Recording equipment

For those of you who record yourselves during practice sessions, what equipment do you use?  I think recording oneself is a very valuable tool in improving our playing.  The iPhone isn't cutting it.

9 replies

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    • Lars_Tobias_SkjongBorst
    • 3 days ago
    • Reported - view

    I use a Shure MV88+ connected to my iPhone. It’s a lot better than the iPhone, but still not exactly studio quality. 
     

    For piano recording, the microphone is only part of the equation. Room acoustics: absorption, reflections, reverberation, and microphone/piano placement, can have an equally large or even greater impact on the sound.

    • Larry_K
    • 3 days ago
    • Reported - view

    I bought a matched pair of condenser microphones, the sE8s, with a bar to allow me to experiment with aiming them at the bass and treble.

    I have not yet gotten a good recording. 

    Some people say I need to back off six to eight feet from the piano and experiment. I was hanging them over the open lid of my upright with a K&M boom microphone stand, the 210/9.

    I got a good recording of my air conditioner, lol.

    Recording is an art, and it takes a lot of time to get a good result. I believe there is another recording thread on here. It is here,

    https://piano-community.tonebase.co/t/g9y3p1j/how-do-you-record-your-acoustic-piano

    I have given up on acoustic recording for the time being and use my Disklavier to record key movement and pedaling. I am now doing this three to four times a day. I don’t have to worry about ambient noise. 

    I listen to myself from across the room. It ruthlessly shows me my faults. It also shows me improvement over weeks of daily recordings of a piece.

    • Pat_Van_Buskirk
    • 3 days ago
    • Reported - view

    I use a MacBook Pro with a Blue Yeti. Also found an app, "Impact," that does a good job of getting the correct sound from the piano. I set up the microphone about two feet away from the curve of the piano (grand) and it seems to reproduce a nice sound. 

    • Ellen_Weaver
    • 3 days ago
    • Reported - view

    I am not a techie and have found the Zoom H2N recorder to provide high quality sound. Zoom has more recent recorders including ones with video capabilities. It’s easy to use and it’s still going strong after 12 years. 

      • Marius_Pakalniskis
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       These are the ones I have also been looking at

      • Mel.1
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       I also have a Zoom H2N recorder gifted to me for piano recording, and I've used it in different ways, including using recommended spots near the lid of a baby grand, different patterns, etc. It's a wonderful compact tool, it sounds good, and it has a lot of options, including for mic patterns (cardioid, etc). But for keeping an archive of recordings or sending some on, I have yet to feel really pleased with the overall sound; I feel like there are artifacts. So I've passively been looking into other solutions- perhaps separated mics?  you must have figured out the right setup! Maybe I should try again.

      • Ellen_Weaver
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

      I open the lid of my grand the full amount and position the H2N recorder on a tripod about a foot away and a foot above the curve in the case. Make sure the mic gain is at the right setting. 

      • Mel.1
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       thanks for the tips! i tried something similar - tripod positioned about where you suggested with the mic facing the hinge - but will do it again and check gain. 

    • Zi_Wang
    • 3 days ago
    • Reported - view

    DJI Mini does a pretty decent job for me. It works good with my phone and records in stereo

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