how to mic an upright?

[zephonic]

I have got a gig tonight and somebody is bringing in an acoustic upright for me to play on. I am a bit apprehensive as my experience with live mic'ing is practically zero.

I reckon they have the usual suspects out there, like 58's or 57's but not condensers.

I doubt that can adequately amplify an upright, so I'm thinking of just going with the digital piano they have there.

 

Alternatively, I have a SE Electronics 3300Z LDC which isn't bad and has switchable polarity (omni, 8, cardoid). Would it make sense to bring it and rely on that solely for amplifying the upright? If yes, what would be the best place to put it?

 

Or would the digital be a safer bet? Thanks.

 

[SK]

Menno, if the room acoustics aren't too boomy and the piano is in tune, I'd go with the piano. If it's not going to be loud enough, go with the keyboard.

 

(As an emergency idea) you can mic the upright with one mic evenly if you have a graphic equalizer, or a mixer with a graphic equalizer. I used to carry a piano pickup and a 10 band EQ for upright situations.

 

Place the mic in the center back of the piano at the bottom (on the outside), or suspend the mic from the top lid into the center. Set the equalizer near zero at the center of the graph, and increasingly louder away from the center, so the graph forms a V shape. This will mic it evenly. Of course, piano pickups are better since they won't pick up sound from the rest of the stage.

 

Keep your keyboard handy just in case.

[zephonic]

Thanks Steve, will give that a try.

[SK]

Oh, and I know this sounds like World War II era sonic suggestions , but you'll want to cover the mic with something - a cloth napkin or material so the mic doesn't bump against the piano and to keep external noise out.

[kanker.]

I used to use a combination of a boundary mic and a dynamic mic, both placed on the soundboard and wrapped in towels like Steve describes. Just stick them behind the posts. A little judicious EQ and careful blending of the mics can get you a pretty good sound if the upright is good.

[Mr. B.]

Oh my gosh, do make sure you don't allow the mic to bounce around at all, that might seem like a given but not always.

Uprights are so much fun to play and I heard and played the classics on one. That night people wanted to hear classicals rather than rag time, country or very early rockabilly rock. I abliged them and I was supposed to sing! Not to that, I'm not an opera singer.

[Steve Nathan]

Do they still make PZMs??

[Bobadohshe]

Oh my gosh, do make sure you don't allow the mic to bounce around at all, that might seem like a given but not always.

Uprights are so much fun to play and I heard and played the classics on one. That night people wanted to hear classicals rather than rag time, country or very early rockabilly rock. I abliged them and I was supposed to sing! Not to that, I'm not an opera singer.

 

 

[Joe Muscara]

Don't bother, Bobby.

[zephonic]

Thanks all for the help. I went with the upright and it was a great gig, we killed!

[Joe Muscara]

[Throbert]

Bracus Berry, if I sppelled that right, they make a dual pickup set up for uprights. PZMs are the way to go,but the setup I'm thinking about has one for every string or set of unisons

[MonksDream]

Throbert - I think you mean "Barcus-Berry"

 

I've worked a number of festival gigs the last few years with Helpinstill Piano Pickups. You need 3 channels of DI but the results are worth it. We've only ever used it with grand pianos and we often add a couple of condensers over the strings for "air". Even without the "air" mics it sounds quite good. I know they make them for uprights. Installation takes about 15 minutes.