

The aim of this article is to take some of the guesswork out of getting a great piano sound, bringing together a wide range of recording techniques suggested by various different authorities and then illustrating them with audio examples. There's also the fact that the number of 'correct' mic techniques is enormous, yet any given one of these might be completely inappropriate for the sound you're after.

For a start, few of us are lucky enough to have access to a decent piano for a long enough period to develop any significant experience of recording it. The instrument's size and sonic complexity are contributing factors, making great technical demands on mics and other recording equipment, but that's only part of the problem.

Recording an acoustic piano presents enormous challenges for many home recordists. For those times when only the real thing will suffice, here's how to do it justice. With the number of high-quality sample libraries around these days, recording a real piano can feel like a lost art.
