I finally got done with my solo piano CD made with Cubase. A few of you may remember the “Miking the Notorious Acoustic Piano” thread back in February, so I wanted to let you guys see what I’ve been up to.
I still feel like the compositions are a bit basic; which is where I need the most improvement, I feel. If anyone has any advice about the compositional structures or the overall sound quality, I’d be especially appreciative. In the future, I’m looking forward to using The Grand 3 virtual piano’s for a more grand sound.
It’s hard to comment on the composition as the style is somewhat outside my usual listening though I have done my far share of piano-based CD’s in the past. It’s well played but for me with this particular tune (ambitious) I found it to be quite relentless and ‘same-ish’ throughout… maybe that was the intention? I did wonder whether introducing some breakdown/bridge section would help…? and also introducing longer breathing spaces between some of the phrases.
As for the sound/mix… it sounds very mono and quite a thin to my ears, and again that might be the sound you’re after though I see you do mention The Grand 3 which of course will give you a substantially different result. Having said that, “Autumn Atmosphere” (and probably others) does actually sound OK with this piano with its more Bach/minuet/harpsichord-like feel.
Yes, one mic: a Samson CO1 condenser right in the back with the soundboard. Yes, Sherz, the composition is a little…ahem…unique, not the typical ambient peaceful, tonally heavenly master grand piano feel here. I’ll be shooting for that in the future. Listening more closely, I think I banged a bit much throughout the cd in places it may not necessarily have been proper as the signal did seem especially thin before I added a spatial plugin and dramatic Eq, and believe me, this piano needed it. Also notice this piano has a deep muddy bass, an unusual characteristic whose absence I sometimes find disturbing when playing the grands sampled in TG3.
Yeah, I’d already watched your video of the Yamaha C7 miced with the UR series-it’s absolutely gorgeous. The preamps on the UR series sound top of the line. This CD was recorded with my Steinberg CI1 and a Samson CO1.
I enjoyed the listen, it has a Baroque flavor which I like…my criticism would be that once it starts it doesn’t stop ( well not much ) I reckon you should start the composition with build to the main feel of the piece and it needs areas where it slows down melodically… to my ears the tune you are playing would sound good if not better if it was slower, so you could mix the normal speed with…lets say half speed and with an adagio feel, I think this would give it the variation it needs…maybe if you started the tune at half speed and gradually bring it up to full speed it may work better…anyway it is still an enjoyable piece as is…best to you, Kevin
Thanx for the more advice, I guess it needs more variation in speed. I doubt I’ll go back and edit these songs, but I’ll aim for more tempo diversity in the future.
When I listen to Chopin (who humbles me all the time), it’s really neat how one minute he’s playing softly then out of nowhere you build into a massive crescendo. I also can’t help but notice the little blasts of energy during the sections of slow/medium speed. I guess that’s the difference between the good and the great in classical piano music.
If anybody cares here’s what the recording looked like before GIRO touched it up:
Very well played and love the classical feel. 1st tune sort could have used release of some kind or if possible a key change ??? Inquisitive rag time feel is killer, maybe tighten the reverb to make it sound authentic? Your technique and compositions are wonderful so I’d love to hear you in better recording environment
Thanks for your advice. I am working on new solo compositions as well as full pop/rock instrumentals with The Grand 3 and EZDrummer. Will share soon as I finish.
