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Hi All
I have started recording my piano, and would like to get your opinions on my recording technique. This is a friend's playing of Claire de Lune by Debussy.

Piano: Steinway D

Recording 8 Channels into 2 at 24bits and 96kHz sampling rate.

You can comment on the piano technique if you want.

THANKS!


http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=4cecc3a38da090f4312dbd5f2bdc50625445c52891d92514ce018c8114394287

(link is all one word)
Doug

Nice piano, nice playing.

The recording is good too. Overall, the tone sounded great. There were at least two minor issues that I heard, however.

I haven't done this kind of stuff in years, so please take these observations with a bag of salt.

First, there were what I can only describe as discontinuities in the recording. The only way I can describe it is it's as if a jack was being turned (or partially removed) during the recording, causing slight static and discontinuity. I have no idea what caused it in your recording.

Second, there are at times what I can only describe as flutter. Back some decades when I was interested in stero high fidelity and using vinyl records or magnetic tapes, the velocity of the platter or the tape would vary from perfectly constant. If varied at a slow rate, it was called wow. If it varied at a faster rate, we called it flutter. I can't imagine how it is in a digital recording.

I'd be curious as to the microphones you used, how you mixed, and how you collected the bits (on tape? into a computer?). I'd also be curious as to the encoding algorithm (MP3? commercial CD?).

Hop







Hop

Thanks for your thoughts. I too heard clicks and pops, and I think it has to do with the speed of the computer keeping up with the tons of data dumped onto the disk. I will try to redo this.

Aside from the severe technical defects that Hop noted, acoustically it's a very good recording.

I was listening closely, trying to find something "wrong" with the stereo image. It's neither the "10-foot-wide" piano often created by too-close-micing, nor a "natural" image from stereo pair at a distance. But considering that the stereo image suggests relatively close mics, it's quite ambient. It's very nice, but I can't decide if the ambience is a wee too much. Might be something to explore.

But I am nitpicking. It's a very very good sound.

Yeah ...a couple clicks and pops....but

You played it beautifully. Really nice intonation.

I think Claude would've liked it.

It still breaks me up every time.

Hmmm, your avg pc today should fairly easily be able to keep up with a stereo signal unless there is a lot of something else going on. The recording, other than the obvious issues noted, sounds "processed" a bit, even though it's not compressed. Perhaps your mic levels are a tad bit too high (i.e. the "processed" sound is simply soft clipping)? Also there were a couple of times in the beginning I could hear what sounds like the hammers falling back fairly loudly (:53, 1:17), though this could have been something else in the background or a glitch. I mention this because it was an issue I had when trying to record some softer pieces.

Another thing I've been observing more with recent recordings (professional as well so certainly nothing against this recording) is that I can pretty clearly hear the dampers going up and down (i.e. when the right pedal is used). It's a bit distracting but given the quality of today's mics I guess it's inevitable.

Please do let us know what you used and where it was placed.

Thanks Again.
I may have placed the mics too close together. This is my first real recording, I used six individual mics, 3 pairs of matched. I experienced technical difficulties such as the piano bench squeaking (!), and perhaps the damper needs lubrication. But this is why I posted the music, as your comments are EXTREMELY helpful. I will experiment with different mic placements. I want to use the six channels to create surround 5.1 with some delay effects, etc. I am also looking for TALENT in the waltham, MA area that wants to be recorded (for free, of course) so I can improve my recording techniques. I used a laptop, but will soon have a core i7 dedicated computer. This is fun!!
Doug