Piano home studio setup

[Minh Dao]

This might not exactly in the realms of linustechtips but me and my friend needs some help; so my friend is starting to upload him playing piano on YouTube and wants to go all way up to professional. He has good piano skills but has no recording knowledge so he needs some suggestions.

 

What he has an Upright piano, ipad 4 and an old crappy smart phone, a pc but is not placed anywhere near his piano. He has no laptop, no camera, no microphone (except some karaoke ones), and no soundboard. His budget is around $600 right now, and he might have more in the future. On what should he invest first to yield a decent upload video?

[ALwin]

snip

 

Well if he wants to upload a video onto Youtube, he needs a video camera. As for recording audio, I can recommend a few microphones to buy that will be suitable for recording instrumental audio, however he may also need to "modify" the room and position of the piano a bit.

[8-Bit Ninja]

decent 

 

Well if he wants to upload a video onto Youtube, he needs a video camera.

and decent audio 

[spwath]

He will need a good microphone, a good camera for videos, and it would be much easier to do all this from a computer instead of an ipad

[Minh Dao]

Well if he wants to upload a video onto Youtube, he needs a video camera. As for recording audio, I can recommend a few microphones to buy that will be suitable for recording instrumental audio, however he may also need to "modify" the room and position of the piano a bit.

 

 

He will need a good microphone, a good camera for videos, and it would be much easier to do all this from a computer instead of an ipad

Any suggested camera and microphones that is in the budget you suggest? He also has a PC, just not placed somewhere else from the piano.

[Amazingasian]

I would suggest a Blue Yeti for the audio.  http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Microphone-Stand-Filter/dp/B00474PAAK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448216221&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=blue+yeti&psc=1  I'm not sure what to pick for video however.

[ALwin]

OK, well if I were him and I was starting with a low budget these are what I would get.  Assuming that he wants to record only instrumental without any vocals.

 

Microphones: Something like the Rode M5, matched pair, or similar from Shure, Sennheiser, Audio Technica.

Camera: A Nikon D3200 kit,  or Canon SL1 or T5 kit, or Sony A5000 kit.

 

Once he has some good mics and a camera, we'll discuss placement of the mics to get the best sound from the pianos.  Microphone placement is very important.

Read this link: http://en.wikiaudio.org/Recording_techniques:Piano#Upright_Piano

 

If your friend wasn't on a budget, I would say: Hire me!

 

I'm currently preparing for a project next year where I will be producing videos of people playing various instruments.

 

This video was not produce by me, but it is an example of the type of project I am planning

[ALwin]

I would suggest a Blue Yeti for the audio.  http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Microphone-Stand-Filter/dp/B00474PAAK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448216221&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=blue+yeti&psc=1  I'm not sure what to pick for video however.

 

Seriously, NO!

[Minh Dao]

Just in case, this is his video that he recorded using his aunt's camera only. So the room itself is not really echo proof

 

[ALwin]

Just in case, this is his video that he recorded using his aunt's camera only. So the room itself is not really echo proof

 

That can be mitigated with some good microphones and a placing them properly.

 

Here's a video showing how proper mic setup can prevent ambient noises from being recorded.

[ALwin]

Here is an example of recording an upright piano

 

 

Here's another setup

[Minh Dao]

That can be mitigated with some good microphones and a placing them properly.

 

Here's a video showing how proper mic setup can prevent ambient noises from being recorded.

 

So the rode transmitter at the start will allow Rode M5 microphone, that records the piano, to record to a camera right? Or is it still go through a sound board and a laptop?

[ALwin]

So the rode transmitter at the start will allow Rode M5 microphone, that records the piano, to record to a camera right? Or is it still go through a sound board and a laptop?

 

For something like the Rode M5 or any similar microphone, don't directly input it into the camera.  I would recommend getting something like a Zoom H4n or any other external preamp.  Use the in-camera mics on the camera to record a scratch track, that you will discard later, to help synchronize the audios in post production.

[Philosobyte]

It sounds like audio is much more important than video. 

 

If that's the case, I recommend a Canon Vixia HF R600 (in some countries it's called the Legria HF R606) or a Sony CX405. The CX405 is worse than the Canon in indoors, low light situations like this one. 

