The sound from the PM40 was quite recognizable

Tag : compression reinforcement
"For something completely different" as they say, I thought tomyself, "I wonder how the PM40 would work on my own Mason andHamlin Model 50 upright piano?" Back in the mid-seventies when Iwas a lowly assistant Music Theory professor at the University ofMichigan (and Bill Albright's colleague), I spent four monthssalary on that piano — the 50-inch tall "Rolls-Royce" ofupright pianos — since I didn't have the space (nor the cash)for a baby grand. I've treasured that piano since 1976 and it hasfollowed me everywhere I've moved. I continue to record it at leastweekly and presently use a pseudo-ORTF arrangement with 2 AKG C60tube mics (with CK1 capsules) a bit above and slightly behind it,pointing down; they are normalled to a pair of Manley MicEQ-500preamps. This produces a very convincing sound and, whenaccompanying singers, no one can ever tell that the piano sourcewas an upright unless I point it out.

Well, wouldn't you know; the PM40 fit perfectly right underneaththe lid of my Mason as if it were custom made to straddle the twosides of an upright. (The Earthworks literature simply states thatthe bar was designed to fit 88-key pianos.) The tiny mics ended upabout two inches back from the hammers, an inch or so from theMason's front cover, and I adjusted them laterally to give equalcoverage to high and low strings. (See associated picture.)

One of the valuable features of an upright piano this tall is thatthe strings and soundboard actually have some space to develop adecent sound. Not having at my disposal any of those little wedgesmy piano tuner uses to keep the lid up, I stuck a face towel inthere, to keep the lid about one third of the way up. This time Irecorded into Pro Tools M-Powered 7.4; I wanted to simultaneouslycapture both the PM40 and my two C60s. I connected the PM40 intothe mic preamp section of my Apogee Trak2 and fed its line outputto channels 1 and 2 of my new M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R USBinterface, again at 96kHz. I routed the standard C60s/Manley preampcombo to channels 3 and 4.

The sound from the PM40 was quite recognizable from my experiencewith the grands. Perhaps due to the small space between the hammersand the front cover of the piano, I got a bit more of the "ping"from each hammer strike than I did with either of the grands, butthe sound itself was very similar: mellow, smooth and very wellbalanced. The C60s outside the piano were considerably brighter andhad more of that "piano recorded in a room" sound but, of course,they would also pick up anything going on in the room —singer, drum set, etc. The PM40 needed only 25dB of gain from theTrak2 in this situation, so I can certainly see using it —even inside an upright — for reasons of isolation. And again,the stereo image was simply uncanny; I've never heard this qualityof imaging from any recording of an upright piano — ever! Isweetened the sound with a little bit the Piano Plate preset fromTC Electronic's VSS3 algorithmic reverb plug-in, which added thefinal icing to the cake.

Summary

Should we recording engineers leave our expensive mics home everytime we're asked to record a piano and, instead, opt for theEarthworks PM40? Well, yes and no. Despite all the positive thingsI've written about this miking system, I was not able to make itsound as good as my own recordings using standard techniques. Butplease consider that I always put a lot of effort and love intothem and I guess it shows. On the other hand, the PM40 soundsawesome — hands down and no question about it. Lay it insidea piano, connect two mic cables to your preamp, and hit record;you're guaranteed to get a really good sounding reproduction ofpiano sound.

For 75 percent of all piano miking jobs happening in the worldtoday, the PM40 would do a better job — and do it with muchless trouble — than any other solution currently available.It certainly wins (no contest) for recording or reinforcing a pianowith the lid closed; for that application, it's a godsend. But onhalf-stick, in a worship setting, or even at a classical concertwhere amplification (or recording) needs to be simple andinvisible, I consider the PM40 to be the new first choice in pianomiking. Add in a little convolution reverb or high-classalgorithmic reverb and you're there!

During the past 30 years, Dr. Fred Bashour has received credits onhundreds of recordings released on over a dozen labels.