There are lots of them but most aren’t really theories, they’re principles or practices, based on scientific/engineering practicalities such as the mic performance, distance/timing between them when using multi/stereo mic’ing, plus a great deal of personal experience.
Very much so. With a fairly high pitched instrument we would likely use a condenser mic as dynamic mics have a poorer HF response. There are numerous variables that will affect what mics we use and where we place them.
Very true. The fundamental questions of mic’ing are: What do we want to end up with and how are we going to get there? The answer to these questions narrow down our options of what mics to use and where to place them. The answers to these questions are particularly problematic with a drumkit. What we want to end up with is typically a highly processed sound but probably something that still sounds like a single entity (played by a drummer). How we’re going to get there, is that we’re going to need quite a bit of isolation/separation between the instruments in the kit, so we can process the snare drum separately from say the hihats and kick drum but also mic in a way that makes the whole thing sound like a single drumkit, rather than just a bunch of individual, unrelated percussion instruments. There are obvious contradictions with these two answers and that’s why mic’ing a drumkit is tricky and often not intuitive, although it might seem more intuitive now, in light of these questions/answers?
Yes, there are definitely different ways to mic it that are going to get different sounds out of it, some subtle some not so. And this is why I can’t answer how I would approach mic’ing an acoustic piano beyond just some broad steps. First step is to narrow down some of the variables, is this a grand or upright piano, is it a live performance, is this an unaccompanied (or solo multi-tracked) piano, is it a solo piano with an ensemble, is it a piano that’s just a member of an ensemble, where is this recording going to take place (pub, world class concert hall, studio, football stadium, etc.)? Next step is our good old two questions above and only after all these answers could I start to consider various practical options.
Ian Shepard knows what he’s talking about, compared to most of the vids/podcasts posted here he is a reliable source of knowledge. That doesn’t mean he’s always right but I don’t recall hearing something from him that had me frothing at the mouth. Well worth watching his YouTube stuff if you’re interested. Bear in mind though he’s a mastering engineer, he’s certainly got some recording experience but compared to say a long time recording engineer at a top studio, he’s going to be limited.
Ah, but the two aren’t separate, remember our 2 fundamental questions. How and what we’re going to “adjust after the fact” will largely be dictated by how we’ve mic’ed it. So, our mic’ing concepts will be significantly influenced by how/what we want to “adjust after the fact”.
Yes but it was more the discussion with the guy he interviewed for the video, Mike Senior, who is a recording engineer, that I thought was relevant to Big Shot's question.
OK, now we have a starting point. I’ll assume it’s a really good/famous concert hall. This assumption means that we’re probably want to be really careful capturing the acoustics/reverb. Is this a live gig (with an audience) or just an empty hall for a recording session? If it’s the former, then I would look to have a mic array (or a couple of mics) near the ceiling above and towards the back of the stage, as I’ll get cleaner reverb and less audience sound/noise than if I placed the mics at the back of the hall just above the audience height. I”ll probably have a mic or two not far from the back and not far above the audience, to pick up the audience and one or two at the back but much higher. In the mix we can now balance the main clean reverb with decent but noisier reverb from the back and also increase the audience noise if we wish. However, exactly what we do here will depend on the exact hall. A large symphony hall and the mics near the back of the auditorium don’t need to be near the back a small recital hall probably more so. Next question, is this being commercially filmed/broadcast? If so, we might have to choose less visually obtrusive mics and mic positions for the piano, if not we can do whatever we want. The choice for the actual piano mics will depend on what the piece is and the playing style of the performer. For example someone like Lang Lang can be quite subtle but can also give it a damn good thrashing, so that will affect what mics we choose compared to say someone like Melvin Tan who is always very subtle and never bangs away. EG. For Melvin we’d choose a mic with a really low noise floor because we’ll probably be adding a decent amount of mic pre-amp gain. In either case we’d want a mic with a smooth and wide FR, very probably (but not definitely) a high quality large diameter condenser (C414s were always a popular choice but I usually prefer something a bit cleaner) to help the bass a bit, 2 of them covering the low and high strings inside the piano, cardioid or wide cardioid to get some reflection from the lid from the rear lobe of the polar pattern and possibly quite close to the hammers with Melvin and further away for Lang Lang. Exact positioning would need tweaking during a sound test. Might also (or even instead) have a mic or two outside the piano, say 4ft in front, to get a more holistic sound because it can be tricky to get all the bass and treble with close mics without it being a bit two separated (almost like two different pianos).
Ah, didn’t realise that. Not that it really matters in that particular case, they were talking fairly basic stuff, the sort of thing you’d learn after a year or so and I didn’t notice anything wrong in what was stated even though it was a bit over simplified.
I may be mistaken but I think that (normal?) piano sound could not come from that electric piano (Wurlitzer?) in the video.
Nope.
They don’t look good to me. On the other hand I’ve been involved in a few music vids and many other cases where we had to sync a visual music performance with a separate recording, so I’m probably a bit more sensitive to and aware of the tricks used to achieve it.
Yep, a lot of basics to learn, all to do with video editing though!
I did a gig in Atlanta with the Symphony Orch many years ago.
It’s certainly not unique, in some situations it’s completely standard practice. Film/TV will commonly use sound blankets on set, sometimes lots of them, they’ll also put down carpets or rugs (if it’s out of shot obviously). Pretty standard practice for decades. In studios and when recording orchestras we’ll often use acoustic panels/screens between sections of the orch. There are numerous examples, for example some modern concert halls have adjustable acoustic properties. Symphony Hall in Birmingham (UK) has a big control panel backstage, covered in knobs and buttons to open/close baffles all around the walls, lower the ceiling over the stage and various other acoustic options.
Atlanta has been growing if you ever make it round again: it's still exploding in the last few years, and is the film industry outside Hollywood (we've got Pinewood here too now).
No, it couldn’t and certainly not 2 different pianos (panned left and right) from one electronic keyboard! There’s lots of things, obviously backing vox and strings (already mentioned) but even other things we see, the trumpet couldn’t have been recorded like that.
I’ve been in the opera house but not recorded there. I’ve worked in the Sofiensaal and Musikverein.
Generally “yes” some C18th are a bit of a nightmare. Modern ones, particularly those in the last 30 years, usually employ complex computer modelling of the acoustics, architects can tweak and play around with all sorts of acoustic solutions/tricks before they even lay the foundations. Some of the big budget recent ones I’ve heard really are a huge leap forward. There were some real pigs though, even in the 1980’s. Most famously, The Barbican Hall was built specifically to be the new home for the London Symphony Orchestra. It cost tens of millions and the LSO refused to play there until they fixed the acoustics. It took millions more and still isn’t particularly good!
