Hi,

I really want to start recording myself playing and have done some research on here to see what methods everyone uses. I would eventually like to get something like the Edirol R-09 but at the moment it's a bit out of my budget.

I was thinking of trying my laptop with a microphone plugged into it. Has anyone tried recording like this? What kind of sound quality does it produce? Also, I have a grand piano so where should I place the microphone for recording?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated,

Lizzie

It dus work quite well, with ok quality with built in mics on laptops, nothing a bit of added effects, such as reverb (but don't drown it) on it wouldn't sort out. You would have to try the mic in several different positions until you got a sound that you liked. If u are not using the built in microphone and are using an external mic then the best place would most likely be above the strings under the lid of the piano. However, if you use the built in microphone, perhaps placed on a table a small distance away, where you find it picks up the sound you want well.

I hope this helps.
All the best.

I use a Zoom H4 with two built-in condenser microphones. Really good quality and costs about 150 quid.

If budget is tight then no reason a microphone plugged into a laptop shouldn't be as good. But the quality of the microphone is everything - if it's a run-of-the-mill dynamic then to get any signal at all the microphone will need to be CLOSE to the piano and as has already been said, possibly even inside. You probably would get better results from the laptop's built-in microphone.

Best results would be from a condenser microphone, but you'd then need some way of providing phantom power.

David.