How to Improve Recording Sound Quality?

[beethovenfan01]

Hi guys,

I am just wondering, what are some tips you might have for improving the quality of recordings? I often find that my own recordings sound quite awful, not only because of the piano playing, but just the overall sound is so bad. What can I do to improve this?

The device I use is a Zoom H1. I used to put it on the top of the upright, but I think that might be part of the problem. Unfortunately, I don't know where else to put it. The piano is in a small room (similar in size to a practice room), so the acoustics aren't the best, but I still would like to maximize the sound quality. How do I do that?

Thanks!