Recording On The Piano ???

[leemusicmad]

Hi

I'm recording a solo piano album (slow piano) using a baby grand Bluthner, but finding it very difficult to record with expressive playing. I know much can be edited using audio recording applications with features like velocity, pitch, tempo etc. But the trouble is actually trying to record the piece with the best possible take.

I find I'm having to record the same part several times before getting even close to the best recording, (taking lengthy amounts of time) Is there an easier way around this ? example, how do the pros do it ?

[iansinclair]

Do I presume this is an acoustic take from a real piano, and not an electronic one?  If so, may I remind you that recording piano is one of the most demanding tasks for the recording industry (organ is about the only thing that's worse).

So the obvious question is -- what are you using for equipment?  And how do you have it set up?

The other comment is that a recording, particularly with good equipment and a good setup, is absolutely merciless.  It will record what you play.  Post production electronic fiddles are almost always audible, and should be used with great caution.

[soitainly]

 I think most of us find that when we go to record we have this problem. It's a combination of stage fright and finding out we really don't sound as good as we thought we did.

 You need to listen to the recordings and adjust/ practice the parts you don't like. Just trying extra hard to play note perfect can take all the life out of the performance. I see nothing wrong with editing together smaller parts to make a whole, sometimes just allowing yourself to play freely without worrying about mistakes can make for a more spontaneous recording. As for getting over the stage fright/red light syndrome, just get in the habit of recording yourself often and you will get comfortable at it.

[leemusicmad]

Yes it's a Yamaha P 155 digital stage piano with GHA action full weighted keys, using the Galaxy 2 VST piano library as a virtual instrument, that being the Bluthner. All this is being run through a DAW Logic Studio using a Mac, the quality of the pianos samples are amazing as Galaxy 2 piano libraries are amongst one of the best on the market.

However I've realized the issue is a case of two things, key weight on the P 155 is heavy making it difficult to perform expressive playing therefor not getting the desired take after many recordings, also being a perfectionist doesn't help.

Out of interest why is it recommended when recording piano to play the piece right through from beginning to end, then choosing the best take from those recordings, as opposed to recording a section at a time for the best take.

[iansinclair]

Several parts to this...

First, the Yamaha GHA action has the reputation of being a very faithful -- as these things go -- reproduction of an acoustic piano action.  Therefore, it should be possible to get the same level of expressiveness on it as you would an a real Bluthner, for example.  You do have to practice on that instrument, to get the feel for its particular touch.  May I recommend that you really work on getting your playing to the point where you like it on that instrument?  If for no other reason, should you ever be faced with a real acoustic grand it won't come as such a shock to you...

The reason for recording piano -- or any other music for that matter -- right through and choosing the best take, rather than picking and choosing or even recording just a section at a time is many fold.  First, only by playing and recording right through will the performance be completely coherent.  This applies both to the performance itself -- the way the music flows as a single whole -- and to the acoustics, particularly if you actually record in sections, rather than splicing bits of one take into another; there will -- or should be -- some reverberation or at least echo from any previous note or notes in the sound of any following notes, unless there is a very long rest, and if it's not there there is something missing in the recording.

I would emphasize that I am NOT a golden eared audiophile, but I am a practicing musician of many years.  I can't always hear when a single note or two has been spliced into a recording -- although it's often audible; I can almost always hear when two takes have been spliced together end to end, even if the tempi are exactly the same (rare) and the splice is exactly right so there is neither time compression nor extension over the splice (even rarer).  I realise -- all too well! -- that this is now common practice, even on the finest professional recordings (although with them, I'll give them credit -- they do try very hard to make the splices at some logical and musically reasonable point).  In my humble opinion, the very finest recordings which have ever been made -- taking into consideration fidelity and timing problems, which let early recordings out of the picture) were the Mercury Living Presence series (all recorded in single takes, with one microphone for the monaural and two for the stereo series) and the London FFRR and FFSS series, done the same way.  Some of these have been remastered for digital, and it is worth tracking them down to see what a difference it makes.  There are a few -- a very few -- modern recordings done the same way, but one really has to look at the fine print to find them.

I would also note, however, that if the recording has been mashed into a .mp3 format and strained through an iPod, that it isn't going to make a darn bit of difference how the original was done, so... I guess I'm just old fashioned.

[matt_walker]

I'm not familiar with that particular piano, so can I ask exactly what happens when you record. The problem is, you can have a lovely, very-true to life sound coming out of your speakers, but if your internal recorder is simply recording midi files then it's all going to depend on the sound card/system of whatever you play it through after. If I record on my old technics as a midi file, play it back through the piano it sounds great, but when I play it back through my computer it sounds terrible, like a synthesised blib they used to play on computer games for the sega megadrive.

I record off a 'proper' acoustic piano with a Zoom H2, that cost about £160 and is a great investment. Sound is 'almost' professional quality with very little hiss. See some of my videos:

eature=mhee

[leemusicmad]

Much noted, thanks for all the help, nice forum.