Nt1310 Unit 5 Assignment

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The recording for this assignment was done in Studio 533 in Z9 block, QUT Kelvin Grove. I decided to record an upright piano in the studio for my mono and stereo recording task. The size of the studio is approximately 5 meters by 8 meters by 8 meters tall. The wall of the room is made of wood which creates some reverberation. Therefore I assumed that the recordings will capture some reflective sounds.

SHURE KSM141 Microphone was used for all three recordings. This condenser microphone was set to cardioid type. This polar pattern captures the most sound in front of the microphone the most, picks up less from sides, and nearly nothing from the rear. This pattern was chosen so that I can reduce possible noises that may happen during the recording.
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Recording 1 Positioning Directly Above the string
This microphone position was intended to capture both of the directional sound and reflective sound of the upright piano. It was decided to put it right above the piano, rather than placing it in front of the piano, because the direct sounds can be recorded only from the top where the lid is opened.

The distance between the microphone and the top of the piano was about 60 centimeters. This distance was chosen because If the microphone is placed too high, the ratio of directional sound and reflective sound will change and results in recording a sound with more ‘blurry’ sound image. To record all frequencies of the piano equally, I positioned the microphone in the center of the piano.

The recording at 0:03 where the playing stops momentarily, demonstrates the small amount of reflected sound that was produced by the room. The other interesting characteristic of these recording is the attack of the piano. Compared to the recording with a close distance (Recording 2), the attack of each note is softer even in the most intense parts of the performance (0:31).
Recording 2 Placing the microphone just above the