In our previous post, we covered EQ and compression tips for mixing acoustic piano–one of the trickier instruments to work with in the mixing process. In this post we’ll continue our mixing tips by talking about reverb and panning.
Reverb
When adding reverb to your acoustic piano track, you’ll want to be mindful of muddiness. It’s easy to want to add a lot of reverb to your mix to end up with a big sound, but if you’re recording has a lot of fast notes or is bass heavy, you may want to use minimal reverb in order to maintain clarity.
In an ideal setting, you would be recording piano in a well-treated room with natural reverb. You can often set up an overhead mic further away from the piano strings to capture some of that natural reverb. Then in the mixing process you can mix in your reverb mic to the desired level.
Panning
The physical linear interface of the acoustic piano is by nature a stereo instrument, with the higher pitched notes favoring the right channel and the lower bass notes favoring the left. Many producers like to at least somewhat preserve this natural image when mixing piano.
If you’re mixing a stereo recording of piano and there are other instruments in the mix, it’s probably best to mix the left channel hard left and the right channel hard right. This leaves room in the middle for more important instruments like vocals. A warning though, it may make your reverb stand out, so consider revisiting your reverb level.
If you’re using piano as a primary instrument, say with just vocals and bass, then you may want to try panning the two stereo channels 10% right and left, to maintain a more central sound.
Piano is one of the most rich and varied instruments to record. It can embody a seemingly unlimited range of tones and aesthetics. When a piano is recorded and mixed well, it has the power to emotionally move listeners like few other instruments have the ability to.
By sticking to these tips for mixing piano, you can better your chances of making an excellent and moving piano mix for any context.
Make Pro Songs
There are 6 unique value-points inside the Sage Audio membership, so let’s go over each one so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.
1. 20 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 20 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You’ll 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 Sage Audio 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.
2. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can quickly improve your mixes fast.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide you with feedback about what you can improve first before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
3. Sage Audio University™ (SAU) — (Mixing and Mastering Education Platform)
- SAU is a modern audio engineering education platform that includes in-depth mixing and mastering course curriculums that match the new music industry.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from first-time 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 every course curriculum.
- SAU course curriculums include 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, social channels, and portfolio for as long as you remain a member.
- Get first access to all future SAU course curriculums to continually build and refine your mixing and mastering skills as the industry evolves.
4. Sage Audio Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers that can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, discussions, mix competitions, networking, collaborations, and more.
5. 700+ In-depth Sage Audio Mixing and Mastering Videos
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into playlists so you can 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 mixing and mastering skills at your own pace.
6. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content, Including:
- 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).
- 58 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.