Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Best way to make high-quality keyboard videos?

I just bought a Yamaha P-120 and I'd like to finally start making some high-quality videos. I haven't researched it too much, but I'm assuming that when it comes to keyboards, videos are usually made from a direct digital audio feed (as opposed to the microphone on a camcorder).

Could somebody please outline the equipment that I'll need? I already have a camcorder and a computer. I have a preamp, too, but I'm not sure I'll need that. Could anybody share his/her experience on what's worked?

Also, here's a video that I made testing the microphone on my camcorder. There's a fan behind me and a person in the background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYZZaLtZ1yo&list=UUW0JYibVx2AD2bpd79MgjbQ

I think that under ideal conditions (i.e., no fan or people talking) I could get my camcorder to produce pretty good quality, but if direct sound from the keyboard's a lot better, then that's what I'd like to do.

*edit*

Oh, and does anybody know what size screws I need for the sheet music stand? I read online that they're 5 x 16 mm, but I tried that size and it didn't fit.

In my last videos, I've recorded audio and video seperately and synced the two resulting tracks in a new video. I have a piano with no speakers connected to 2 X 16 watts computer speakers, and the audio from them is simply not good enough to be recorded on my Nokia N8 cellphone. I usually record my videos on my cellphone, sometimes on my webcam. I think the speakers are to blame, not my digital piano.

Therefore I have to do it this way, but your piano doesn't sound so bad recorded "open air" as I like to call it. Of course you'll always be at the mercy of environment noise, be it from a fan blowing, or people talking around the house.

Maybe you should record your playing to your digital piano, transfer it to your computer, and compare it to how your piano sounds recorded the other way, like in the above video you posted on Youtube.

Yeah, I think you're right. It'd certainly provide the best comparison. I also considered doing what you said you did--having a separate audio component and then syncing it w/the video. The biggest caveat for not recording directly for me is just the environmental noise. My house is usually very noisy.

I don't know anything about recording the audio directly, though. I don't know if you need a special computer program, if it's done prior to connecting w/a computer and then subsequently transferred, or what.

First question:

. . . Will the P120 let you record _on the piano itself_ ?

If so, use that recording, and sync it it with the video, as TheodorN suggests.

If not:

You're not recording from a "direct digital audio feed" -- the P120 doesn't have one (I'll bet on that!).

You'll be recording _audio_, from either the "Line Out" or "headphone" jack. That should be a perfectly good source.

You can record it to your computer using "Audacity" (under Windows, maybe under Linux?) or some other PC-based recording software. Then you'll have to synchronize with the video.

Or, if your video camera has a "Line In" jack, you can plug the piano's "Line Out" signal into it. You won't have to synchronize with the video, in that case.

If you use the P120 loudspeakers as a source, you'll get worse results. If you use the video camera's microphone(s), you'll get worse results.

A small mixer (Behringer Xenyx 502 or 802) can be handy, to allow you to get the signal levels right.

If you look here:

https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubb...ant_Topics_on_the_Adult_.html#Post972650

you'll find references to two other pages, on recording your DP. I haven't checked them, but I bet they're worth looking at.

Have fun, and report back --

. Charles

The P-120/P-120S are equipped with a PC MIDI interface that allows direct connection to Macintosh® and Windows® computers with a serial port. This interface also lets you take advantage of the MIDI port expansion capability offered by Yamaha USB MIDI interfaces such as the UX256 and UX96.

Storage and Connectivity

Connectivity DC IN DC IN 16V
Headphones x 2
Sustain Pedal Yes
MIDI In/Out
AUX OUT (L/L+R, R), LEVEL FIXED (L, R)
AUX Pedal Yes

I'm not sure. I'll have to find out, although I'll probably try another option first just because there seems to be more information available.



It's late, so I just skimmed it, but it looked very informative. I'm going to take a closer look tomorrow. I'd really like to get everything dialed in before school starts again, which is in about a week. I hate having my attention so divided.



This was very helpful, too. I'm curious, though. What do these "expansion capabilities" do?

*edit* I have another question: What's the difference between the P-120 and the P-120S? Is there one? I couldn't find anything on this point.

The manual might come in handy, if you don't have it on paper, here is a link.

http://download.yamaha.com/api/asset/file/?language=en&site=usa.yamaha.com&asset_id=3509

Recording is described on pages 26-29 and connecting to a computer on page 41-43. You can record directly to the piano, but the manual is not very clear on how to get that recording to the computer. It seems it can only be transferred as MIDI data with a socalled bulk data dump operation.

However that is probably not very useful to you, since you want a recording with the piano's builtin voices. You can nevertheless play the recording back on your piano, which should give you an idea how it sounds outside of the piano.

So I'm not sure about this, I think Charles Cohen is right in that you can record through the Line Out, or AUX OUT, whatever it's called. Audacity can be used for that, I think.

I'm lucky in that my piano enables me to record directly to a USB drive, as WAV audio. Therefore I haven't had to deal with Audacity.

