How do I record myself?

[quinie]

I know this sounds like a daft question but I don't know how to do it.

We are getting married in May and I am no good at playing in front of an audience but thought it might be nice if I could record a few pieces to be played while we are signing the register etc etc.

I have an upright rogers and co but I do have a friend with a yamaha digital piano (not sure the model - brand new six months ago cost about £650 I think).

My piano is in a very quiet room with high ceilings and carpets - any ideas? Is there anywhere I could go to do it?

Seriously though - absolutely rubbish with an audience!

[abc1337]

Go to the Sound on Sound magazine website - they did an article of various ways to record piano, from the simple to complex - you can then see what involved?

[Grenache]

If you like the sound of the digital piano, you could connect its output to the line-in on your PC and use software like Cool Edit or Goldwave (free evaluation version) to record it, then edit out the mistakes (like I do ). Then you can either play it from the PC or write it to a CD.

When you play it back, you will need a good set of speakers, at least as good as the digital piano.

If you want to record your own piano and don't have the equipment, one suggestion might be to get someone who has some good mics, a mixer and minidisc or PC to come and record you playing. If you don't know anyone who has this, why not contact your local hospital radio station, as many have Outside Broadcast (OB) gear and one volunteer might come and record you, in exchange for a good donation to their funds.

[markymark]

If you are working from an acoustic piano, the challenge of recording yourself is much more difficult, particularly if your piano is sitting in the corner of your study or living room. Acoustic pianos can be tricky to mic with the correct type of microphone and mixing desk, never mind anything else. Acoustic pianos can either sound distant on an 'amateur' recording and the natural reverb can be a problem too in that situation.

I am assuming that you will not be recording with professional equipment so the best option would be to record on a digital piano. The ability to record your music on a flash USB drive or directly to computer means that all the sound is going directly into a digital device - nothing escapes - rather than "sound chasing" and having to capture the sound from an acoustic using two or more quality microphones. Besides checking that the digital piano is "balanced" properly, you won't have to do much (if anything) to your performance before burning to CD.

I have done this as recently as two weeks ago for a minister who needed hymns to be played as accompaniment at a home funeral service. The sound quality was impressive but just note that you will have to have a few test runs to check for distortion or that the tone is equalised properly (i.e. not too bassy or too sharp/tinny, without getting too in depth).

[quinie]

Hi there

Thank you so much for your replies. I think I will ask my friend if I can use her digital then. I can just sit there with the headphones on I suppose and not be in the way!

You know what it is like though - you always play your own piano better!

Thanks again!

[Openwood]

I've heard good things about Kawai's piano recording system - I think you stick the mic on the underneath of the soundboard. Has anyone tried it?

[sussexpianos]

The Kawai PR-1 is an acoustic piano recording system which has the options to add microphones and have XLR output. Basicaly is rather good and I've sold a few of them. One customer teaches singing and uses the system with a microphone. She then burns them onto CD and give them to the client to practise. The sound quality is very good and you can also add reverb. Its around 600 pounds but has many uses, easy to move to different pianos and burns the cd quickly.
It wont make coffee though