Microphone placement- Piano

http://www.shure.co.uk/support_download/educational_content/microphones-basics/piano

Experimentation with mic placement provides the ability to achieve accurate and pleasing sound reproduction on these complex sound sources. It is also an opportunity for exploring sound manipulation, giving the studio engineer many paths to the final mix. Whether you are involved in a music studio, a commercial studio, or a project studio, you should continue to explore different methods of achieving the desired results. The possibilities are limited only by time and curiosity.

Grand Piano

Learn more about the microphone placements by looking at the accroding numbers in the table below.

Microphone Placement	Tonal Balance	Comments
1.) 12 inches above middle strings, 8 inches horizontally from hammers with lid off or at full stick	Natural, well-balanced	Less pickup of ambience and leakage than 3 feet out front. Move microphone(s) farther from hammers to reduce attack and mechanical noises. Good coincident-stereo placement.
2.) 8 inches above treble strings, as above (see left image below)	Natural, well-balanced, slightly bright	Place one microphone over bass strings and one over treble strings for stereo. Phase cancellations may occur if the recording is heard in mono.
3.) Aiming into sound holes (see right image below)	Thin, dull, hard, constricted	Improves isolation. Bass roll-off and some treble boost required for more natural sound.
4.) 6 inches over middle strings, 8 inches from hammers, with lid on short stick	Muddy, boomy, dull, lacks attack	Less pickup of ambiance and leakage than 3 feet from sound hole.
5.) Next to the underside of raised lid, centered on lid	Bassy, full	Unobtrusive placement.
6.) Underneath the piano, aiming up at the soundboard	Bassy, dull, full	Unobtrusive placement.
7.) Surface-mount microphone mounted on underside of lid over lower treble strings, horizontally, close to hammers for brighter sound, further from hammers for more mellow sound	Bright, well-balancedl	Excellent isolation. Experiment with lid height and microphone placement on piano lid for desired sounds.
8.) Two surface-mount microphones positioned on the closed lid, under the edge at its keyboard edge, approximately 2/3 of the distance from middle A to each end of the keyboard	Bright, well-balanced, strong attack	Excellent isolation. Moving “low” mic away from keyboard six inches provides truer reproduction of the bass strings while reducing damper noise. By splaying these two mics outward slightly, the overlap in the middle registers can be minimized.
9.) Surface-mount microphone placed vertically on the inside of the frame, or rim, of the piano, at or near the apex of the piano’s curved wall	Full, natural	Excellent isolation. Minimizes hammer and damper noise. Best if used in conjunction with two surface-mount microphones mounted to closed lid, as above.

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Upright Piano

Learn more about the microphone placements by looking at the accroding numbers in the table below.

Microphone Placement	Tonal Balance	Comments
1.) Just over open top, above treble strings	Natural (but lacks deep bass), picks up hammer attack	Good placement when only one microphone is used.
2.) Just over open top, above bass strings	Slightly full or tubby, picks up hammer attack	Mike bass and treble strings for stereo.
3.) Inside top near the bass and treble stings	Natural, picks up hammer attack	Minimizes feedback and leakage. Use two microphones for stereo.
4.) 8 inches from bass side of soundboard	Full, slightly tubby, no hammer attack	Use this placement with the following placement for stereo.
5.) 8 inches from treble side of soundboard	Thin, constricted, no hammer attack	Use this placement with the preceding placement for stereo.
6.) Aiming at hammers from front, several inches away (remove front panel)	Bright, picks up hammer attack	Mike bass and treble strings for stereo.
1 foot from center of soundboard on hard floor or one-foot-square plate on carpeted floor, aiming at piano (soundboard should face into room)	Natural, good presence	Minimize pickup of floor vibrations by mounting microphone in low-profile shock-mounted microphone stand.

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