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Thanks for getting back to me Chris.
Pardon my ignorance. I normalise the whole song, I haven't used EQ before - do I equalise the whole song ?

I usually use 2 akg C3000 mics. These are cheap (no real studio would even consider having these). I got them on ebay 2nd hand for approx $100 each.
I do have some other mics that I use sometimes if I want the best possible sound I can get but the C3000's are pretty good (value for money wise). I put these about 2 ft from the strings with the lid open, one for the top strings kind of near the lid stick and one directed at the bass strings. I pan these L and R, add some reverb in logic and maybe some eq/fx after recording before bouncing.

JW, don't even think about using those SM57/8's, they will sound bad. It should be easy enough to import the digital file you get from your zoom into another program on the computer to add a bit of reverb afterwards.

Eq can be used to the whole song or to an instrument;
cut low or high, boost low or high and everything in between.

maybe there's to much bass, do a highpass, to much noise do a lowpass . . etc
or you might want to boost the bass . . etc

depending on your software you might want to work on a copy of the original file, in case it all goes wrong.

SM57 are the industry standard for mic'ing amps. They suck at recording piano. You'll get no where as good as you will with the zoom. Well places, the zoom should sound great.
Check out 7notemode. His recordings are great. He adds one mic for the bass, and it's all plugged in the zoom. One several of his vids, he describes the setup. I believe it's affordable.
There's no reason to try to do better.

Well, I've used one SM57 stuck inside an upright for that rock n roll (Neil Young, etc) sound to good use. But for acoustic jazz, etc I agree, stay away from it.

Nice demo scep! Great selection of tunes and really cool grooves. I definitely wouldn't worry about the rough spots, which aren't really that rough . Restaurant mangagers and the general public won't know there's anything wrong. When I was in undergrad I used to sub alot for my teacher for his weekly solo gig at a local restaurant. He was an excellent player, far better than I am... especially the me of 10 years ago when I was doing that. I was REALLY rough then. Anyway, the restaurant owners and customers often told me they liked my playing better than my teacher's... which puzzled me at the time. But looking back I realize that they really couldn't tell a difference except that my teacher played alot faster than I did. Which is probably why they liked what I did, they could keep up... even though the beat was all over the place .

Beeboss, a new AKG C3000 is reasonably priced, like $249. That's not too bad. Maybe these are made in China?

Looks like the older models are more expensive.

Knotty, the Zoom H4 mics sound good but there's no way to do pre-processing on the pre-amp. It would be nice to control the reverb right at the front so if I record a trio then the ambience is balanced for all.

What I don't get is that we have to purchase all these expensive mics but the cheap Zoom H4 is functional as is with built in Mics. What gives?

I've realized that we are very hard on ourselves. The casual listener (most of our audience) don't set such a high standard on things like chops. I find I get claps when I really play something simple and melodic, something way within what I can do reasonably well.

To me it is clear that groove accounts for a lot. I was competing with another performer for our time slot. This guy was a solo and sometimes duo performer and sings stuff like Beatles tunes, which is good for the crowd. But we have him beat with the energy of a 6-7 piece band.

Suffice it to say, we knocked the other guy out and he's upset (I heard he was bitching to the bartender). But the bartender being mercenary too was concerned about his earnings. We bring the crowd in and he makes good money when we show up.

You get what you pay for with mics. But the main problem with the zoom is the lack of choice over positioning I should think. A grand piano is never going to sound really good without pretty precise mic placement.

My more critical situation is amplifying a grand at a gig. Is it the same setup? I've seen some set up the lid really low or have a mic underneath the piano.

Here the issue on volume is feedback, especially with the speakers on the stage rather than FOH.

Yes, this is my thinking too. But since 7note doesn't record with others, especially bass and drums, I wonder if the mic he uses could be good for those instruments too?

Has anyone used Blue Mics (Snowball, etc?) They seem to have decent mics (from the reviews) at reasonable prices. I'd want to get something for under $100 (sorry Dave--I'm the least gear-headed guy out there so I cringe at paying $$$ for incrementally better sound quality).

