RECORDING PIANO
Thank you, Warren!
One day I was recording piano and the musician (Warren Wolfe) complained. He said that engineers NEVER listen to him when he tries to tell them how to record piano. I immediately stopped setting up my mics, looked him square in the eye and told him, "OK, tell me how to record this piano". He said, "It's easy. Just put your head in the piano and move it around while I play. Wherever it sounds fullest is where you put the mics."
At the time I was still doing what I had seen most other engineers do, which was to put a stereo pair at a 90 degree angle over the hammers, perhaps with additional mic(s) over the low strings or perhaps over or outside the piano itself. I had even tried taping PZMs to the lid, and although I was able to get a decent piano sound, I ultimately would need to tweak the sound to get it right.
I moved the mics away from the piano and put my head into it while he played. I already did this with other instruments (even different gtr amplifier speakers to see which sounded the best), but had assumed that the way other engineers mic'ed a piano had to be THE way...after all, the instrument has not exactly changed much since it was invented and had always been a big part of recorded music.
To my surprise, I did indeed hit one place where the piano sounded great. It was warm and rich and had all of the stereo I wanted, along with extra depth. I put a pair of schoepps there and loved the sound. I had to move them a little and change their angles so I did not have any gaps when he ran from the low end of the keys to the top end, and also to minimize the amount of foot pedal I was picking up, but otherwise it was perfect. I was able to hear the BOX and the sound moving around within it.
Since that day, I stopped assuming that I "knew" how to mic ANYTHING. I always listen to each instrument and place my mics accordingly, even if I have already recorded that exact instrument many times.
By the way, the mics were about a foot behind the hammers and halfway up to the lid. I still use a pair outside the box for extra dimension, but usually do not need them. On the rare occasion that the music calls for it, I will mic closer to the hammers for more attack. And when I use shoepps through focusrite mic pre amps I never need to add EQ.
Click here for an example of a piano recorded using this technique.