I spent a day recently at a friend Dave Powell's studio checking
out a pair of Golden Age FC-4 mics on his baby grand piano.
The reason for going there was that the piano is situated in
the large recording area which has a very lively acoustic and
I wanted to hear how these mics perform in an open space. Let's
just say straight away that this piano isn't a stunning Steinway
Grand but a tool for Dave to get his musical ideas down quickly
and easily in his studio. For the purpose of comparison I also
took my trusty pair of Hebden Sound's HS3000. I love the Hebdens
and use them a lot in the studio but they definitely come into
their own in an open environment. I'd tried the FC-4s as drum
overheads in the studio and while they sounded OK they were
always on a hiding to nothing against our Neumann KM84s. As
a result I did'nt have very high expectations for the FC4s on
a piano, particularly given their price.
But let me put this in perspective. A pair of Hebden HS3000
with their omni and cardioid capsules currently cost around
£600 GBP plus VAT and shipping in the UK. A pair of Golden
Age FC-4s costs around £140 GBP including VAT but plus
shipping. So the Hebdens cost about 5 times the price of the
Golden Age mics....but are they 5 times better?
Let me say now that this is'nt about the Hebdens. I've had my
pair for around two years and they're superb microphones. The
reproduction, build quality and support is excellent and I would'nt
be without them but I was intrigued to hear how a much cheaper
version of this package (pencil condenser with interchangeable
capsules) would fare side by side so here goes.
This was by no means any kind of scientific test. Dave had no
idea this would be on the internet and was purely busking around
a couple of chord progressions. But this is exactly what happens
in a session.
I started by listening to Dave playing the piano and walking
around the room to try and find some sweet spots. Having decided
on a starting position I set up the Hebdens with their omni
heads about 5 feet away from the instrument and about 5 feet
apart side-on to the piano and the performer. They were fed
into a pair of GA Pre 73 preamps and subsequently into Pro Tools
via the line inputs of a 003 rack, flat and uncompressed.After
hearing the mics through the monitors I went out and moved them
a couple of times to tweak the sound. I then recorded a section
of music.
Leaving everything the same (stand position, gain etc) I substituted
the FC-4s, also with their omni heads, and recorded the same
section. Conclusion?
At that distance the FC-4s were more “middly” and
slightly boxy without the high-end sheen of the Hebdens but
possibly within the range of post EQ'ing to achieve a similar
sounding result. They also had about 15% less gain but I don't
think this is an issue. The overall sound of the piano was very
roomy as expected but the Hebdens reproduced the room sound
more faithfully and more sweetly in my opinion.
I then put the Hebdens back up and moved them to within 2 feet
of the piano and just by the open lid. I'd stood there and heard
a lot of mid-range energy before putting the mics up...the lid
certainly focussed and directed the sound a great deal. After
adjusting levels to compensate for proximity I recorded the
same section of music then did the same thing with the FC-4s.
Conclusion?
At this distance the difference between the two pairs of mics
was much less pronounced and the FC-4s became more detailed
and less middly giving a full bodied reproduction with a high
end that was just ever-so-slightly less sweet than the Hebdens.
Finally I replaced the omni capsules on both pairs of mics with
their cardiod heads and moved them into a more “classic”
grand piano mic set-up: ie positioned about 8-10 inches above
the strings inside the lid and spaced equidistantly over the
bass and treble strings. Conclusion?
Here, once again the FC-4s were almost as accurate as the Hebdens
in their mid-range sound and only lose out again in the high
end area....but not by much believe me.
Finally
I recorded Dave playing a keyboard with a pre-set piano sample
injected straight into ProTools. The difference in sound between
an acoustic instrument recorded with microphones and a “sampled”
reproduction is very obvious here and is clearly a matter of
taste and which sits best in the song. I just happen to love
capturing the space between the mic and any instrument.
As
I stated earlier this was'nt any kind of “lab” test
but it's interesting to hear comparisons in a real studio situation.
Don't go away from this thinking that to get a perfect piano
recording you need these mics. Miking a piano is never easy
and so much depends on so many different variables. If you look
on the internet about recording a piano every engineer will
have a different favourite mic and technique and it simply reinforces
what we always tell you. It comes down to what's happening in
front of you on the day. All pianos are different, all players,
all rooms, all styles of music, and all mics. Microphones are
just tools that we use to do a job and the more different mics
we have makes us better prepared for dealing with whatever walks
through the door.
The
FC4 gives you a good sounding, quiet mic that you can use in
hundreds of different situations and at the price is simply
a steal.
JS
