How to Record Piano Next to a Drum Set in the Same Room

Recording a quiet instrument like piano can be a challenge for any studio engineer if you have louder instruments in the same room such as an electric guitar amp, or a drum set. In this episode, I compare dynamic microphones, small diaphragm condenser microphones, and large diaphragm condenser microphones on an upright piano.

Each microphone has a different set of strengths and weaknesses for recording. Dynamic microphones are great for things like snare drums and guitar amps because they naturally compress the sound. Large diaphragms are great because they color the sound and are very forgiving on the mic placement for a vocalist. However small diaphragm condenser microphones are very good at rejecting sounds in the same room because of the consistent polar pattern that they have.

Not only is the off-axis coloration of SDCs great for things like cymbal bleed on drums, but because of that consistent polar pattern, we can use them to reject sounds that are noisy in the same room.

This video compares the three major types of mics, and shows how the bleed of the drums sounds different. Based on the results shown in the video, we can see that the SDC sounds the best and is able to reject the bleed the best from the drum set.

We also show what it is like to cover up the piano and how well that works too.

It is interesting to hear how when covering up the microphone that we place on the upright piano, that not only does the drum bleed change, but the sound of the piano changes too.

There is always a trade off in engineering, and it's better to make these decisions now versus when you are mixing, and the trade offs have higher costs.

You could try to use EQ to minimize the drum bleed during mixing, but it is so much better to use the right microphone during the recording process.

For more go to: http://www.creativesoundlab.tv