Mic choices for piano, harpsichord

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 6:11 am

I'm putting together a simple, entry-level system - not intended to make production quality CD's but to learn the basics, etc. I 'll be using the Alesis IO26 as the audio interface and pre-amp. My interests lie with classical music (piano, harpsichord, small groups). I'm looking for a suitable pair of mics (in the $250 per mic range). Currently, my plan is the Rode NT1-A. While this mic gets excellent reviews, concerns have been raised about its suitability for strong transients (e.g. loud drum hits) and it is reported as a bit 'hot' in the upper mid-range. I wonder if this might be a problem with some of my interests (e.g. harpsichords).

So, I'd be interested in comments and any other suggestions about mics to consider in this range. Thanks in advance.

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:32 pm

Yikes...Harpsichord on budget mics...not a place I'd want to be... Wink

Seriously though, harpsichord is a difficult instrument to record well. A mic with the traditional HF rise found in most "budget" mics is going to seriously make the instrument virtually unlistenable. I can't say I know of any mics in that range that won't exaggerate some portion of the spectrum. That's probably not the answer you're looking for...sorry.

This might just be a job for some of those cheap ribbons. Although, I don't like ribbons on all pianos, so this might not be a good "all-in-one" solution.

Good luck!

Jeremy

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:09 pm

So, the NT1A would be OK for piano?

Leaving aside cost, do you have a mic which would you recommend for harpsichord recording?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:32 pm

On the cheap...I would say a Beyer M130 pair in Blumlein (given a good acoustic space).

Cost no object...Royer SF12 or AEA R88 or perhaps a pair of R121s.

I would say that the NT1a would be just fine on many pianos.

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:08 pm

Interesting. While I'm not rushing out to buy one tomorrow Smile

, the price isn't quite as high as I expected.

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 11:06 pm

A single mic suggestion would be the Shure KSM44 in omni, but the room has to be good too. This mic will support many other endeavors as well.

Though I think a SDC would be a better choice than a LDC. Oktava MK012s should be great.

I have used a pair of Neumann TLM193s on a "tac" piano (very metallic sounding upright piano) with good results. No hype on this mic.

I have also used the Rode NT4 on piano with good results. That means the NT5s would also work. But not sure about the harpsicord... Also not familiar with the NT1A...

Have to agree with Cucco about ribbons. I can't think of any reason not to use a ribbon on the harpsicord.

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 12:30 am

I just thought I would throw this one in as well?

A very close friend of our family was the principal harpsichordist for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Her husband was the principal bassist. She needed to make a Recording in early 1971. So she went to this fairly new recording studio where this young guy had just designed and built his own console and studio. It was a very nice console but it was a very dead studio with lots of pink exposed fiberglass on the walls. Just awful sounding or lack thereof. Now this engineer was a very good engineer. A very good rock-and-roll engineer. Well, Shirley hated the recording that he made for her. I was only 14 at the time but had already been making recordings since I was nine. I asked her what she didn't like about it. She said it was horribly metallic and he put the microphones right over the top of a harpsichord soundboard! What I heard was a wonderful rock-and-roll recording of her harpsichord. And who was this "Wannabe" rock-and-roll engineer that made this horrible recording of her harpsichord? None other than a young George Massenburg! Obviously, he wasn't into the subtleties of Baroque music. But he could make those Earth Wind & Fire horns, Little Feat, the Emotions and Linda Ronstadt sound good.

And I knew at that age that ribbon microphones, further away, was what he should have used/done. 3 years later, at 17, I ended up working for the studio that originally hired him. I see him at the AES and talk to him from time to time. One of my rock-and-roll hero engineers. But he doesn't have a Grammy nomination like I do for my orchestral and operatic recordings. He just has enough gold and platinum records to line the interior of his house. I have enough to line the toilet, i.e. none.

Hugging the toilet. Love your toilet. It might be the only 1 you have?
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:38 am

You can definitely find ribbon microphones in your price range.

If you would like to try affordable omnis, you might look at Avenson Sto-2s. They aren't hyped and sound very good on piano. I imagine they would be good on harpsichord if the room and instrument are good.

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 5:44 am

To do a good job recording a harpsichord you need a couple of things.

1. A good well tuned harpsichord

2. A good room with the right "sound" for harpsichord

3. A very good microphone preamp that handles transients well.

4. A very good microphone that has a very warm sound and handles transients well.

Combine all of them and you can get a very good recording. Leaving out one of them or not having the best can make a harpsichord sound like a pile of glass shards in a wooden box.

Some interesting things from the web

http://www.sankey.ws/energy.html

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug05/articles/giltrap.htm

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Mar03/articles/stereorecording.asp

I had the Stereo Review editors choice award for three months running for my recordings of the Oberlin Baroque Ensemble and most of those recordings were done with DPA 4006s or an AKG C-24 in to a Neotek Model 1E console and recorded onto an Otari MTR-10 at 15 ips using Ampex 456 tape. These were done on the Gasparo Label and the harpsichord used was built by John Leek who also maintained the instrument during the recording sessions.

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 6:46 am

Excellent advice. I much appreciate the guidance and the links. They are very interesting.

Clearly, harpsichord recording is an 'advanced' skill. I think I'll stick with piano and similar instruments for now until my skill level improves and then re-visit harpsichords.

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 10:46 am

Not that recording piano is all that easy! Very Happy

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 4:36 pm

You might start by purchasing a pair of Sonedores!

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 4:43 pm

hughesmr wrote:

Not that recording piano is all that easy! Very Happy

Is recording anything 'easy' Very Happy

I may be missing an 'in joke' or something, but what are Sonedores? I checked on-line and can find no reference to them.

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:27 pm

http://www.sonodore.com

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:34 pm

Thank you. I did a google search for 'sonEdore' (which found nothing). SonOdore works much better! These are out of my price range but, from an educational perspective, would the boundary mics by the type suggested?

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