Re: Piano live recording (was: Live recording)
On Tue, 4 May 2021, at 09:16, Rodolfo Medina wrote:
>
> I've just bought a Behringer UMC404HD audio interface and want to record live
> piano by placing two microphones one at the trebles and one at the bass.
The result of recording like this will (presumably) mimic what a player would
hear, but won't sound so much like what any listener some distance from the
piano would hear. You might also capture more noise from the mechanical
action, than would be apparent at a distance.
If people are listening to a pianist, in a concert hall, none of the listeners sit
under or just over the piano, and none are usually hearing bass in one ear
and treble in the other!
In a concert hall, the ambience/reverberation characteristics of the hall will
make a big difference to the result, as will things like whether (for a grand
piano) wheher the lid is up a little or a lot. For an upright piano you might
also think about whether its lid is open, and whether the piano is against a
wall.
There's also a philosophical difference between the sort of mic placement
you're thinking of doing - close-micing an instrument and then (perhaps)
applying digital effects, EQ etc afterwards, versus simply trying to capture
the sound/feel of the instrument in the space it is in.
> Is it better to use mono or omni directional microphones?
Omni-directional mics are also mono, usually. The polar response (ie
omni / figure of 8 / cardioid / hypercardioid) is not a mono/stereo
choice.
Stereo (or multi-channel) mics in a single body may also offer control
over the "width" of the stereo image, or even (eg for Soundfield mics)
the ability to adjust the array of capsules so they appear to tilt/point
in different directions.
--
Jeremy Nicoll - my opinions are my own.
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