Recording - May 2016 - 26

source. Mic 2-the Side-must use a figure8 pattern. The Side mic is perpendicular to
the Mid, so the figure-8 is left-right of the
source direction. Once recorded, the Side
mic track is duplicated and the duplicate is
phase-reversed. These two tracks are panned
hard left/right and the Mid is placed in the
center. You can then mix to taste. M-S can
be quite beautiful on a piano, and is perfectly mono-compatible since the two Side tracks
will cancel when summed.
Placement of an effective Mid-Side pair for
piano is similar to other placements-there
are plenty of great possibilities. The other
day I set up an M-S pair at the edge of the
case (Figure 8), right where I would normally
put a spaced pair. I loved the result. I also
loved the result when Houston engineer Rock
Romano recorded me with a M-S setup of
ribbons placed about the middle of the
piano, with the cardioid pointed right at me.
However, I do find that M-S can go
wrong a little easier than other techniques.
One experimental M-S array was placed
near the edge of the case a little higher than
usual, and I got tracks lacking depth and
character. I ended up killing the duplicate
Side track and panning the Mid left and the
original Side right to salvage the take.
That brings me to a point on mixing. It
may seem there's no room to play in mixing
a piano, but that's not true. Especially if you
use multiple mics, there are many ways to
experiment and adjust. For example, panning an XY closer together is always an
option. A spaced pair will start to change
tonally as you bring the panning in
(because of phase issues), but that tonal
change may be something you like. Just as
there are no wrong ways to mic a piano,
there are no wrong ways to mix it.
Oh yeah... uprights
Upright pianos aren't recorded nearly as
often as grands, and the reason is simple:
they don't sound as awesome. But that doesn't mean it never happens!
Some general concepts still apply.
Condensers and ribbons usually work better,
spaced pairs have more phase issues than XY
pairs, and close miking yields less room
sound than getting farther away. The upright
is physically different, though. So where do
we place mics?
There are three basic possibilities: inside
or above the top (with the top open), in
front of the piano underneath the keys, or
behind the piano. Upright pianos are often
26

RECORDING MAY 2016

shoved up against a wall, and it's probably best not to do that. It's also probably
best to remove panels either in front or in back, to give better acoustic access to
the soundboard and strings. My personal preference would be a spaced pair of
cardioid condensers placed about 2 feet off the ground, right about even with
either side of the bench (so the piano player kicks them when sitting down or
getting up) with panel removed. I once shoved a cheap dynamic into a 100year-old out-of-tune monster and the result was... magnificent... in its own way.
By now you've got the picture that piano miking is a complex and variable
task, with a lot of room for creativity. I've covered as much as I could, leaving
out one big possibility: surround. That's a can of worms that I think deserves its
own article. Talking about piano miking is by no means simple, and neither is
getting what you want from such a complex instrument, but I hope you've at
least got some places to start now, and at best, a better idea of what to expect
when caging the beast named Piano.
Aaron J. Trumm (trumm@recordingmag.com) is a producer, vocalist and heavyhanded "pianist" who loves the sustain pedal. He created NQuit Music and techno/
classical/poetry fusion act Third Option, and is now the front man of the imaginatively named Aaron J. Trumm. Say hi at www.aarontrumm.com/PianoMiking.

http://www.aarontrumm.com/PianoMiking

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