Acoustic Piano

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This R-26 piano recording captures the complex sound of the instrument itself (strings, soundboard, etc), as well as the reflected sound from the hall.

I wanted to use the bright string tones captured by the XY mic as the dominant sound, so I set the volume of Track 1 (XY) slightly higher than Track 2 (OMNI). I also added a long reverb to add more spaciousness to the sound.

Piano performances have a wide dynamic range, so I reigned in the levels a little with the Cakewalk Stereo Compressor/Gate.
Mixing with SONAR X1 LE
• Volume Balance
　　　
Track 1 (XY): 0.0 dB
Track 2 (OMNI): -2.0 dB

Click to enlarge
• Effect Settings
　　　
Reverb—I adjusted the amount (-10.0 dB) using the SEND controls on the MIX bus. The DECAY TIME is set to approximately 4 seconds.

Compressor—Inserted on the MIX bus. The THRESHOLD is set at about -10 dB, while the RATIO is set to 3:1. I’ve set a relatively slow ATTACK, and the RELEASE is moderate.

Mixing Results
Listen to the following tracks to compare the sound before and after mixing in SONAR X1 LE.
Mixing Techniques for Various Musical Instruments
Acoustic Piano
Acoustic Guitar
Ensemble (Shakuhachi, Guitar, Percussion)
String Quartet
String Quartet: Advanced Mixing Using SONAR X2 Producer
R-26 product pageSONAR LE product page

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