Recording a piano

[JustJono]

My latest project (Black Light Sadness) requires me playing the piano. I have done what I can by synthesizing the intro to my piece.

My piano is not in tune. I only have a computer mic, and my piano is way in the living room.

I don't know how to install my Yamahaaaaaahahalala keyboard to my computer (midi still wouldn't sound right).

So here are the two issues:
- How would I record myself playing the piano and be able to have it as digital audio on my computer?

- If I ever were to accomplish this, would I be able to make the audio sample in tune (or near in tune) and in the same tempo?

Much appreciated,

[IAMTHEEVILBEAN]

Maybe go into a music studio and rent a keyboard

they let you put it onto a disk

[JustJono]

A real piano would sound much better. I wonder how SGX did it..

[eyespewgreekfire]

to get a good piano sound, youd have to get a professional recording. otherwise it will sound tinny.

[JustJono]

What do you mean tinny?

[eyespewgreekfire]

the recording will not sound very full. amateur recordings always compress and remove parts of the sound recorded, except if you buy uber expensive equipment.

[DJCynispin]

Depending on what kind of song it is, sometimes an electric piano or keyboard can sound better. Most of the good EDM tracks I have heard use "fake" pianos and sound great. I wouldn't go to all the trouble of trying to record a real one.

[JustJono]

Yeah, I guess I would use my keyboard, but keyboards aren't very wide and don't share the same notes and same amount of octaves I need out of a normal piano. Plus, my keyboard doesn't have dynamic capabilities. There's just one main volume.

I don't think I could use my piano anyway, even if it was tuned. It's an upright piano, and I think a recording would sound much better with a grand piano tone.

[eyespewgreekfire]

seeing you situation, i would probably just use an artificial piano synth

[JustJono]

That's what I started doing, but I realized that the higher pitches sound like a metal rod hitting a tin can.

[SpookG]

I end up having a lot of trouble with higher octave piano keys, and any amount of EQ doesn't really help, but I believe it is more that I cannot find a good softsynth piano to use.

The problem most people have with e-pianos is that they do not sound real enough, and mostly it is because the samples or machines they use don't accurately emulate the natural sound. The first thing to remember when making an E-piano sound is that it is digital, so it will by default sound flat, because 99% of synths only creating a signal at one octave. What makes pianos sound natural is the warmth of a note, which you can achieve very easily, which leaves room for creating a more unique piano tone.

I particulary enjoy adding a touch of overdrive to the high end frequencies. ;)

Most signals will only generate a note at one particular octave with synths--you can check this on winamp, actually, you don't need anything special for it. Real instruments resonate at just about every octave when you hit a note, just that the current one is most dominant, so the first issue is making the sound more full and warm. You will need reverb for this, and you can increase it when you want the pedal hit.

Put some EQ and compression with that, and you should be able to get a better sound.

For the second part of your question, yes, you can match the tempo with the live recording. You can use a metronome and set it to the BPM of your song if you have trouble keeping time.

I included a demo... I hope this helps some ;) It wouldn't let kme include it in my post, so it will be at this url:

http://www.spookgoblin.com/piano.bmx

It was made in just a couple minutes, so it isn't very good, and I over exaggerated the reverb to help get the idea across, but I hope it helps.

[JustJono]

Thanks for all the info!!

Is a bmx file used in Buzz? I use FL.

[SuperGreenX]

A real piano would sound much better. I wonder how SGX did it..

The piano in 4F73R M3 is sequenced midi. My friend MC made that intro for me. (I kinda wish credit was given on FFR where it says what artist did the song, but I'm not gonna bug Synth about it) MC used a very nice piano soundfont he downloaded off of the web and painstakingly sequenced it with lots of small tempo changes and velocity programming.

If you can find a good piano soundfont somewhere (they can often get up to 100 mb) that could work pretty well for you. Otherwise, if you need to record from a real piano, I suggest getting an extension cord :), or get something like a minidisc recorder. Record at the piano, then transfer it to your computer.

I'd suggest looking for a nice soundfont. It would be the easiest and most flexible way since you are using FL.

[JustJono]

Are piano soundfonts free and legally downloadable?

[SpookG]

i can't remember if this is the web address...

www.thesoundsite.net

there should be thousands of free vst and soundfonts.. but i dunno if they are any good.

[jewpinthethird]

Buzz has a nice Piano emulator.

Right Click -> New -> VTSi -> mda Piano

[SuperGreenX]

Are piano soundfonts free and legally downloadable?

Yea, if you find the free and legally downloadable ones.....heh. There's plenty out there. I have a bunch, though the samples that come with Reason are frikkin awesome so I don't use the soundfonts I downloaded. Just search around on google and stuff. "Free piano soundfonts" should do the trick.

[harrison]

if you wanna spend some money, you can still use that paino of yours. in my mind, acoustic will awlays sound better than digital, which is why my band almost awlays records on reels, unless we're just demoing a song in my basement. i dont know what software you're using, but if it has an audio track you can put in, you can record it for like 20-300 bucks. behringer makes a great 2 channel mixer, but any small mixer will do as long as it had phantom power, because recording a paino is best with a condensor mic. speaking of that, you also need to go buy a quality condensor mic. you can either go low end, and grab a behringer for like 80 bucks, oras high as you want. i personally like the AKG, cant really remember the model name right now. other than that, try not to EQ, but if you have to, awlays use subtractive EQ,, never addative. Also, if you need a synth sound from your acoustic paino, you can use either digital effects or outboard gear

[JustJono]

if you wanna spend some money, you can still use that paino of yours. in my mind, acoustic will awlays sound better than digital, which is why my band almost awlays records on reels, unless we're just demoing a song in my basement. i dont know what software you're using, but if it has an audio track you can put in, you can record it for like 20-300 bucks. behringer makes a great 2 channel mixer, but any small mixer will do as long as it had phantom power, because recording a paino is best with a condensor mic. speaking of that, you also need to go buy a quality condensor mic. you can either go low end, and grab a behringer for like 80 bucks, oras high as you want. i personally like the AKG, cant really remember the model name right now. other than that, try not to EQ, but if you have to, awlays use subtractive EQ,, never addative. Also, if you need a synth sound from your acoustic paino, you can use either digital effects or outboard gear

And THEN we'll bring up the fact that I'm 13 and jobless.

[DJ_Weasel]

Wish I could do that stuff....all I got is an antique piano that barely works... :/ with no money :/

[harrison]

go mow some lawns, thats great money, charge 20 bucks a lawn, do 5-10 over the weekend (very possible to do) and then get 100-200 bucks. that what i did till i got a real job

[harrison]

if anyone needs an audio sample of something, just tell me, i can probally do it. that includes real drums, acoustic guitar, all that fun stuff.