AUDIO
MIXING MASTERY // ACOUSTIC PIANO , PART 2 | Jeff Hawley
As shared in part one of the ‘ Mixing Mastery : Acoustic Piano , Part 1 ’ article last month , there are many variables at play when considering how to approach miking up a giant percussion instrument with many sensitive vibrating strings . We discussed the pros and cons of having the piano lid open or closed . We also walked through six different microphone position approaches that can serve as a starting point when presented with the challenge of amplifying an acoustic piano . If we jump over to thinking about how we might mic up a smaller stringed instrument with six vibrating strings and a resonating surface — an acoustic guitar — we uncover an additional element in the mix . Most worship guitarists wielding their trusty acoustic guitar use a piezo pickup or some combination of a pickup and a mic to achieve an accurately reproduced sound without troublesome feedback . While we are at it , what about the electric guitarist using a magnetic pickup to amplify their strings ? What if we could apply the same techniques to an acoustic piano and just stick a pickup on it ? For some readers , you may be surprised to find out that just such a device exists . Let ’ s dig into a few options on the market and how we might approach adding a piano pickup in the quest to achieve mixing mastery with acoustic pianos .
IT ’ S CRYSTAL CLEAR : A number of manufacturers offer pickups for acoustic piano . Just as with guitars , there are a few different ways to translate instrument /
string vibrations into an analog signal for further tweaking and adding to your band mix . Piezo pickups ( like the Schatten or the Barcus-Berry pictured here ) rely on piezo crystals , which convert the vibrations directly to a changing voltage . This approach provides great feedback rejection . Just as with acoustic guitars that utilize a piezo pickup element , a preamp is necessary to bring the output impedance into a workable range for use with a DI or direct input into a console . With a pickup system like the Barcus-Berry , a small strip of special adhesive
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