This is Part II of a blog in tribute to my brother, Frank, who recently passed away while fishing in Yellowstone National Park. After spending a weekend in Iowa with my family remembering his life. One of those memories was his love of Frédéric Chopin, so it is in his honor that we wrote our blog on recording classical piano, and in his honor we are posting this follow-up today.
Randy Poole is a good friend of mine, and also a marvelous engineer. Working for such artists as Take 6, Natalie Grant, Smokie Norful, and Anita Baker, Randy has gained a reputation for quality engineering.
Of course, every engineer will have a slightly different take on mic techniques, choices, and placements, so we asked Randy for his thoughts on miking a piano. Here's what he said:
For pop piano recordings I use Neumann 582 tube mics with omni capsules in a spaced pair arrangement pointing down at the soundboard at about 45 degree angles. I space them about 10 -12 inches about, making the backs of the mics connectors within a few inches of touching. They are placed about 6-7 inches (both mics distance must match) above the strings about a foot inside the piano, at least 8 inches away from the hammers on the left (high side). I run these through Avalon 737 mics pre's, then straight to tape (DAW).
Solo piano starts off the same as pop, except the piano lid is taken off, and the mics are about 2 feet above the strings, again matching (left/right) the exact distance from the strings. Then I add bottom mics, like AKG 414's in stereo or mono underneath the soundboard, slightly less than 2 ft from the soundboard with the phase reversed. I also add some room mics preferably in MS about 6 - 10 feet from the piano depending on the size of the room and the effect wanted. I record all these mics to separate tracks to be blended later, the majority of the sound in the mix is the spaced pair 582's then the other mics blended in for the final mix, with the underneath mics blended the least and closer to center in the mix.
Another great engineer's perspective and techniques. If you have any questions for Randy or about the techniques he uses (i.e. What is the MS stereo miking technique?) comment on the blog or post on the Get Yoshed Facebook page and we'll follow up!
To learn more about the impact Frank has had and to contribute to the scholarship fund Mt. Mercy College has set up in his honor, click here.
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