Recording - May 2020 - 45
Mess with the piano
There are tons of ways you can cause a piano to sound
abnormal. Recently I put a sweatshirt on the strings to create a
muted sound that proved useful for rhythms. Some avant-garde
pianists spend hours before a gig, preparing the piano with
contraptions placed on the strings, hammers, and soundboard.
'Tack' pianos are made by sticking thumbtacks in the hammers, so they make a ticky-tacky sound when striking the
strings. (beware: this is permanent, as it damages the felt.) But
what if the hammers were softer than normal?
What about the outside? Try closing the lid, draping a storage blanket over it, and miking from above. You'll probably
get a dull sound, but what if you were to hold down the sustain
pedal and let a ton of notes build up on top of each other?
For that matter, you could remove the lid entirely-a technique Elton John producer Gus Dudgeon was fond of.
So far, we've been talking about grand pianos. Uprights and
spinets are a whole different world-especially an old, lousy
upright. Perhaps you have an antique that can't be tuned or has
strings missing. Maybe zero in on the worst sound it can make
and record that. This kind of buzzy, crackling thing can be great
for creating exciting non-melodic rhythm tracks, for example.
Play with the playing
There's an incredible variety of playing styles available to the
piano. Super staccato, flowing legato, damper pedals, low registers, glissandos, and tigers, and bears, oh my! How about using the lowest two octaves to create a bassline, and replacing a
bassist in a song or section of a song? What about recording and
layering the same riff seven separate times in all the octaves?
A piano can make a lot of sounds we don't usually consider.
Check out The Piano Guys for a litany of examples, from plucking and poking strings to hand drumming on the soundboard
to threading a frayed violin bow through the strings. [check out
Stephen Scott, 'Minerva's Web' - copy ed.]
The cool thing here is breaking these rules doesn't lead to
any particular genre. You could end up doing pop covers like
The Piano Guys, avant-garde craziness à la The Mars Volta, or
even create a hip-hop track.
No rules rule
As long as you don't destroy a piano (that's not yours!) there
are no rules. There's a wild world of creativity to be had with
such a versatile instrument, and it may be time to do things a
little wrong. You never know what might come of it!
Aaron J. Trumm is a singer, rapper, and writer who uses the
piano in a fashion that's not always right. You can talk to him
on social media @AaronJTrumm
http://www.cloudmicrophones.com
Recording - May 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - May 2020
No label
Fade In
Fast Forward
That One Instrument Mic
Plugin Outlet: Chandler Limited Germanium Compressor by Softube
Incidents in The Sound Lab: Recording and Mixing The String Cheese Incident
Peluso P-28 Pencil Tube Condenser Microphone
Austrian Audio Hi-X55 Professional Over-Ear Headphones
Creative Miking Techniques for Flute, Snare, Piano, and more!
The Do’s and Don’ts of Flute Recording
Stereo Snare and Fun Room Miking Tips
Recording Piano Wrong
Plugin Outlet: Silo Soundlabs Trident EQ plugins
Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: miking and making Nick D’Virgilio’s
Samar Audio Design AL95 Passive Ribbon Microphone
Heiserman H47tube Microphone
Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Microphone and Preamp Modeling
Readers' Tracks
Plugin Outlet: Polyverse Comet
Recording - May 2020 - No label
Recording - May 2020 - Cover1
Recording - May 2020 - Cover2
Recording - May 2020 - 1
Recording - May 2020 - 2
Recording - May 2020 - 3
Recording - May 2020 - Fade In
Recording - May 2020 - 5
Recording - May 2020 - 6
Recording - May 2020 - 7
Recording - May 2020 - Fast Forward
Recording - May 2020 - 9
Recording - May 2020 - That One Instrument Mic
Recording - May 2020 - 11
Recording - May 2020 - 12
Recording - May 2020 - 13
Recording - May 2020 - 14
Recording - May 2020 - 15
Recording - May 2020 - 16
Recording - May 2020 - 17
Recording - May 2020 - 18
Recording - May 2020 - 19
Recording - May 2020 - Plugin Outlet: Chandler Limited Germanium Compressor by Softube
Recording - May 2020 - 21
Recording - May 2020 - 22
Recording - May 2020 - 23
Recording - May 2020 - Incidents in The Sound Lab: Recording and Mixing The String Cheese Incident
Recording - May 2020 - 25
Recording - May 2020 - 26
Recording - May 2020 - 27
Recording - May 2020 - 28
Recording - May 2020 - 29
Recording - May 2020 - 30
Recording - May 2020 - 31
Recording - May 2020 - 32
Recording - May 2020 - 33
Recording - May 2020 - Peluso P-28 Pencil Tube Condenser Microphone
Recording - May 2020 - 35
Recording - May 2020 - Austrian Audio Hi-X55 Professional Over-Ear Headphones
Recording - May 2020 - 37
Recording - May 2020 - Creative Miking Techniques for Flute, Snare, Piano, and more!
Recording - May 2020 - 39
Recording - May 2020 - The Do’s and Don’ts of Flute Recording
Recording - May 2020 - 41
Recording - May 2020 - Stereo Snare and Fun Room Miking Tips
Recording - May 2020 - 43
Recording - May 2020 - Recording Piano Wrong
Recording - May 2020 - 45
Recording - May 2020 - Plugin Outlet: Silo Soundlabs Trident EQ plugins
Recording - May 2020 - 47
Recording - May 2020 - Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: miking and making Nick D’Virgilio’s
Recording - May 2020 - 49
Recording - May 2020 - 50
Recording - May 2020 - 51
Recording - May 2020 - 52
Recording - May 2020 - 53
Recording - May 2020 - 54
Recording - May 2020 - 55
Recording - May 2020 - Samar Audio Design AL95 Passive Ribbon Microphone
Recording - May 2020 - 57
Recording - May 2020 - Heiserman H47tube Microphone
Recording - May 2020 - 59
Recording - May 2020 - Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Microphone and Preamp Modeling
Recording - May 2020 - 61
Recording - May 2020 - 62
Recording - May 2020 - 63
Recording - May 2020 - 64
Recording - May 2020 - 65
Recording - May 2020 - 66
Recording - May 2020 - 67
Recording - May 2020 - 68
Recording - May 2020 - 69
Recording - May 2020 - Readers' Tracks
Recording - May 2020 - 71
Recording - May 2020 - Plugin Outlet: Polyverse Comet
Recording - May 2020 - Cover3
Recording - May 2020 - Cover4
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