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How is a piano recorded?

What prompted this question is this afternoon's activity: going to the mall, an obligatory task of being a husband, we entered through Nordstrom. As the habit of Nordstrom is, they usually have a pianist play a baby grand near their escalators in the middle of the store. So while my better half was browsing, my son and I watched the pianist.
From a certain distance, I certainly couldn't localize where the lower register or the upper register or anything in between was, the piano sounded as a whole, singular unit. However, that's not the case in many recordings, at least what I have: the piano is spread wide b/w l & r speakers. Is this the result of close-miking the piano? I wonder why the rec engrs don't make it more like real live, but I have no experience or skill or any background in recording so I don't know. What are the considerations for close miking like this?
yr44
dewald_visser
176 posts
 
Firstly ou should understand how a piano produces it's sound. All the strings are connected, by tension, to the sound-board. The sound-board is like a big diaphram witch amplifies the string's vibrations. The sound-board projects the sound (if it's a grand) up against the lid and down towards the floor. You don't 'mic' the strings but rather the sound-board. I found that by placing the mic or mics 2 meters away from the 'sound-board' makes for the best recording. I also would never place a mic inside the piano cabinet or near the strings. This is wrong as you get a peak in the frequency were the mic sits - say for instance its near a middle A flat.
stlram
6 posts
 
There are several ways to mic a piano and it all depends on what you want the results to sound like. I do a lot of recording for a live radio broadcast and for various artists and will vary my recording tech. depending on the results I desire.

The problem with recording solo piano in a realistic manner is that it can lack impact and not hold the listener's interst, especially if there are vocals. Getting the soundstage right with vocals and piano is very difficult, so in order to create a soundstage that holds the listener's attention a lot of engineers create a 10 foot wide sound stage with the lower register extending stage left and the upper, stage right.

This, of course, makes for interesting runs but can be a bit annoying for those that want an audience perspective rather than an artist.

So in short, there is no right or wrong way but rather multiple ways that can shape the results you want.

My favorite way is to use one pair of close mics ORTF mics, starting around middle C, slightly turned at around 40 degree angled back on the lower register and forward on the higher. I then place two split omni's, spaced around 5-6 feet in front of the paino and then post mix to my liking.
jeromedny
61 posts
 
I am a simpleton in this crowd - generally just interested in hearing good stuff without a lot of concern about the technicals. But I recommend the cd Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock Duets. I have found that the recording produces the whole, integrated sound you describe, but there is a l-r separation for the pianos themselves, a very good recreation of the back and forth of two masters.
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