Disklavier

I have made audio recordings of my MX100IIXG (same
piano as a DU1 almost) and I have teched concert grand
pianos in a recording studio for professional
recordings.  When I play them both back on my surround
sound stereo system, I find it hard to tell the
difference.  Perhaps a nontribute to my ears!

The professional recordings, with reverb and all that,
still pick up pedal and some action noise.  My own
recordings pick up the thermostatic clicking when the
air conditioning comes on.  I am quite a novice at
this, but I will describe a few things I do that really
make a difference.

I am using $100 each condenser mics - 2 of them, about
3 feet away from the piano.  I leave both front boards
on the piano and only fold back the top.  This keeps
action noise to a minimum.  Also, make sure the action
screws are tight in your piano action to cut down on
noise.  For grand pianos, make sure the action screws
are tight, and that the hammers are checking properly
so they don't slam down on the hammer rail.  For
reverb, I just turn on the ceiling fan!

Most important, I edit the MIDI file for the recording.
I edit for loudness (velocity) and tempo.  If the piano
hammers are not slamming into the strings, they are not
as noisy!  You can always turn up the mic sensitivity
on the digital audio converter while recording.  I also
make sure the piano is perfectly tuned and voiced,
especially voiced, before each recording.

I realize the sound is in the ear of the beholder and
that scads of money and effort can be poured into
making audio recordings.  I have invested $600 and my
client has invested many thousands of dollars on
professional recordings.  Many people who do home
recordings have to go thru tremendous trial and test
runs before they get it "right".  I can often tell the
difference.

Just make sure the piano is in the best physical
condition it can be in!  It is unbelievabe what
tightening the action and cabinet screws will do, and
"sugar coating" the hammer grooves will do for the
tone.

Carol Beigel


----- Original Message -----
From: "franpeyr" <fpeyrony@...>
To: <disklavier@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 12:54 PM
Subject: [disklavier] Audio recording with key's noise


Hi

I'm new in this forum, so I tell you who am I. I'm
Fran\ufffdois, a french composer (so please
excuse my poor english), 42 years old, and I bought a
disklavier -Mark lll DU1A- in order to
have a better sound for my work (mostly for theater)
than a digital sound of piano.

But I'm a very dissapointed, not by the sound of the
piano itself, but by the "woody" noise of
the keys when they return to original positions (i.e.
when note is off). I am working now on
very light piano part (the same universe as, for
exemple, Arvo Part's "F\ufffdr Alina"). I play very
softly, but when the disklavier replays, the velocity
and the softness is respected, but the
notes-off are brutal, and it makes this woody sound
that is amplified by the piano itself.

Has someone had the same problem, and can it be
resolved ? I'm sorry if this subject was on
the database, but I searched for it and don't find.

Thanks for help






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