StudioRecording
Mic
Techniques
for
Studio Recording
Grand Piano: Microphone Placement
Tonal Balance
Comments
Natural, well-balanced
Less pickup of ambience and leakage than 3 feet out front. Move microphone(s) farther from hammers to reduce attack and mechanical noises. Good coincident-stereo placement. See “Stereo Microphone Techniques” section.
Natural, well-balanced, slightly bright
Place one microphone over bass strings and one over treble strings for stereo. Phase cancellations may occur if the recording is heard in mono.
3 Aiming into sound holes
Thin, dull, hard, constricted
Very good isolation. Sometimes sounds good for rock music. Boost mid-bass and treble for more natural sound.
4 6 inches over middle strings,
Muddy, boomy, dull, lacks attack
Improves isolation. Bass roll-off and some treble boost required for more natural sound.
Bassy, full
Unobtrusive placement.
Bassy, dull, full
Unobtrusive placement.
1 12 inches above middle strings, 8 inches horizontally from hammers with lid off or at full stick
2 8 inches above treble strings, as above
8 inches from hammers, with lid on short stick
5 Next to the underside of raised lid, centered on lid
6 Underneath the piano, aiming up at the soundboard
7 Surface-mount microphone mounted Bright, wellon underside of lid over lower treble strings, horizontally, close to hammers for brighter sound, further from hammers for more mellow sound
8 Two surface-mount microphones positioned on the closed lid, under the edge at its keyboard edge, approximately 2/3 of the distance from middle A to each end of the keyboard
9 Surface-mount microphone placed
balanced
Excellent isolation. Experiment with lid height and microphone placement on piano lid for desired sounds.
Bright, wellbalanced, strong attack
Excellent isolation. Moving “low” mic away from keyboard six inches provides truer reproduction of the bass strings while reducing damper noise. By splaying these two mics outward slightly, the overlap in the middle registers can be minimized.
Full, natural
Excellent isolation. Minimizes hammer and damper noise. Best if used in conjunction with two surface-mount microphones mounted to closed lid, as above.
vertically on the inside of the frame, or rim, of the piano, at or near the apex of the piano’s curved wall
10