Help with piano tone

[thebigz]

Hey, I just did some piano recordings and, well, doesn't sound very good! This is a quick little part from "If I Go Away" by Savatage.

I know it isn't the piano since its a nice Steinway I'm playing on. Mic is an SM58 into a boss GT-8 using the "Two Clean Stereo" patch. Anyone have any ideas how I can get this to sound better?

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=808023&content=music

Thanks for any help!

[åron]

Damn, son. If you're playing on a Steinway, I would think that you must have the means to get some mics and a couple pre's. They don't have to be top of the line.

For piano, there's a couple tricks for getting a good live sound, placing dynamics or boundary mics in certain locations. In a studio situation, it's very hard to beat a couple matched small capsule condenser mics. Perfect placement isn't critical. Hanging a couple small cap mics above the strings, roughly equidistant from the sound board works fine.

Anyway, there's hundreds of ways to get this done, the simple stereo pair is just that. Using a Boss guitar processor as a mic pre and simulating stereo ambiance will only get you so far. Good luck.

[Newc]

Yeah, guitar preamps are usually frequency-matched to the guitar's range, which is limited compared to a piano. Even with the eq off, its frequency response still can't cover the whole spectrum.

As for mics, you'll also need more than an SM58. Maybe a couple of piezos in the room, and 3 over the strings that are suited for each section of the frequency range (highs, mids, lows).

Look up som studio info online and see how they mic pianos, though most will probably say they're using $3K ribbon mics.

[thebigz]

Thanks for the info, but, while I am playing a Steinway, its because I am a poor college student that still lives with his parents.... Haha. It took me a couple months just to save enough for the GT8, more gear is currently out of the question.

[yard dawg]

Good mics and pres are the key. 414s and u87s are the standard for studio work.