In this edition of ThePeteyGSpot SPS blog, I’m doing to dive head first into what is some foreign territory for me. Piano Micing.
When it comes to live shows, I’ve always been a fan of the classic rock, two guitars a bass and drums, style music. I dig it. If I had it my way, when I graduate from this fine academy, I’d work on AC/DC concerts once a week and live my life in bliss as the luckiest roadie ever. Unfortunately, I realized that that dream is most likely not going to happen. Chances are, at least for a little while, that I’ll be doing shows for bands I don’t like, playing music I don’t like, wearing a white powdered wig. (No the wig isn’t necessary for the job, but I’d have to amuse myself somehow and I like looking fancy…) POINT IS…. I’ll most likely have to know how to do more than throw 10 SM57s at a drum kit and teach the vocalist to not partially swallow the mic. So I decided to take a look at an article with some interesting tips on effectively (key word) micing a piano. (The grand kind, not the one with MIDI cables sticking out of it). It’s an extremely common instrument for many genres and I truly have no clue how to approach the situation. Seems like a good time to start learning.
Now, from what I gathered, there are many, many ways to mic up a piano. This article, however, focused on a few different methods, which used only a single microphone. Neat, effective, out of the way, and most importantly, give a good representation of the complex sounds of a piano. I’ll start from the beginning…
The first method the author described was dubbed “The High Hole Method” Schnazzy. This seems the most straightforward and simple methods of the single mic techniques discussed, and it showed in the way he described it. His simple instructions were to listen to the piano, and determine which sound hole has the fullest sound. With that done tape a piece of foam to the piano just behind that hole, and then tape a microphone to the foam so that just the head sticks out over the hole. And that’s about it. The only other instructions were to not cover any other holes with the foam or tape, and to not leave any cable flopping around inside. Otherwise, as I said, very simple, very straightforward. As for the choice of mics, the author said that just a basic SM57 would work with this method, but in order to get a better overall sound out of it, he liked to use the old AKG 414. He noted that it gave it a more “musical” sound. All in all I believe that the mic choice will depend on the genre of music to be played, as well as good ole personal preference. But it’s at least comforting to know that if all else fails, you can still run to walmart and pick up an SM57 to get the job done in a pinch. Now, on to method number 2…
For this method, the author admits he picked it up from a colleague he worked with named John Lewis, who I found out after a quick Google was the pianist, and the musical director, for the Modern Jazz Quartet. That in itself should give an idea of the sound he liked out of the piano.
When I read about this method, I liked it immediately. It actually seemed simpler and easier (and used less tape) than the high hole method, but the sound still stays accurate and full. As for the simplicity, here goes…
Take a Sennheiser 421, and set the roll-off to “m” (stands for music, very little roll off, if any, from what I understand) Put the mic on a mic stand and position it parallel to the ground about three-quarters of the way up the lid and about an eighth of an inch away from the lid.
Boom. You’re done. That’s all there is to it. As usual, don’t let the mic, cable, or stand touch the piano, and according to the author you should have a flat, slightly dark, full piano sound. I like the idea. Unfortunately with this method though, there are some restrictions. First of all, the author states that it’s the 421 that really gets this method to work perfectly. He doesn’t go into details about it, but he suggests that the 421 is the only mic to use in this situation if you want to actually get a decent sound out of it. That’s issue one. Issue two has to do with the piano itself. This method only works when the piano is at “High Stick” Personally, I have no idea what that means, as I’ve never so much as touched a real piano in my life. Let me Google it…
… Ok It either means when the lid is all the way open, or when someone gets hit in the face with the stick in a hockey game. Judging by context, I’m gonna guess the first definition is more relevant.
But yea, if you’re in a situation when the piano lid can’t be fully opened up, or if you don’t have a Senn 421 on hand, you wont be able to pull this off properly, and will most likely end up with a terrible sound, and subsequently get fired because you ruined a major performance. Bottom line… A great method if you can do it right, but if you can’t, don’t even attempt it. You’ll have a bad day. Okie dokie. On to number three…
This last method is one I personally would never have thought of, again, because I had no idea how a piano worked other than “Press key, make noise”. But, with one last trudge through the depths of Google images I understood how it worked. Like all other stringed instruments, the piano has a soundboard that makes the vibration of the strings a bit more audible to the listeners. What I didn’t know was that this soundboard is easily accessible at the bottom of the bottom of the piano. Now, the method does involve micing under the piano at the soundboard, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. The author described a method to find the sweet spot of the soundboard. You simply slide yourself underneath the piano and tap the soundboard near the high side (I think that means the side with the small strings… Googleing… Yep, it does.) and listen for a balanced tone that’s not too high or low. When you find it, get the mic as close as possible without touching and you should get what the author describes as a dark, woody sound. The sound wont be as flat as the other methods, but it will still have a very warm sound. And, as he also pointed out, it’s a great method if you need to keep the microphone hidden, such as in video or theater productions.
Well, looking back at what I read tonight, I definitely got a few ideas to use if I ever have the need for piano micing. And for the line of work I hope to get into, I will definitely have the need at some point. I’m glad I will be able to go into a situation like that and actually know what to do instead of just panicking and aiming a few mics at parts the look like they might vibrate. Definitely a very helpful article, especially when enhanced with Google.
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