Disklavier

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my inquiry
about digital audio recordings.  You have been very
helpful.  I want to clear up exactly what I want to do.

First of all, I have no intention of trying to make
professional quality recordings.  I just spent 4 days
in one of those million-dollar plus recording studios
doing some of the most exacting work of my career.
There were two sound engineers, a producer, the
pianist, and me the piano technician.  I think the four
microphones used for this recording cost more than my
car!  They were recording piano teaching methods,
phrasing and dynamics, etc. so using audio samples
would not have worked!  My job was to make the piano
perfect, so I was glad to be working with a Yamaha C7;
the tuning had to be perfect, and the voicing and
action had to be dead even, and absolutely no pedal or
action noises!  Every time I work for these folks, I
end up taking a day before the recording sessions just
to prep the piano.  This involves taking the whole
thing a part and tightening all the hundreds of screws
in the action and case; cleaning all the key pins;
leveling the strings; and dissassembling the pedal lyre
to tighten the wedges that hold the parts together so
they don't squeak!  Then the piano is tuned and voiced
every two hours during the recording sessions.  No way
am I going to ever duplicate that fabulous studio or do
that kind of prep for what I want to do.

I want a VERY portable setup that does a better job
than a cheap little boombox with a built-in mic
recording on audio cassette tape.  I want to record my
Dad playing a piano in a nursing home with his duet
partner playing on an old Hammond organ.  I want to
make better quality audio recordings of family events
for someone who will not be able to see the pictures in
the future.  I would also like to be able to tell
people how little Jenny or Johnny can record their
piano recital pieces to a CD for grandma; or better
yet, be able to recommend a reasonable set-up to the
music teachers who want to do this.

Perhaps the biggest use I have seen with home recording
equipment, or the perceived better recording done in
church, is to produce an audition tape for a college
interview.  I personally do not want to get involved in
these things, and I always point out that for what they
have invested in all those years of piano lessons,
music and the piano, that they should just go to a
recording studio and have the tape made professionally.

I am taking to heart the advice about microphones being
"too" good.  I am thinking I still want 2, so I will
definitely buy one condenser mic, and perhaps one of a
different type as well.  Any advice on specific mics is
appreciated.  I know mics need power, and I guess that
is what a pre amp does.  The MBox has 48V phantom power
so I assume that is what powers the mics.

All the recording engineers recommend the MBox and yet
that one has the most problems on people's home
computers.  I will very carefully check the specs, and
there seem to be a LOT of them, to make sure my laptop
has a fast enough and the right brand of processor.  If
the MBox won't run on my Compaq Evo, then I will need
alternate suggestions about the audio to digital
converter interface.

Thanks again for all your advice.  I know this is a
subject dear to many, and there is much software and
equipment to choose from!  Some of the worst recordings
I ever heard were done with home equipment; and yet
some really, really good ones as well!  Just remember,
my setup needs to be portable.

BTW, I have had my father record on my Disklavier, so I
have the MIDI files.  I will see which way to a CD
turns out better - either recording the DKV piano
playing the MIDI files through the MBox, or using the
sampled sounds on either the XG sounds on the DKV, or
whatever comes out of the soundcard on my  computer.
Are the sampled sounds better on the XG daughter board,
or the same as on the built-in sounds on the
motherboard of my computer?

Thanks ever so much.

Carol


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Phillips" <eleced@...>
To: <disklavier@...>
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 10:14 PM
Subject: [disklavier] audio recordings of piano music


> Hi Carol and all
> I recently made a CD of piano performances of my DKV
for my mother. The
> resulting recording quality has been widely praised
by quite a few people,
> and I have even sold a few of the CDs. Here's the
setup I used:
> . microphone - AKG D65S, mono (about $100)
> . position - placed in curve of grand piano, pointing
towards music desk
> (critical to get the right placement)
> . room - 4 x 5 metre, nothing special, piano sitting
on vinyl covered floor
> . pre-amp - one I built myself from a magazine design
> . storage medium/processing - computer, via Cool Edit
Pro, small amount of
> reverb, but not much else.
>
> Since making this recording I have researched other
microphones and
> researched the topic of recording pianos in
particular. An often repeated
> opinion is that using a very high quality microphone
can result in
> recording all the clicks and mechanical noises made
by a piano. That is,
> don't always go for the highest quality. As well, a
stereo mic is not
> necessarily twice as good as a mono mic.
>
> Carol: I'm happy to mail you a copy of the audio CD
for your appraisal.
> Then you can judge whether my setup would suit you.
>
> From Australia - Peter Phillips
> From Peter Phillips, Electronic Editorials NSW. Phone
(02) 9773 4734,
> mobile 0418 407 607, fax (02) 9773 9943. Website at
> http://members.optushome.com.au/eleced/index.htm
>