Earthworks PianoMic System

Feb

Earthworks PianoMic System

Posted on February 21st, 2008 in Church Life, Technology by Fred McKinnon

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Hey Everyone -

So, we’re about 8 days away from our first official “service” in our new facility at SSCC. I’m very excited in between yawns.

A very generous donation was recently made – a man here on the island donated his “practically brand new” Yamaha Baby Grand Piano with full Disclavier system. We won’t necessarily use a grand piano on every single song, but it’s a wonderful addition and I can’t way to play it. It’s already on the stage – but one thing is for sure – I want to keep the lid DOWN to avoid having too much stage presence.

So, we need to come up with a good mic solution for the piano. Enter the new PianoMic System by Earthworks. Pricey – over $3500 before discounts, but looks very promising, and can provide great mic’ing with the lid all the way down.

Anyone had experience with these?

Fred

http://www.robertpooley.org Robert Pooley

Yeh, One of the guys in our church is a graphic designer who does, I think, most of their print material… and advertising. He is also an awesome musician… and he has been singing the praises of these mics. They also use them at Lucky Kelson’s recording studio here in town where my friend Mike also does some session stuff. He swears that they are amazing.
http://www.graceeveryday.blogspot.com beth

Not familiar with that particular mic; we have been using a Hempinstill (http://www.helpinstill.com/) for about three years and have been very pleased. Don’t know about the cost, but as a pianist, I absolutely love the sound it gives us; very full. I’d recommend it again…

Best of luck – I know you’re really excited!!!!
http://www.luckykstudio.com Lucky Kelson

I have mic’d my Yamaha G-3 Grand for several years in my studio with
two Earthworks QTC40 microphones on booms. The sound is really
incredible. I’ve also had a Earthworks PianoMic in my piano and it’s just as
incredible, only easier to use. Plus, no booms. It sounds just as
good with the lid closed as it does open. Hardly any bleed from other
instruments. The PianoMic uses the same 40kHz mic heads that are in
my QTC40s, with flexes on the heads attached to an adjustable
telescoping rod that lays into the piano behind the dampers. It takes
all of 3 minutes to set up. My piano has never sounded better. In
fact, it’s so rich and full it’s like I’ve got a 9′ grand in the studio.

Lucky Kelson
LuckyK Recording Studio
Pensacola, Florida
http://www.luckykstudio.com
http://www.olivebaptist.org Kelly Ward

I have had the wonderful opportunity to use the PianoMic system from Earthworks on 2 different Pianos in 2 totally different situations in the same room, Olive Baptist Church Worship Center (3500 seats).
First on our Yamaha C-7, on which we usually use 2 Barcus Berry pick-ups, The sound of the piano expanded incredibly, it tends to be a little thin, and the clarity was so pronounced that everyone on the platform commented on the difference.
The second opportunity was with Ashley Brown and the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra in concert together on a 9′ Steinway which sounded huge when it was needed but clean and light in the orchestra pieces where it was not the featured instrument.
The PianoMic Sounds great and is very easy to instal and adjust.
From me it is a great mic.
http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

Woo-Hoo … I was told “no way” to the expense, but 24 hours later, it appears someone made a gracious donation to cover the cost – so I have been given the green light to order the Earthworks PianoMic system for our piano first thing Monday morning! HOORAY!
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Michael

Fred,
What’s the verdict on the PianoMic?
http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

Hey Michael, and gang -

We are loving them. I’ll say right away, though, that setup wasn’t as easy as I thought .. I mean, it was easy to setup, but it took quite a few weeks and moving around to get them sounding the way we wanted.

For one thing, they don’t really want the telescopic pole to be fixed to the “bend” .. but with a small baby grand like we have, it was nearly impossible to stay away from the bend. As a result, we just couldn’t seem to get the pole to fit as snug as we’d like.

Finally, we flipped it around the other way, and bent the mics back over the pole (easy to do w/ the gooseneck) and it made a big difference.

I suppose the thing that surprised me the most (this is the good and the bad) is how sensitive the mics are. In a live application, they are picking up a LOT of the bass and other stage sounds, even with the lid completely closed (including the music rest). I assume that having two dual 18″ subwoofers in the stage contributes to vibrating, and those vibrations are also vibrating the piano and sound board!

All in all, it’s been a great setup, though, and the piano sounds very natural … I’m happy to have them.

Fred

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