The most popular microphone technique for the grand piano is to place a pair of small-diaphragm omnidirectional mics just past the hammers. The technique is illustrated by the red circles in the first diagram. In the second diagram, the microphones are positioned slightly further away from the pianist, so that they are not directly in front of his or her hands, but slightly behind them.
In this way, they can pick up the sound of a single note, or a series of notes, without being in direct contact with the instrument. The red arrows show the position of each mic in relation to the left and right piano strings. Note that the mic positions are relative to each other, not absolute.
For example, if the right mic is at the same height as the microphone on the far right, it will be at a slightly different distance from that mic than if it were to be a few inches higher than the other mic. Grand pianos are usually equipped with two pairs of microphones, one for each string. These microphones can be placed in a variety of positions, depending on what you want to hear.
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How do you mic a grand piano for live sound?
A real common method of miking a piano in a live setting is to use a PZM (Pressure Zone Microphone), which is a flat mic that people will tape or velcro to the underside of the lid.
If you don’t have access to a pressure zone mic, you can also use an external microphone, such as a Zoom H4n, which has a built-in microphone that can be used to mike the piano.
However, if you want to be able to hear the sound coming out of your instrument, it’s best to have a good pair of earplugs.
How do you mic a grand piano DPA?
Place one microphone in or near the high hole and another over the last octave of low strings on the grand piano. The method will give you high gain before feedback because it is close to the microphone. Place a second microphone on the low string and a third in the middle. The third microphone should be at the same level as the first two, but slightly higher. This will allow you to hear the difference between low and high strings.
If you are using a microphone with a cardioid pickup, you may need to adjust the distance between the mic and the pickup to get the best sound. You can also use a mic stand to place the mics closer to each other. Using a condenser microphone Place two condensers on either side of a piano and place one on each side. Make sure they are not too close together or you will get a lot of feedback.
Also, make sure you have enough space between them so that they do not interfere with the sound coming from the piano. A good rule of thumb is that you should have at least 1/4 inch between each mic. Use a good mic pre-amp to boost the gain of your microphone to make it sound as good as it can.
How do you amplify a grand piano?
Go with cardioid microphones and position them so you capture the soundboard’s reflections/vibrations with consideration towards the frequency response. A piano that is in tune with the room’s acoustics can be captured using between two and four microphones.
If you are using a microphone stand, make sure that it is not too close to the piano and that you have a good distance between the microphone and the stand.
If you use a stand with a built-in mic preamp, you will need to adjust the level of the pre-amp’s gain to compensate for the distance from the mic stand to your microphone.
This can be done by adjusting the gain knob on the front of your stand or by using an external gain control (such as an XLR to 1/4″ adapter) to increase or decrease the amount of gain available to you. You can also use an audio level meter to check the levels of all the microphones in your setup.
Where should a microphone be placed on a piano?
If you are using a single microphone, position the microphone approximately 8 inches from the piano hammers (to reduce mechanical noise) and 8 – 11 inches above the strings – centered over the piano’s mid point. The piano’s lid should be extended and the pan position should be centered. If using two or more microphones, the position of the microphones will vary depending on the type of microphone used.
For example, if you use a condenser microphone (like a Zoom H4n), you will need to position it at the same height as the other microphones. If you’re using an omni-directional microphone like a Shure SM57, you can position your microphone at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the left or right of center.
What are PZM microphones used for?
They’re mounted on walls to record a full room sound. They can also be used to record music in a room. The phase interference between the direct and reflected sound is prevented by the boundary microphone, which results in more accurate sound reproduction. The boundary mic is also useful for recording the sound of a door opening or closing.
It can be mounted in the door frame or on the wall behind it. The microphone can then be placed at a distance of up to 20cm from the opening. This allows the listener to hear the difference in sound between opening and closing doors.
How does a boundary mic work?
The reflected sound delay is reduced by placing the microphone capsule parallel to and facing the plate boundary provided by the microphone package, and the resulting comb filter interference frequencies are high enough that they do not interfere with the signal from the loudspeaker.
In the case of a low-impedance microphone, such as a condenser microphone or an omni-directional microphone (e.g., an omnidirectional or directional microphone), the mic capsule may be placed in a position that allows it to be positioned in front of or behind the speaker.
In this case, it is possible to place the capsule in such a way as to minimize the interference between the two signals. If the microphones are placed at a distance that is too close to one another, they may not be as effective as they could be if they were placed closer together.
How do you close the microphone on a piano?
It’s best to use at least two microphones when close to a piano. I prefer using an X/Y or ORTF technique, which is used at the sweet spot. I will use a spacing pair closer to the hammers, but not so close as to be in the way of the sound. If you are using two mics, you will need to make sure that they are not too close to each other.
This is especially important if you want to use the same mic for both the left and right channels of a stereo recording. The final step is to mix and master the track. The first thing you should do is set up your mixer so that you can control the level of each channel separately. You can do this by using the “Mix” button on the mixer.
Once you have set this up, it is time to start mixing the tracks. I usually start with the right channel and work my way down the chain until I am satisfied that I have a good mix.
What is Ortf mic placement?
ORTF mic technique uses a “near-coincident” pair of cardioid microphones. The mics are reasonably close to each other. In the case of an omni-directional microphone, a correlation means the capsule are as close to each other as possible. ORTF microphone technique is the most commonly used technique for microphone placement. It is also the least expensive technique.
However, it is not suitable for all applications. For example, if the microphone capsule is placed too far away from the speaker, the sound will be muffled. In these cases, you may need to use a different technique to achieve the same result.
What polar pattern is best for piano?
Sound coming from all sides of the microphone can be captured by the omnidirectional polar pattern. You will have a great result putting this mic inside a room with a lot of reflections. The microphone has a built-in microphone preamplifier, so you don’t need to buy a separate mic preamp. It also has an XLR input and a 1/4″ TRS jack for connecting to a mixer or other audio interface.
