Thank you for the compliment. The ballad here is just a small piece; in its entirety, it lasts about 15 minutes.
There are two methods for recording: one quite complex, the other simple, but we will analyze both in some videos dedicated specifically to piano recording.
The first, the simple one, consists of an illusion. Let me explain better... It is recorded via a MIDI keyboard (now all 88-key weighted digital pianos have a MIDI output). Basically, a MIDI interface is connected between the keyboard and the computer, and the performance is recorded in Logic or other equivalent software. In Logic, a MIDI track is created, which is what we record on, and virtual instruments (in our case, a sampled piano) are loaded onto this MIDI track. The result is what you hear in this ballad, namely a piano recorded in a studio with the best equipment.
The second method, the complex one—I would dare say professional—involves recording the acoustic instrument in a studio. It is very difficult for several reasons. The first is that it requires knowledge of specific hardware components to perform the recording, knowledge of their assembly and optimal setting for the type of recording we are going to do, in-depth knowledge of the software sequencers used for capture, and finally, the price, since these are components that cost quite a bit.
The required hardware components are as follows:
- An excellent microphone preamplifier with at least 2 channels for the piano (From 700 to 4500 euros, depending on quality).
- An excellent AD/DA converter (From 500 to 3500 euros depending on quality).
- Two studio condenser microphones (The best for piano are Shoeps - around 1000 euros each, you need 2. There are also lower-cost microphones with which you can still achieve an excellent result).
- An analog or digital mixer.
- A good sound card (If working with an analog mixer, in a digital one it is usually included with a Firewire 400 or 800 interface).
- A fairly recent computer (It is very important that the hard disk has a rotation speed of at least 7200 RPM).
- Sequencing software. There are many, depending on what a person feels most comfortable with (Logic, Nuendo, Cubase, etc.).
- Microphone stands
- Good shielded XLR cables with gold-plated connectors.
One can opt for slightly less expensive microphones and less powerful computers, but what one cannot save on are the converter and the preamplifiers (It is these two components that build the digital sound).
Once someone has decided to spend, roughly keeping it low at around 2000/3000 euros, the theory comes in.
One must know how to position the microphones; for the piano and generally, barring exceptions, for all acoustic instruments, stereo recording techniques (Stereo Imaging) must be used. We will do a tutorial on various miking techniques for different acoustic instruments. There are many such techniques for piano recording, and one is chosen over another in relation to the room acoustics, the available space, the number of channels available on the preamplifier, and many other variables that we will see in the videos.
Once everything is set up, you proceed with the audio check, meaning making small adjustments to the microphone positions, the input signal volume, etc.
Such adjustments are all the smaller the higher the quality of the equipment we have at our disposal. With an HR-3V preamplifier and a good AD/DA converter, often there is no need to touch anything or, at least, very little needs to be adjusted.
Since the piano is an instrument with a very wide dynamic range, it is very difficult to microphone; because with microphones too close to the strings inside the soundboard to make the "pianissimo" heard well, there is a risk of clipping when the pianist performs a sforzato. Therefore, one tries to adjust by using pads of 10 or 20 dB, or by moving the microphones slightly away from the soundboard, or even by changing the miking technique.
We then start with the recording. The pianist will perform their pieces, and after that it doesn't end here... We proceed with post-production. Using a computer, the sound is equalized, eliminating any potential sonic impurities (sound too dark or too bright, sound too dry or too wet, ambience, reverb, compression -> little on the piano). Once post-production is completed, we finally have the final file called Mastering of the production. With mastering, one will then proceed to normalize the file to a maximum peak of -1.0dB and to write it to disk or publish it on the internet.
As you can see, recording an acoustic piano is truly very difficult and requires a very trained ear but above all a maniacal study of a series of topics that are not entirely simple, such as acoustics (mathematics).
So a question will spontaneously arise in you: "But then why don't we all just use the first method and the result is guaranteed!" But unfortunately it is not that simple. Using the first method, the result is certainly good but not like recording an acoustic piano live... Why?
Here are the reasons:
1. Most piano sound libraries in circulation have a maximum of 16 dynamic levels, with the exception, if I remember correctly, of the Garritan Steinway which is recognized by Steinway (the only library that has 127 sound levels for a total of about 320GB of samples, but don't take the figures too seriously because I don't remember very well, I should go and recheck the specifications). In essence, therefore, the dynamic levels of such libraries are 16 levels that reach 127 via software by increasing and decreasing the volume starting from the 16 recorded samples to make them 127. You understand well that recording a pianissimo and increasing its volume to make it sound like a mezzo piano is not timbrally the same thing as directly recording a mezzo piano, so many dynamic nuances are lost which in an acoustic piano are almost infinite, whereas in digital they reach a maximum of 127.
2. The harmonic ratios of a chord recorded from an acoustic piano do not produce the same effect as the same chord created by recording three or more notes separately and then putting them together.
3. Recording from an acoustic piano gives you the way to seek out the sound that most gratifies you in the recording, something you cannot do, or that you can anyway only summarily with post-production on audio samples that were recorded according to a sound engineer's taste but which might not respect your taste in sound.
4. Recording an acoustic piano live is always a new sonic experience; using samples always means the same experience.
5. Any sonic imperfections, according to my philosophy of sound, enrich the piano performance making it real.
There are clearly also advantages to MIDI recording at the expense of acoustic recording, for example the possibility to cut and paste with much more ease compared to the cut and paste of waveforms. Or the possibility to correct any "wrong notes" committed during performance in post-production without necessarily having to re-record the phrase in which the error occurred.
In short, everything has its pros and cons, but my aesthetic sense compels me to say that acoustic performances always preserve that personal and real character of interpretation and piano sound.
I hope I have been exhaustive; for any other question, do not hesitate to ask...
Best regards,