Thanks Scott! I'll keep the demo as is then.
How's your search for gigs going?

Those Blue Mics are ultra cheap and USB. So looks like they're intended for direct to computer use.

BTW - I've tried to adjust the reverb via Audacity but admitedly all those varied numerical settings is just mumbo jumbo to me. I'd like to just twist a reverb button like on the keyboard. So I'd rather not process at the back end.

So for me, my preference is something that can be controlled at the pre-amp.

Sorry but I can't agree with this thinking. To me that's like saying "I'm perfectly ok with this 20 year old Yamaha U-whatever upright, I don't need a good quality grand".

They're are many people who pursue home recording as an "art"--just as we strive to get better by practicing. They have day gigs where they make good dough which in turn allows them to experiment with different mics, pres, converters and recorders. They will always be at a hobbyist level but they have a great love and passion for the recording process.

There's this guy from France on Gearslutz. He's a Classical player and has a nice, expensive Steingraber 7' piano. The guy is constantly posting sound clips of him playing Chopin with his latest new mic or pre. He must have close to 15K, maybe more, tied up in mics alone!! He's not a great player but not bad either, basically a hobbyist. Guys occasionally post rude comments like "hey get a life" but I've listened to a lot of his clips and there is a huge difference from mic to mic. And then when he starts pairing them with different preamps, it can totally change the color of the mic and overall sound dramatically. It's pretty eye or ear opening.

Yeah no argument-it is an expensive pursuit and I totally get not wanting to invest the dough. But recording can be inspirational to our playing, then again sometimes not.. . By listening to recordings of myself, I've had as much progression in my playing as studying with any teacher.
I've without a doubt been better able to formulate my own sound or voice, taking from it from what I think it sounds like in my head, to actually hearing in real time first hand. And the better it sounds (recording quality), the more inclined I am to want to record..

I'm not fooling myself into thinking I'm an engineer but having the good mics, nice sounding converters on my hard disc recorder and great piano--the sound is better then a lot of studios I record in. This in turn gives me a lot of gratification, artistically speaking--and I might add , at a level way more fulfilling then many gigs I'm doing these days...

These entry level digital handheld recorders are amazing quality compared to anything that was available even 10 years ago. But to say there's no need to go up from there......

Well Dave F., I have to say that hearing the sound on Beeboss' piano is inspirational. So you've got a point there.

Oh that's a good explanation of how EQ is used, thanks Chris.

Hey JW
I couldn't find the reverb in Audacity. Did you have to add a plug-in ?

No gigs yet... not even a good lead. So far I've just sent a few emails with a link to our YouTube demo to some local restaurants, some that don't have live music, and some that do. I'm planning to follow up with them all soon. Beyond that, I don't really know what else to do. I guess I'll have to make phone calls to all the places that don't have email, which seems to be the majority.

How do you plan to shop your demo around scep?

I'm going to do the reverse of what you are doing. I'll go directly to the places first, make a contact with the floor manager/owner with a CD in hand, get their email address for follow up then send a message in the following days with a link to the boxnet demo to ask if they've liked what we're doing and if they'd like us to play.
I'm also considering giving one 'freebee' to start the process. By playing at a place once (maybe for drinks/dinner?) they don't have to commit to spending any real money to see if they like having the band there.
In my experience most venues only consider having live music once everything else has failed for them. The exceptions to the rule are the restaurants owned by amateur musicians who are just starting up and want to have a place they would have wanted to play in. The only successful ones are in a convenient local, have hip decor, a decent menu, and probably have a very beautiful staff.
Needless to say I've played at numerous restaurants that have since closed. So my hopes aren't really that high that I'll land a great paying gig at a hip place. I'll settle for the ugly little dive hosted by the owners on the verge of closing.

Cus, it's called GVerb. Though it was trial and error to figure out the parameters.