 

For microphones, small-diaphragm condenser microphones are your best bet because they have a flatter frequency response than large-diaphragm condenser microphones. Since your friend's room does not have good acoustics, I recommend a pair of the Line Audio CM3 microphones:

http://www.lineaudio.se/CM3.html

If you dont' want to order by e-mail (it took me more than a month for my Line Audio OM1 microphones to arrive), maybe this is a better place to order from:

http://nohypeaudio.com/lineaudioproducts.htm

 

Along with those two microphones, you'll need two boom stands, like these: http://www.amazon.com/Stage-Stands-MS7701B-Tripod-Microphone/dp/B000978D58/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1448219615&sr=8-2&keywords=on+stage+boom+stand

 and two good XLR cables, like these custom ones: http://www.redco.com/Custom-Cable.html?orderid=71664&orderitemid=0&orderaccesskey=3edb5801648a3fc3

or Monoprice XLR cables, which should work fine: http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=115&cp_id=11509&cs_id=1150902

 

Those microphones will need to connect to an audio recorder. Since he doesn't have a laptop, the Tascam DR-40 should work well: http://www.amazon.com/DR-40-4-Track-Portable-Digital-Recorder/dp/B005NACC6M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448220001&sr=8-1&keywords=tascam+dr-40

 

That should add up to under $700 USD. Although it's slightly over budget, it's all he's ever going to need for just piano. 

 

I have two OM1 microphones, which are excellent, and they sound pretty close to the CM3 microphones. The major difference is the CM3 microphones are cardioid, so they don't pick up a lot of room noise, while the OM1 does. these microphones compete with microphones far above their price bracket. They're up there with Schoeps and DPA. I can PM you samples of the (amateur) recordings I've made with them. 

 

Also, piano tips for your friend: His wrists are currently stiff and inflexible. That restricts his mobility - he should work on loosening them. His fingers tend to curve upwards from the knuckles - that results in unnecessary tension for his tendons. He should work on making his knuckles more prominent, so that his fingers curve downwards from his knuckles for more efficient and relaxed movement. The less distance your fingers have to travel, the better. 

[ALwin]

snip

 

This is a good recommendation too.

 

@OP watch the videos I posted about mic placement for an upright piano.

[Guest]

@ALwin You said pretty much everything I was going to and then some.

 

I would agree that for "professional" quality, the OPs friend should spend his $600 on a professional and get the recording done on a proper instrument in an acoustically appropriate space.

 

At the very least, he should think about renting time on a good piano in a good space - a local church, community center, school, etc. might allow such things.

[Philosobyte]

@ALwin You said pretty much everything I was going to and then some.

 

I would agree that for "professional" quality, the OPs friend should spend his $600 on a professional and get the recording done on a proper instrument in an acoustically appropriate space.

 

At the very least, he should think about renting time on a good piano in a good space - a local church, community center, school, etc. might allow such things.

I'm pretty sure he's not talking about a single recording, but a long-term thing:

 

starting to upload him playing piano on YouTube and wants to go all way up to professional. 

[ALwin]

@ALwin You said pretty much everything I was going to and then some.

 

I would agree that for "professional" quality, the OPs friend should spend his $600 on a professional and get the recording done on a proper instrument in an acoustically appropriate space.

 

At the very least, he should think about renting time on a good piano in a good space - a local church, community center, school, etc. might allow such things.

 

Well unless the OP shows is a photo of his friend's room with the piano, we can't really say how the acoustics are.  It could be as simple as moving the piano a bit further away from the wall or rearranging all the furniture around to improve things.

 

Secondly, they can invest in a couple of good mics like Raymondbl or I posted, with some accessories for mounting the mics, cables, recorder and experiment the setup.  With time and patience they will most likely gain the knowledge and experience to record something very nice.  They might even enjoy the recording process and have fun.

 

A professional recording would require the pianist to be at a certain level of skill.  The OP doesn't say what the friend's skill level is.

 

The video the OP posted showing his friend playing a piano was recorded with I assume the in-camera mics.  These aren't the best mics for good sound pickup.  The room echoing is something that can be mitigated with a proper mic setup and using very good condenser mics with a cardioid or supercardioid pattern.