AEA R84 - Piano; Drums & Percussion

Piano
The R84 delivers a great sound as a close-up and distant mic on both
upright and grand pianos. On grand piano we have found two positions
to be particularly useful:
1. Spaced pair of R84s looking at the hammers in the front. You will
need to remove the lid of the grand piano. This position will yield a very
natural, hi-fi sound. It is common to pull the mics farther out of the piano
than you would with a pair of condensers. You can change the amount
of natural room reverb by changing the distance between the mics and
piano.
2. Blumlein pair (coincident pair at 90-degree angle) of R84s positioned
on the side of the piano facing the player: one microphone pointing
towards the treble side of the piano, and the other microphone facing
towards the bass side that can result in a larger than life recording.
Drums and Percussion
Whether as an overhead configuration, or mono drum room, the R84’s
extended low end and smooth high end gives your drum sound that
thickness, warmth, and detail without unintended harshness. For mono
drum room, start by positioning your R84 at head level 9 feet (3 m) in
front of the kit. Depending on the size of the room and kit arrangement,
you may want to position the R84 further away if you wish to capture
more room ambiance.
Another popular technique to record drum overheads is to set up the
mics in a Blumlein configuration (coincident pair at 90-degree angle)
above the head of the drummer with each mic pointing in a different
direction. This will give you a very wide image of the drums that sounds
like you are in sitting center stage.
Both of these techniques also work well for recording the sound of the
room. The closer that the R84s are positioned to the drummer, the more
direct sound and less room ambiance will be captured by the mics.
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