AUDIO
MIXING MASTERY // ACOUSTIC PIANO , PART 1 | Jeff Hawley
Quick question : What instrument was featured in Mozart ’ s concertos for piano and orchestra ? Sounds a bit like ‘ Who is buried in Grant ’ s tomb ?’ right ? But if you said ‘ piano ’ as the featured instrument , you ’ d technically be wrong . The instrument that Mozart had in mind was actually what we ’ d refer to now as a fortepiano , an early version of what most of us have in mind today when we think ‘ grand piano ’. What does Mozart ’ s historical fortepiano have to do with how to properly mic up a grand piano today ? Aside from providing some party trivia , the point is that not all pianos ( or fortepianos ) are created equal . A piano isn ’ t just a piano — there are important differences between an upright , a grand , and even a fortepiano when it comes to sound reinforcement . There are many more variables at play when considering how to approach miking up a giant percussion instrument with many sensitive vibrating strings — no matter what you call it .
FIRST THINGS FIRST . Let ’ s start out with the basics . When thinking about how to approach acoustic piano miking , one of the first questions I usually ask is what the pianist needs to hear and what options I have to get that audio to them efficiently . The job isn ’ t too difficult with an upright piano and a pianist with in-ear monitors and low overall stage volume . With an open ‘ full stick ’ grand and pumping stage wedges firing at the pianist at nuclear volume levels — not as easy . This article will tackle the worst-case scenario
( grand piano and loud stage ), but many of these tips and techniques can also be applied to upright pianos . So , the starting point for me is generally around getting an idea of what the pianist expects to hear on stage and how they could technically hear those sources / signals . “ What do you need to hear ?” “ How loud do you need it ?” “ Are you going in-ears or must it be wedges ?” That usually sets me off on one or two of the possible paths that I know tend to work in those scenarios . But there is one more question we also need to ask first : “ Lid up or down ?”
PUT A LID ON IT . One unique consideration around grand pianos is whether to open the lid . Having the
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