First microphone(s) to record acoustic piano

Hi Francisco,

There's never really a simple answer to most of these questions as it all depends on what you're trying to achieve from your recordings and where the piano is situated.

I started out with a pair of Rode NT5's (very cheap) and ran those into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface for a short while, costing me a total of about £400. This worked for me at the time as I didn't have a lot of money.

I think what's important first is how you capture the instrument and how you then process that sound afterwards. There really are lots of options out on the market so it's about having a look around and finding what you think may work within your price bracket. The difficulty with microphones is that the only way to really find out if they're right for you is to buy them and try them (or you could rent them, but it can be quite expensive). Youtube reviews/opinions of others give some indication of how they'll sound but you'll never fully know until you have them in front of your own piano/instrument.

I started using some microphones from British company Sontronics a few years back, and I'd definitely recommend some of their products as they are cheaper than a lot of the big brands and still produce excellent results.

If you can stretch your budget, I'd look at a pair of Neumann KM184's which is what I use on all of my recordings. They're not cheap, but you can be sure they're going to sound great sat in front of most pianos, with or without felt, upright or grand, and will also be a reliable source to capture sound for the foreseeable.

What's important is that whether it's an upright or a grand piano, the tonal texture of the instrument is going to somewhat the same so you can use the majority of relevant microphones across a range of pianos.

With piano, I'd recommend leaning towards a pair of SDCs, particularly if you're just starting out recording.