How to Record and Mix Piano

In this video we show an example of how to record piano using a set of microphone techniques. You’ll be able to listen to the difference between the recording techniques while engineer Gustavo Giardelli makes adjustments. Recording the piano: Its important to tune the piano properly before recording the player. This is  a key aspect to get a great sounding piano recording. We used a few different microphone techniques. The first setup we used is the X-Y Technique. The second setup is the ORTF (Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française) Technique and lastly, the last setup is the A-B Technique. Its important to train your ears to be able to tell the differences between these techniques in any given recording situation. It gives your clients an array of options. Mixing the piano: During the mixing process we used a variety of effects which include EQ to give the sound more clarity by exaggerating the high frequencies, but we also cut the low end just a bit, which worked in this situation. We then added a compressor to contain the dynamics and raised the output to compensate for the compressed signal. You will also be able to see that there is a pretty fast attack. In the end we also added some reverb to enhance the space. We hope the video about Recording & Mixing Piano was helpful and remember this is one of many ways to record and mix a piano, try these techniques out yourself and make sure to experiment as well.