Piano EQ?

[Birdinator99]

Anybody out there got some good tips for mixing piano, particularly higher range stuff (like for solos on occasion)? I've tried some different things, but it usually sounds a little muddy.

Are keeping in the lower frequencies important for clarity? Is compression a good option (I know it can depend on the context, but just in general)?

Anything at all would be appreciated; thanks for your time.

[Rivergrey]

It depends on what piano sample/ soundfont/ type you use.

Is it digital? Is it an E-Piano or Keyboard you recorded? Is it an FL Studio soundfont (bluh)?

That's valuable info, bro. :/

[Buoy]

The piano is such a general purpose instrument that it completely depends on source and context. Is it a detuned upright piano, a grand piano sound or a cheapish digital piano/fl keys sound. Are the notes confined to a small range (high notes/deep notes) or are you playing an intricate classical virtuoso piece all over the keyboards. Is it a solo track or is it just for a rhythm section/as a background texture. Is there already a bass guitar or bass synth to take care of the low range, and how is the situation in the high mid range with the other melodic elements. When you ask yourself questions like these you should already have a pretty good intuition of what you need to do in terms of EQ (and hopefully in terms of compression too, but getting a good intuition for when compression sounds good might take a bit more time).

[Birdinator99]

Well, I use piano sounds from my synthesizer/keyboard, which is plugged in to my CPU via an external audio interface. I record the MIDI using any instrument I like, then after editing the MIDI, I record a .WAV over it with the piano sound I want. So yes, it's digital.

I usually have a bass synth or something covering the low end, so I could probably cut out some of the lower stuff from the piano. Now that I think about it, I probably boost the mid-high freq. range too much, and that might what's muddying it up.

[sorohanro]

EQ-ing something depends very much on what else you have in the mix. Here, something that might help:
http://audio.tutsplus.com/sessions/all-a bout-eq/

[Birdinator99]

At 9/29/11 07:04 PM, sorohanro wrote: EQ-ing something depends very much on what else you have in the mix. Here, something that might help:
http://audio.tutsplus.com/sessions/all-a bout-eq/

Ah, this looks great -- definitely taking a look at this.

[sculpted-cold]

Cut around 350 Hz if your recording sounds a little muddy. Other than that, it's pretty much just playing around with mic placement, tbh.