I needed to record some practice tracks for a student today, and decided to adapt upright piano miking technique I saw in SoundOnSound. My studio is very bright, so doing any miking with the lid open or front panel removed is a no-go.
CM3 subcards 60 cm wide, 80 cm from the frame, 80 cm high. The second picture is a bit misleading; the mics were aimed at the top half of the soundboard.
The recording was well-balanced and natural. This will now be my go-to setup.
I had to mike a cellist who played in a recumbent position one time, that was pretty entertaining.
@mcfate
That's weird. How the heck could she even play?
The whole cello was rigged for it, he had a special chair he hauled in. I ended up using a couple of booms overhead, it worked out okay.
It was pretty weird.
@mcfate
Yeah, the booms make sense. That's common to do for spot mics on violin and viola sections since they radiate so much of their sound upwards.
(...this piano, this weather, this phase of the moon...)
For anyone wanting to try this, please understand that this worked great for this instrument in this room, these mics, etc. Your mileage may vary.