Back once again, folks. Today, I thought I would share my recent experience in recording some live piano for the first time, for a song I'm working on. "Live", as opposed to simulated, or "virtual" piano. Why is this special, you may ask? Well, because of the degree to which digital technology has advanced, today you can have virtual versions of just about any type of instrument you can think of in the form of software, available at the click of your computer mouse, and a MIDI keyboard or other device, to play the sounds.
One of the most common and most useful virtual instrument sounds is the emulation of an acoustic piano. Not everyone has the means to purchase a real piano, or the physical space necessary to house one! Not to mention forgiving neighbors, accommodating the noise factor... For that reason, virtual pianos are great to work with, especially with the level of realism being achieved, and continues to improve. The downside is what gets lost when playing virtual piano, and the most important element lost is referred to by some players as "feel". The relationship of the hands with the keys, and the response of the instrument are important factors to a piano player. Playing sampled piano sounds from a MIDI keyboard with plastic keys will probably sound perfectly acceptable for the listener, but it will never feel like a real piano to the musician. It is simply one of those things a modern keyboard player learns to live with particularly when playing live, but is often the case when recording as well, especially at home.
So when the opportunity to record with a real piano came about, I jumped at it! The song I'm working on is mostly based around an acoustic guitar. However, I felt that the song would benefit from a piano part in the middle section (a "solo", of sorts). This was great timing, as my recording equipment had all been recently upgraded and tailored to be more mobile. The piano (an *old* Kawai upright) is located in the den of my parents' house. My mobile equipment allowed me to go to them and record with relative ease. The only thing is that I've never recorded one before! So (like everything else that comes up in my life these days), I did some online research to at least get pointed in the right direction. I found a few articles that gave me some ideas on mic placement, to get the best possible sound.
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The piano, the way it usually looks
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| Setting up |
I also wanted to have the right type of microphones for the job. However, when it comes to mics, there are usually several options on what to choose. I decided to go with a pair of Samson CO2 condenser mics. They are small diaphragm mics which, my research told me, tend to capture acoustic instruments quite well, particularly the detail in the upper frequency ranges. Since this recording session was a bit experimental in nature for me, I wasn't prepared to spend a whole lot of money. Fortunately, these mics came as a matched pair, with case and mic stand adapters for $119. A pretty good deal, being that mics of this type typically cost at least twice as much, for a single mic! I haven't completed the track yet, so I don't have a final, concrete opinion on the quality of the mics, but based on what I heard from the playback of what was recorded, the sound was decent enough for me. I'm pretty confident that it will be sufficient for what I need on the song.
The piano is not in regular use by those who live in the house, so the furniture in the den is arranged near the piano pretty tightly, as if it were another piece of furniture itself (sorry Mom & Dad). Thus, a little prep work had to be done before I could get down to business. That consisted of clearing away a loveseat and a coffee table to make some room, and setting up some "TV trays" to set my equipment on. Fortunately, an electrical outlet with a power strip was close at hand to plug in my equipment. I also had to do a quick and dirty repair on the sustain pedal of the piano, which was loose. A rattling sound every time I pressed down on the pedal would pretty much ruin anything I tried to record. Some painter's masking tape wrapped around the pedal did the trick quite nicely for muting the offending noise. The pedal also squeaks a bit, but I didn't have time to figure out where it was coming from, so I did some "tweaking" to my playing technique and used it only when necessary. If I get the chance to record there again, that will be next on my list of fixes.
The recording equipment consisted of my laptop (a 15" Apple MacBook Pro), a Digidesign Mbox 2 USB audio interface, an external FireWire hard drive, and the aforementioned Samson condenser mics. As far as DAW software, I use Pro Tools LE 8. They're up to version 9 now, but I haven't gotten around to upgrading yet.
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The recording equipment
Concerning mic placement, I set them over the top of the piano with the lid open, strings and hammers exposed. As the pictures illustrate, one mic covered the lower end of the instrument, the other covering the upper end. The mics were slightly tilted to attempt a good blend of both ends of the piano range. Each mic was recorded to its own separate audio track in Pro Tools. The two tracks should give a nice stereo image when it comes time to mix the song.
Once set up, the recording process was pretty much the same as when I record at home - I do multiple takes, and at some point assess how things are going. In a perfect world, I'd be able to perform the whole part in a single take. In almost all cases, it doesn't work out that way, at least for me. So, I record enough takes until I feel I have enough to piece together an entire section that I'll be satisfied with. In other words, I take pieces that I feel are good from the separate takes and edit them together to create a "master" take. It may seem like cheating to some, but this technique has been used by professionals for decades (yes, even before digital recording), so I don't feel so bad, haha. |
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| Mics pointed toward the inside of the piano |
Once I did my takes for the middle section, I decided that I should record some chords in the final chorus of the song. I'm not sure that I'll use it in the final version, but I figured it couldn't hurt to record it, since I was all set up to do so. Another round of takes for that part, and I was done. All that remained was packing up the equipment, and putting the room back the way I found it - don't want my folks regretting having me over to record, because of the mess I made. I may want to come back and record again someday!
All said and done, it was a pretty enjoyable experience, and stress-free. First, because I was only recording a couple of short parts. Secondly (and most importantly), because my parents were kind and gracious hosts, allowing me to record for an afternoon in their home. Thanks Mom & Dad!
