Height of microphone ?
 

I just received my Rode M3 microphone. I''ll be getting a a single feed from the sound board (from the singers microphone) and will use this microphone to capture the piano and a bit of the room.

Any suggestions regarding microphone height ?

Keyboard level ? Well above the piano ? Well below ?

Thanks in advance.

Pat De Marco

Not knowing the details, I'd guess about 3 feet over the piano, facing down.

The M3 is a cardiod, so you won't pick up much bounce from the ceiling. You'll get ambient sound from the walls, but that should be fine. You don't want a sterile, studio sound. This is a live event.

If the room is small and very live (lots of echo), get the mic closer to the piano. If the room is large and has an attractive sound, you can move the mic further away. You should probably go with a range of 1.5-feet to 4 feet, depending on the setup.

Also, if the piano is bass heavy, move the mic toward the treble side of the piano. Hopefully, you can do a soundcheck with headphones to get the right placement and levels.

Spoke with a friend yesterday about this and he does the sound for Ryuichi Sakamoto. )extremely critical artist).

He has a pair of headphones to help place the mic's and ses 2 schoeps 41's interestingly. He said he put the bass mic right down a fist from the strings and the treble about 8 inches above. (piano lid removed).

Personally when I mic pianos I put the mic's more evenly and tend to use akg 414 because they are best available choice.

Above is for live sound.

The real point is the headphones let you get in there and move the mic's about in search of the sweetest spot. There really is no one answer.

THANKS !

Pat De Marco

Jimmy is right about stereo piano recordings getting the mics very close to the strings of an open grand. With a mono recording, you'll want to be a bit higher to avoid losing the strings at the extremes of the range. Then again, it depends on the style. Some jazz players stay compact (mic it closer), and others really roam the keys (mic it a bit higher).

BTW,

Here is an excellent thread about room responses, acoustic treatment, mic distances, etc.

http://vi-control.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9422

Keep in mind that the perspective here relates to treating studios and recording instruments in a small space in a way that allows reverb/convolutions/delays to simulate instruments on an orchestral stage.

It's a film and TV composers' site.