. In this 1st article of a 3 part series on recording acoustic piano, I'll explain a few techniques and tricks that can help you successfully record a great sounding grand piano. This is a really broad question, so I'll touch on all the parts only briefly. Recording a Grand Piano. Upright Piano Mic Placement. the music stand, sound of pianist's fingernails on keys, sound of pianist (e.g. I am sharing with you what I have learnt by experimenting with the The shell itself is light enough to be humped upstairs by 2 fit bodies, which makes it a good proposition for Fringe shows where storage, tuning and access issues often make the use of an acoustic piano unrealistic. Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limited nor the publishers can be held responsible for its contents. Removing Panels. Most small studios aren’t blessed with a grand piano, but an upright is more likely to be available. I'm searching for a couple of mics to record my piano. First of all you have to check how the piano sounds best for the song and the style of playing (not in the sense of thinking how it would sound in the mix that much, but rather how you like the … This being said, there are some general rules anyone can follow to help them record their piano playing just the way they want. How to Record Without Background Noise. This particular model is the B1SC2 Silent Piano. I'd like to record an upright piano on a MacBook (in Logic Pro X). What is a "hybrid" audio interface anyway? In fact, knowing how to mic an upright piano is both simple and complicated. And here’s an audio clip of Spire Studio placed on the music rack of a baby grand piano: Place one mic near the bass strings and one near the treble strings about 8 inches away. The quality of audio recording for music or podcasting can suffer considerably due to the presence of background noise. The Joly modded MC 012’s w/ 33mm large diaphragm capsules (also modded by Joly) is another sound I like. It is also commonly found in ballads and adult contemporary music. Moving on, here are some ways to mike an upright piano (Figure 2, below): A) Remove the panel in front of the piano to expose the strings over the keyboard. The trouble is, it can be a lot more difficult to get a great sound from an upright piano. Micing an upright piano largely depends on what style of music you’re playing and what microphones you have available. I thought about the Beyerdynamics MC-930. I was using the Voice Memos app previously, but the sound was distorted. Thank you, in advance, for your help. Record your track. First Look: Pro Tools | Carbon. Learn how to record an upright piano. The grand piano is the king of instruments and, to ensure the best quality audio it deserves, microphone selection is of utmost importance. I'm not very happy of it. I have an upright piano, but I will record grand pianos, sometimes. I really like the sound it creates with a couple of different songs I am working on. You may login with either your assigned username or your e-mail address. Things to watch out for that I wasn't prepared for in terms of sounds that you don't want to record: squeaky piano stool, unwanted resonance in any of the piano's woodwork e.g. In a rock context, some fast-attack, fast-release compression will give the part a rhythmic “smack” to poke through a wall of sound. Yamaha’s Arius series offers the performance quality of an acoustic upright piano along with the convenience of a digital upright piano. Getting a good sound from the piano starts with having access to a good piano. As we mentioned earlier if you can get the panels off the piano to expose the string it may help capture a clearer recording. Some Hybrid Pianos have also ports to connect them to a computer or other devices. In other words, natural so… We've discussed how to record grand pianos in some depth in past issues, but miking an upright piano can present a very different challenge... Visit the Upright Piano recording techniques article. An audio interface will provide the audio inputs, preamps, and phantom power you need to connect your microphones to your computer and get them working. It also handles the analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion that you will need. The first real question going through my head is what direction am I going here? Ensuring the piano’s last note/chord of a section sustains into the next section makes it easier for you to trim back the stereo audio clip and place a small fade at the end where the next section comes in. Most small studios aren’t blessed with a grand piano, but an upright is more likely to be available. Is this an au naturel kind of record where we just want to hear the musicians in the room? Some pianos have a rather ‘sour’ sound, that doesn’t sound good to the ear, and neither does it to the microphone. Recording Techniques. This being said, there are some general rules anyone can follow to help them record their piano playing just the way they want. In Linux, I sometimes use PulseAudio sink and PulseAudio source in JACK, but more often I export an audio file from Pianoteq, record just the video with OBS, then sync the audio to the video in a video editing app. Step 1: We’ve set our dictaphone to record and captured some upright piano chords and some isolated, higher notes. Yamaha B1SC2 Silent Upright Piano The B1 upright piano is the most compact instrument in Yamaha's acoustic piano range. A grand piano has the power to be heard over a symphony orchestra, or it can be whisper quiet, providing an underscore to a lullaby. We recently miced up the piano with two Royer 121 Ribbon microphones and it sounded great. 48" Tall; Best Seller . MIDI (musical interface digital instrument) technology is now available to turn any acoustic piano in a MIDI controller, unleashing a variety of pre-set and customizable sounds. If you plan to record piano often and want to have the sound of a live instrument over a sample, then a professional upright … Here 's an article on recording upright pianos that may help. Try a small squirt of oil to help eliminate the problem if it exists, Positioning the microphones inside the cavity provides greater isolation but tends to colour the sound, particularly at the top end, Omni microphones can provide a more natural sound, If leakage is a problem, use cardioid microphones that are positioned just inside the cavity, If using a single microphone, position it slightly more towards the treble strings to help avoid a boomy sound. The Yamaha YDP-184 is the latest in Yamaha’s Arius line of digital pianos and is its most advanced model. ... To allow people to hear longer sounds you could post the audio on a file sharing site and post the link to the audio here. I like to think of it as tailoring a pedal release.