It was always my intention when I acquired the Stuart piano to develop a small recording setup specifically for the piano, and in a previous post to this blog I have described that in some detail. I’ve added a fourth omnidirectional microphone to this setup – this time placed directly
underneath the piano – I pinched this idea from the setup for Tonya’s concert in December.
Some two and a half years ago I recorded enough material for my first CD. This was recorded using two cardioid AudioTechnica voice microphones, but even then the result was a very good sound considering the lack of sophistication of the equipment used. Recording was not that difficult from a performance perspective, but since that time listening to what I recorded it became clear that there were a number of things which I would really need to get better if I was going to record again – there are too many minor niggles for my liking now.
And that is a problem in a sense because I’m now so attuned to those ‘minor niggles’ that I can identify them very quickly when I play and hence I’m finding that it’s taking much longer to get a 'take’ that I’m even reasonably happy with let alone completely satisfied with the result. I suppose it’s a good thing long term because I’m forcing myself to a much higher standard (which may of course not be such a high standard to other people but to me it is) but nonetheless it is very frustrating at times. So it means one or more of a few possibilities:
1) I’m not good enough, full stop
2) I am good enough but the piano, as I’ve said before, makes my errors such as they are much easier to pick up
3) I’m being too critical and expecting too much of myself
4) All of the above
5) None of the above
All answers and advice gratefully received, of course.
However, what I have been able to produce so far is sounding very good, and it certainly looks as though I have my microphone setup and mixing characteristics pretty much right. The sound is very clean and precise and I’m actually beginning to believe that I can do this at a much higher level than I thought I could.
When I did my first CD I took it as a moment in time that I could look back on and see where I was at that time and compare it to where I am now. There’s no doubt that the results are much better from both an overall sound and performance viewpoint.
It hasn’t been a waste of time after all.