Resonance | The Felted Piano

The allure...and the curse

The Beginning

Back in 2002, I had an epiphany. While studying percussion at Berklee College of Music I started to develop a love for the piano, which coincided with the release of the soundtrack for Donnie Darko by Michael Andrews. Yes, the music was innovative, fresh and unique…but, that piano. A soft, gentle tone that I had not heard before. At the same time my father had just recently purchased an upright piano with a felt damper strip (for lowering the volume of the piano for practicing without distracting others). I quickly became obsessed, and only recorded or played with the felt on.

A few people had also caught the bug at the time, but it wasn’t until the rise of the Spotify playlist maybe 15 years after that I started hearing this sound more…and more…and more. It became ubiquitous, and my feelings about this cherished sound became complicated. One must understand the hours of toiling with recording and mixing this sound in order to understand my relationship to it. In person this sound is beautiful, warm and round, but it takes a special performer and engineer to capture it. In the wrong hands, all of the little imperfection, the mechanical sounds, the fingers over the keys and the felt itself, could lead to a distraction rather than a calm, immersive experience. And when does it become too much of a good thing?

The Felt Manifesto

Recording this sound can make or break the allure of it. Although, it should be noted that some people purely opt out of the concept of this sound all together and hate all of the extraneous sounds that come from mixing a very quiet instrument. I myself, have struggled over the years with a plethora of micing techniques, trance-inducing EQ and compression tweaking sessions and reverb choices in order to maximize and respect this sound only to be met with an overarching sense of discontent, with a few exceptions. To me this is something that is either a pass or a fail; whereas, I’ve heard many recordings of regular uprights and grand pianos in a variety of settings that are “passable”, in this instance it either works or it doesn’t to my ears. It all starts with the performance, but it’s important to dig into the details.

The Process

I’ve spoken with many fellow musicians and mixing engineers over the years about this topic, and it has brought me great relief, and further pain, to know that we’re all in the same boat together. Michael Andrews gave us the map and we’ve been chasing the holy grail. What kind of mics? How many? Where to put them? What if I don’t have a felt damper pedal? What EQ settings? Compression? Yes.

Mics

This is a sensitive topic, but generally speaking I’ll go over a few favorites. (Caveat: if you have mounds of money, you can basically do no wrong.). Also please choose your mic preamps wisely…you don’t have to crazy though.

• Neumann KM 184 - Warm, natural, accurate, forgiving and great for getting in close. It’ll run you $1200-1600 for a pair. Good to pair with other room mics, for piano but great for up close.

• Audio Technica 4047a - This is a hill I will die on. I was given these mics as a going away present by my father when I went off to college. They’re easy to find, and relatively inexpensive. Very very warm and mellow, very low noise floor so you can record quietly and mix without hiss getting in the way (if you properly gain stage). Also good on vocals, drum overheads, kick drum mic, acoustic guitar (in stereo!). It’ll run you $1000-1500 for the pair

• Audio Technica 4040/4050 - The little siblings to the 4047. I have a 4040 and it’s amazing. For the price there is no better, it’s got the warmth and low noise of the 4047, and in some instances could pass for it. Excellent budget mic that’ll get you far on piano. 4040 is $300 and 4050 is $600-700

• Sennheiser mh8020 (and 8040): I haven’t tried these, but it’s been on my bucket list. By all accounts these are extremely sensitive, warm and quiet mics, but expensive, about $2500 + for the pair

• DPA 4011 - I have a pair of these and while they are very neutral and clear mics, but they just don’t work well for felted piano as no matter how accurate your gain staging is, they’re just a bit too noisy. Noise is totally find for a vibe, but when it gets in the way, it ruins the mellow tone of this sound. I’ve moved these over to my drum overheads and they’ve been magical. $3k for the pair

• Coles 4038 - It’s use is ubiquitous and for good reason; it’s warm, and has great character, but I would say that unless you are going for a specific vibe, there are other choices that will get you to the same place. Being a ribbon, it’s delicate, requires precise gain staging and a really good mic preamp, and is a specific sound. In my opinion better suited to drum overheads, or combined with something else. $3k for the pair

• Noteworty (on a budget)

  • Warm Audio 47 Jr ($250 each) - Amazing sound for the price, crisp and clear, get it.

  • Rode NT 5 - I love these mics, great on everything if you need a workhorse ($450 for the pair)

Placement

My default when I started was to place either mic really close and on very far ends of the bass and treble side with the front cover taken off so the hammers and mechanicals were exposed. This generally works as a good two-mic setup, but experiment with the depth, angle and width of this placement for a guaranteed fun time.

Micing the back of the piano is very interesting for capturing low end. It doesn’t usually work by itself, but when combined with a couple of front mics, it can sound really cool.

Two mics in the very front, close in, and a couple of mics at the listening position, is a really great way of capturing a room and a variety of sounds. If you’ve got two pencil condensers and two large diaphragm condensers, do it!

Mics all around. Have a big room, or a bunch of mics? Capture the room with mics far away, put something on the floor, mic the bottom of the piano near your feet. Take advantage of the space if you have it, vibe will count big.

Mixing

There is a method here and it can drive you crazy, but if you haven’t recorded it well and the performance or composition isn’t there, then there’s no amount of EQ trickery you can do to fix it. But if you have that from the start, less is more. Tame those troublesome frequencies, but keep it light, don’t overdo it. EQ, compression, some reverb, that’s it.

Who Does It Well?

This is a subjective question of course, but the objective answer is Otto Totland, with Nils Frahm producing/mixing.

Funkhaus Berlin

This is the sound we all seem to be chasing. Instead of going for a totally clean and crisp replica of the felted piano, there’s hiss and room tone and vibe all over these recordings, it’s warm but clear. Yes, there’s lots of expensive gear and a top tier piano here, but most importantly it’s the performance and composition and focus on emotion and nuance. The composition and the touch Otto has applied to this sound brings it out, it’s tailored to it and embraces it.

I’ve listened to loads of music with felted piano over the years and myself, and my wife Hollie, have put together a playlist of what we think are some shining examples of composition, performance and mixing of this joyous sound.