How to Mic a Piano
For all their convenience, digital pianos have still yet to match the beautiful sound of an acoustic piano. Unfortunately, recording an acoustic piano and managing to capture its aural beauty can be a troublesome affair. Many recordists consider it one of the hardest instruments to record, but with a good sounding room, strategic mic placement and a little experimentation, you can get excellent results. Here are a few steps to achieving a piano sound you can be proud of.
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Instructions
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Make an appointment with your piano tuner. The best mic set-up in the world won't make an out-of-tune piano sound good. It's also a good idea to have your piano tuner check the functionality of the piano so you can address any issues that may affect the results of your piano recordings. Keys that tend to stick, or stiff and overly noisy pedals can spoil an otherwise perfect piano take, so taking this step can save you from anguish down the road.
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Use a stereo pair of quality medium diaphragm condenser mics is the best way to go, since the piano has a very wide frequency range. If your budget is limited, there are still many affordable options on the market that will do a fine job (see Resources), but be sure to buy a matching pair. This way, the mics will have the same response pattern, which should help you avoid out-of-phase issues that may result from using mismatched mics.
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Attach your condenser mics to boom-style mic stands. Lift the lid of your piano and set the mics up so that they're both just inside the piano, with one pointing towards the low strings and the other towards the high strings. You'll have to experiment with how far inside the piano to move the mics to get a sound you like. The closer you get the mics to the hammers and strings the more attack you'll get, while moving them further away will result in a more muted tone.
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Try recording the room. Have someone play the piano as you walk around the room. Listen for the sweet spot and set up another condenser mic to capture the sound of the piano in the room. This may or may not give you the exact sound you're looking for by itself, but may well give you more options when you combine this sound with the direct mic pair.
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Once your piano track is recorded, pan one mic signal to the left and the other to the right for stereo playback. Listen to the sound and gradually bring in the live room mic signal. Experiment with the panning and see if it improves the overall sound of the piano track. Although the piano generally sounds better in stereo, if your mix contains a lot of other instruments and voices, it may pay to pan the piano tracks together for a mono mix and play with the EQ and panning of this track so that it cuts through the mix better.
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Tips & Warnings
If your piano sound is a little lifeless, you may want to try removing the top or front of the piano. This will give you more of a direct access to the hammers and the strings. Be aware however, that this may also amplify the mechanics of the piano. If the piano has a particularly sweet tone, you can experiment with placing the mics away from the piano and on either side of the pianist so that the sound will approximate what they are hearing.
Don't resort to effects at the expense of experimenting with mic placement. Before you reach for the compressor or start to overdo the EQ adjustments, make sure you take the time to listen to the results you can get by simply moving the mics around to get the best possible sound. When you get a good sound this way, then sweeten it with a touch of compression, reverb and maybe a little EQ, adjusting to taste. Remember, a little goes a long way.
