Topic: Strange phasey effects remedied by microphone placement?
Hi,
I am finishing up a 12-song solo piano project that uses Pianoteq 8 as the instrument.
I enjoyed using different instrument packs and finding which ones seemed more or less suitable for each song.
On two of the songs, I kept hearing strange phase effects on the left-hand lower register chords. I spent a lot of time trying different instruments, tweaking hammer hardness, adjusting impedance, and making level adjustments to overtones, but the unnatural sounding effect persisted.
I finally stumbled upon a solution by moving the microphone locations. Having worked with a fair number of real-life grand pianos and fancy mics and preamps, I probably should have figured this out sooner, but I would venture to say that the influence of placement is emphasized more so in the mathematical model than I have experienced in the acoustic domain.
Anyway, I am writing here to ask for some sort of confirmation or validation. I know it sounds weak, but I'd rather be honest. I am at the point where I am too familiar with the music to remain as objective as I'd like to be.
Can any of you share thoughts, experiences, or insights with regard to the observation that mic placement can have such a pronounced effect?
Thank you!