One of the most elusive instruments to mix is the acoustic piano. Thanks to such a wide range of dynamics, tonal range, and overtones; there are virtually an unlimited number of sonic textures and moods you can produce from a piano recording.
It’s important to start with a good-quality recording before you start mixing. For tips on getting a good piano recording, check out this article.
When thinking about mixing piano, it’s easiest to think in terms of EQ, compression and reverb. If you’re going to have a stereo mix of piano, then you can add panning to that list as well.
EQ
It’s often best to start with EQ in your signal chain, so unwanted frequencies don’t get passed down to subsequent processing steps.
When equalizing piano, a lot of what you do will be determined by the other elements in your mix. It also risks muddying up your mix by interacting with several other instruments because the piano has such a wide range of tonality.
If you have a lot of bass and/or kick drum in your mix, it’s generally a good practice to put a high-pass on the piano around 200 Hz. To keep it in the back of your mix, behind vocals and guitars, you may want to dip the piano around 6dB at the 2000 Hz to 3000 Hz range.
If the piano is going to be a solo instrument in the track, then it’s best to only EQ minimally to your taste. However, ideally you would want to procure the tone by taking the time to place the mics properly during the recording process.
Compression
Like EQ, the application of compression when mixing will have a great deal to do with the context. What genre is your music? What other instruments are in the track? Traditionally, a more classical or jazz piece of music will try to preserve more of the dynamic range of the piano recording, while pop and country tend to use more compression.
If you’re wanting to preserve much of the dynamic range of your piano track, it’s best to try a smoother compression. Try setting the threshold to around -7dB, the ratio at 3:1, the attack at 10ms and the release at around 1,000ms. If you want to make it more aggressive, drop the threshold down and make the ratio 2:1.
In our next post, we’ll cover tips for reverb and panning.
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 7 unique value-points included in your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
- SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets of mixing and matches the needs of the new music industry.
- SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video in-depth modern mastering course that dives into every nuance of making professional-sounding masters.
- SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for mastering.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from budding mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout each course.
- Each SAU course includes Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website and social channels.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
2. Private 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
- Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
- Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
- Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
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3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve your skills and create professional mixes.
- Mixing feedback is invaluable, and the Sage Audio membership gives you continual direct access to us for real-world feedback so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
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4. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
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5. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
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6. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
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7. 800+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your skills at your own pace.
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