Microphone

[sroka]

Hello everyone!

I was wondering what microphone/recorder you guys recommend me to buy?  Also, if there is specific recording program you guys use, I am open to suggestions.

Thanks

-Sly

[chopinlover01]

It depends on a lot of things, mostly budget and use. I'm getting a Blue Snowball mic bundle off of amazon for a little over $100. It comes with the mic, headphones, and a sound filter (to help eradicate background noise). For piano music, Shure SM-57's have never failed most anyone (that I know of anyways). For uprights, the SM-57's are always a good choice, typically placed at either end of the (raised) lid. For something like a baby grand, a diaphragm mic is good, too. I know some people use ribbon mics, but those get really costly and aren't very durable. Literally, you can blow on the inside of the mic and completely wreak hell on the thing.

[quantum]

Can you give us more on what you you want to do.  What is the purpose of the recording?  Who will be the audience?  How frequently do you want to record?  What are the details of the instrument?  What are the details of the recording space?

Just IMO, but I strongly dislike dynamics for most applications of piano recording.  Yes, 57s and 58s are ubiquitous, but that doesn't mean they should be used for everything.  The can make a piano sound very un-piano like.  For the same price of a 57, there are many mics that are very suitable for piano recording applications. 

For programs you can start with these:

Audacity
https://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Ardour
https://ardour.org/


Here are some recent threads you may be interested in reading:
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=55288.0
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=55631.0

[indianajo]

Since I'm dabbling in in recording myself on piano and organ in the living room, I'm using a Shure KSM27 cardioid mike instead of a super cardoid like a SM58.    You see KSM27 a lot on television music shows used by whole groups, out in front, like they used to use those old RCA ribbon mikes.  You'll need a phantom power source like a pro mixer to use a condensor mike like this.  It has a built in switchable bass filter to roll off the footsteps on the floor.  The shock mount costs extra, since I paid $80 for the mike I made my own shock mount.  I'm using camera tripods for mike stands, from an obsolete hobby to a new one.  
A guy on here told me that in groups in a studio, he tapes two Audiotech 4050 mikes to the soundboard of his grand piano.  4050 is a switchable pattern mike, and he didn't say which pattern he is using, and they don't come up used around here.  So I've been looking at 4033's which are actually for sale sometimes on craigslist.  I don't even have a drummer to mess up the studio sound, so I'm not looking for a near-field mike.  
I'm using Audacity recording software which comes installed on op system ubuntustudio. I'm running version 12 which is still available, on a vintage 1999 PC with a 700 mhz processor.  With a clean disk drive, 61 gb not used by the op system, that could give me 14 minutes of recording time.  
Having a dedicated computer with real time op system keeps other programs from hogging the processor.  If you've got a faster computer to dedicate to recording, Ardour comes on ubuntustudio which has more features than Audacity.  
Now if I'll just quite making stupid mistakes after I push the record button, you might be able to hear my efforts someday.  I'm fooling around on the internet instead of recording now because I have to take diphenhydramine due to  this fall cold, makes me stupid, mistake prone, and crabby.  

[pianoman1349]

I personally record using garageband or audacity connected to a Blue Yeti usb microphone.  I find this set-up works really well garageband combined with the blue yeti can produce cd quality sound.  I also use a Zoom Z1 microphone for more portable projects.

[timothy42b]

For recording my practice I use a Zoom H2 fed to my laptop running Audacity.

For concerts I use the Zoom as a standalone. 

I don't attempt audiophile quality, i just want to hear what I'm doing wrong (and right.)