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I'd like to know the best way to go about Micing a piano. I'd be doing it live, but this still seemed like the best section to post. It's one of those upright grands schools aways have. What are some good mics/placements for something like this? Thanks.

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anonymous Sun, 03/13/2005 - 20:33

Hello,
For a school upright piano live setting, you could use one of the following:
Use of two mics is desirable although you could record with one only.

- Mics Dynamic: Shure SM57/58 (Basic setup); Sennheiser MD421/EV RE-20 (Premium setup)

- Mics Condensor: Dual pencil condensors (Cardioid only)

-Mics PZM (Pressure Zone Mics)

Techniques: No distant micing technique recommended.

- Open the top lid and position the mics pointing vertically downwards inside the cavity (within 6-8 inches for dynamics and 8-12 inches for condensors). Mics could be placed in the mid zone of each of the treble and bass strings. If a single mic is used, it should be positioned two-thirds of the way towards the bass end at the same distance.

- Rock music would require a closer placement of the mics, whereas jazz types would do better with slightly larger placements. If using two mics send them to two seperate channels on the board, where they could either be centered or panned R/L as desired. If the session needs to be recorded then pan them. But listen to each one (in mono) for phase cancellation! Follow the 3:1 rule.

- If sound isolation is desirable, a PZM mic could be taped to the wall directly behind the soundboard(remove the casework)

- EQ is generally not required as it tends to add noise, however, a little compression would make the sound more enjoyable.

Hope I'm of help.

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