As a scientist, I’ve always held the view that the simplest approach to a problem is normally the best way to start, and very often, to end. When recording my piano, I’ve tried all sorts of microphones, numbers of microphones, recording stereo, surround sound, ambient pickups, close miking…the list goes on and on.
Ultimately, I found, at least to my ears, that the best approach was a single pair of microphones placed just outside the piano – any further in was a bit bassy and any further out sounded too distant. Now I’ve attended concerts and recording sessions with Stuart pianos where it seemed as though the recording engineers (who obviously are very skilled and knowledgeable in what they are doing) literally throw the kitchen sink at the piano so that you can’t see the wood for the microphones, as it were. The results are undeniably impressive, but it left me to ponder the difference in my approach (minimalist) to theirs (maximalist).
The PianoMic is specifically designed to record grand pianos, and the philosophy behind the microphone is to show that no other extra microphones are necessary to produce a (very) acceptable recorded sound. My initial recordings with the PM40 began to bear this out, and then I had the opportunity to put this into serious practice.
The Independent Theatre in North Sydney has long been a supporter and promoter of Stuart & Sons pianos, and they have just acquired a gorgeous looking 102-note 2.9m piano (veneered in Tasmanian Back Heart Sassafras, which is stunning) to join their other 2.9m and 2.2m pianos on stage. The theatre played host to the Armenian chamber group, the Khachaturian Trio, who performed two concerts featuring not only piano trios, but also some two piano four hand and piano duet works. Wayne Stuart was keen to record the concerts, and so he asked me if I could bring my gear along and help.
This was no problem in principle, except that I had only just received the preamp and A/D converter, and had no real knowledge of how this was going to come out. The good thing was we would have a chance to record using two PM40s, and well as being able to use two very good Neumann microphones as stage and ambient mikes. So, got the gear on Tuesday, recording on Thursday. Talk about a steep learning curve…
In fact, it turned out very well and we got some very good recorded sound from some excellent performances. In particular, a two piano Armenian Rhapsody by Babadjanian was spectacular live and recorded. We (and especially I) learned a lot, and I got a very good feel for how the sound was coming out and how we could record both the piano and a ensemble effectively in what is a very good performance environment. I will continue this anon…