Topic: Stupid human trick continued: Panning piano \ Stereo spread

Just discovered what may have been self-evident to hundreds of people-- that we can easily move the piano to the left or right without fooling with the mics or panning a track in a sequencer:

1. Use a binaural setting on the sound stage.
2. Put the head over\inside the piano, anywhere along the length of the lid.
3. Point the head directly to the left, so it faces the lid, to pan the piano to the left. Point it directly to the right, facing directly away from the raised lid, to pan the sound all the way to the right.
4. In between settings, with the arrow\nose from the head pointing directly at one corner of the piano, slide the sound slightly to one side or the other, placing the treble or bass near the center of the sound field.

Last edited by Jake Johnson (15-12-2009 23:35)

Re: Stupid human trick continued: Panning piano \ Stereo spread

Jake,

That sounds like it could be pretty handy when mixing/recording with other instruments too.

Re: Stupid human trick continued: Panning piano \ Stereo spread

And the corollary for mics is that one must adjust the mics placement for the lid, or it will push the sound left or right. If the lid is raised and the mics are one side of it, the sound moves to that side of the stage, of course. But the following V-shaped arrangement compensates, keeping the sound centered:

micsforcentering.png



(Putting the mics above a partly closed lid darkens the sound without reducing as many upper partials as a closed lid, and without projecting the sound as forcibly as putting the mics towards the opening, and without getting as many resonances as putting the mics inside the cabinet.)

Last edited by Jake Johnson (16-12-2009 16:39)

Re: Stupid human trick continued: Panning piano \ Stereo spread

And!!! To create a wider stereo image, with the bass more isolated to the left and the treble more isolated to the right, try this lid and mic setup, with the mics near and outside the lid and following its line. (I posted this in response to Creart's post about stereo width, too, but thought it was worth duplicating.) Note the settings in both the Top view and Front view:

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/4817/micsforwidestereospread.png
By jakejohnson at 2009-12-15

Sliding the mics closer together or further apart changes the width, of course, but move both mics together instead of one at a time...BUT note the lid position is important--at this 45 degree angle, putting the mic at the top of the lid means it is nearer or over the right side of the keyboard. if you raise the lid more, and move the mic to stay at its uppermost end, you move the mic towards the center of the keyboard, and thus lose the treble-on-the-right. Conversely, the more you close the lid, the more you may want to move the right-side mic to the right, over the treble...

AND: If you close the lid more, you may need to also move the left mic, too, slightly to the right. Otherwise, the lid may direct the sound at a new vector, moving the bass sound back to the middle.

Even if you don't feel the need to isolate the left and right notes much, this setting is worth playing with, since slight adjustments spread the center notes a little, too, isolating where they come from a bit more.

AND: Play with the Sound Speed parameter in conjunction with this mic setting and with the Piano Size parameter, in the Options\Midi thing, to control the "fullness" of this isolated bass and treble sound--a bigger piano seems to keep the two sides isolated with this lid\mic setting but fill in the center a little more. (Assigning the Piano size to the mod wheel makes experimenting here easy.)

Last edited by Jake Johnson (17-12-2010 00:43)

Re: Stupid human trick continued: Panning piano \ Stereo spread

I've just scratched the surface with editing the pianos so far, and I'm constantly amazed by how great a difference a small 'bump' to the mics makes.

Re: Stupid human trick continued: Panning piano \ Stereo spread

Incidentally, no one ever mentions it, but the Pianoteq 'soft' pedal is not just an on-off switch. It provides incremental pedalling just like the sustain pedal does. I assign soft pedal control to my mod wheel.

Michael