piano wide open allows the pianist to hear the acoustic level of the piano more readily . That ’ s usually a good thing . But of course , opening up the lid opens us up to all sorts of other sounds bleeding into the soundboard and / or setting the strings into motion in undesirable ways . Bad thing . This is a sort of balancing act in most cases as most pianists prefer having the lid open and some ‘ backup ’ acoustic monitoring of their performance in the case of a subpar in-ear or monitor wedge mix . There are also sightline considerations : can the pianist see the key performers with the lid open ? I ’ ve lucked out in having the sightline point help a reluctant pianist try half-stick or fully closed so they could see the rest of the worship band . Win-win !
Once you ’ ve got the initial piano lid and monitoring sorts of questions answered , what options do we have for actual mic placement ? How do different mic placements impact the piano tonality - what we send to the console ? There are several great resources available from microphone manufacturers that provide details on their particular product offerings , but I think this simple list of placement options sets out the basics quite well ( thanks , Shure !). I ’ ve slightly edited the list for our purposes here . The full reference document is available on their support webpage if you want to check it out in its entirety .
WE ’ VE GOT OPTIONS :
Microphone Placement 1 : 12 inches above middle strings , 8 inches horizontally from hammers with lid off or at full stick . Tonal balance : Natural , well-balanced . Comments : Less pickup of ambiance and leakage . Move microphone ( s ) farther from hammers to reduce attack and mechanical noises . Good coincident-stereo placement .
Microphone Placement 2 : 8 inches above treble strings , as with Microphone Placement 1 . Tonal balance : Natural , well-balanced , slightly bright . Comments : Place one microphone over bass strings and one over treble strings for stereo . Phase cancellations may occur if the recording is heard in mono .
Microphone Placement 3 : Aiming into sound holes . Tonal balance : Thin , dull . Excellent isolation . Sometimes sounds suitable for heavier driving rock , but not one of my go-to placements ( unless I need the isolation and nothing else is working ). Boost mid-bass and
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