3 to 1 rule + mastering solo piano

[Chucho]

2 Questions as the title suggests.

1. I am recording an upright piano and have found a decent mic position at the rear: 2 mics, 12" away, 30" apart.
Any further apart and you're getting to the edge of the piano.
This would fail the 3 to 1 rule.

How much would that bother you?

2. I have pieces that peak at about -12 db. It's just piano. No compression. Who or what will add the gain to make it onto a CD ?

[mixedupsteve]

Originally Posted by Chucho

2 Questions as the title suggests.

1. I am recording an upright piano and have found a decent mic position at the rear: 2 mics, 12" away, 30" apart.
Any further apart and you're getting to the edge of the piano.
This would fail the 3 to 1 rule.

How much would that bother you?

2. I have pieces that peak at about -12 db. It's just piano. No compression. Who or what will add the gain to make it onto a CD ?

Does it sound good? If so I wouldn't worry about it.

[David Rick]

The 3:1 rule is for two mics combined on the same track or channel. I imagine you're tracking the piano in stereo, so the 3:1 rule doesn't apply. But if you plan to narrow the piano image with panning, or if you care about mono compatibility, then you could conceivably have issues.

Track levels that peak at -12 will often be raised in mastering -- but not always. The question is, how loud are your tracks compared to other (good sounding) recordings of similar material? When making comparisons, it's best to have a calibrated monitoring system. Read up on K-system monitor calibration standards. Bob Katz's book, Mastering Audio, has a whole chapter on this. There's also info on his web site: Digital Domain

David L. Rick
Seventh String Recording

[MaTr1x2051]

1) I don't care how it looks if it sounds good. Yes, in certain cases you will have mono compatibilities issues... but you'll have them 2 feet apart or 20 feet apart. Many people use AB miking for piano.

2) Peak level doesn't matter (as long as you're not hitting 0dbfs) Care more about your average level and how it stacks up against other albums in the same genre. You or a mastering engineer can make the gain adjustments. Most classical recordings don't need compression.

[Chucho]

Thanks guys,

I'll mono the 2 tracks just to check for phase issues.

I'll get a mastering guy to sort the levels. ( I was thinking about doing it myself ).

Thanks again.
C