Note that you can only record MIDI through the MIDI interface, obviously maybe, given it's name, MIDI interface.

Confusion has entered the hall!<g>

"rnaple" has confused "MIDI recording" (which records your _keystrokes_) with "audio recording" (which records the _sound that the piano makes_).

If you record your keystrokes using MIDI (on the P120, or on the PC), you must "play back" the recording through some kind of "MIDI-to-piano" software, or hardware.

You could (for example), use Pianoteq (a "software piano") to generate piano sounds from the MIDI data. It could sound like a "Pianoteq Steinway", or a "Pianoteq Bluthner", or even a "Pianoteq Rhodes" -- but it _won't_ be the same sound that the P120 generates when you play it. The rhythms will be exactly what you heard when you played. The tone quality, and dynamics, may be different.

You could also play back the MIDI recording through the P120, using it as MIDI-playing hardware. That would sound just the same as actually playing the piece on the keyboard.

Sit back, read the manual, read the "Adult Beginners" stuff -- it will all make sense after some head-scratching. It's _not_ "rocket science".

. Charles

PS -- this opens up an interesting can of worms:

Somebody can make a Youtube video that "demonstrates" his KaRolamaha DP. But instead of recording from the DP directly, he substitutes the sound generated by Pianoteq, or a software-piano sample player. And the KaRolamaha really sounds great!

I don't think you could detect that fraud easily.

Absolutely Charles, recording of MIDI (*.mid, *.smf...) and of audio (*.wav, *.mp3...) are two entirely different things.

Maybe it's not a bad idea for Nicholas , what you're hinting at, to record as MIDI and then record as audio through a software piano like Pianoteq or Acoustic Samples C7 Grand.

I mention the latter because it's on summer sale, 30% off, going at 69 euros, but only until August 31st. Pianoteq 5 Stage is 99 euros. Of course there are loads of other options in this area.

I just bought a quarter-to-eighth inch cable and new camcorder that includes an 8th inch audio input port. Apart from rendering the video, this should--hopefully--circumvent the need for a computer. I'll try it either later today or tomorrow and then report back. I really hope it works, but if not I do have receipts (it was a pretty expensive purchase).

*edit* Do you guys think that a softening pedal is necessary? It seems like a lot of keyboardists don't use them. I want to ensure a strong contrast between double/triple piano and forte.

A "soft pedal" ( = "una corda" -- "one string") pedal doesn't just make the sound softer:

. . . it changes the tone quality.

It's like using a mute on a trumpet.

You're better off to practice p - pp - ppp playing, rather than relying on it.

. Charles

PS -- I have read, here, that examiners will _not_ be pleased if you use "soft pedal" where it's not required.

Well I just made a quick video and... It was a complete--that is, COMPLETE--failure. The quality was complete garbage, but I uploaded it anyway for the amusement of others:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe5vxOyn-lg&feature=youtu.be

I'll return the equipment I bought tomorrow and then try something else. Probably Audacity or some other program.

And thank you, Charles. I'll probably pass on the softening pedal for now.

Nicholas, are you able to reduce either the volume output of the Yamaha, or the recording input on the Canon? If so, this should allow you to record a clean, good quality performance, without the clipping/distortion.

Best of luck!

Cheers,
James
x

From page 144 of the camera's owner's manual:



Try setting the recording volume to the lowest level, then gradually increasing until the sound starts to distort. The camera's audio input jack is intended for microphones, rather than line-level audio, but it may still be possible to get a reasonably good quality recording.

Cheers,
James
x

What KJ said --

. . . It sounds like you're overloading the input stage of the camcorder.

Several ways to fix this:

1. Reduce the output of the piano -- either:
. . . . turn down the VOLUME knob, or
. . . . get a small mixer, and use it to control the input to the camcorder, or
. . . . buy or build a "40 dB pad" to reduce the volume of the piano, as it goes to
. . . . . . . the camcorder.

2. Reduce the input gain of the camcorder (KJ goes into that).

A Behringer Xenyx 502 would probably be adequate as a mixer -- it's around $40.

. Charles

PS -- a 40 dB stereo pad needs 4 resistors and some junkbox parts. I don't know if you can get one commercially, cheaper than the Behringer mixer.

All right, so I made a few adjustments and this is what I got:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Irjhe8a4R0&feature=youtu.be

The quality's significantly better, but it's still not as clear as I'd like it to be. It's also still very insensitive to volume changes, which, of course, are very important for dynamics. I've got a few pieces that I'd like to put more time into to get them up to par, and if I'm going to do that I'd like the audio quality to match the performance.

Unfortunately "This video is private."

Thanks for telling me. It should be working now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Irjhe8a4R0&list=UUW0JYibVx2AD2bpd79MgjbQ

As for the performance, there were a few minor slips, rushed parts, and missed dynamics. As I mentioned earlier, though, the camcorder is very insensitive to volume changes.

Uh-oh! Find out if "automatic gain control", or "automatic volume control", or "automatic level control" is turned on:

. . . If it is, turn it _off_.

You can usually hear its effect by listening to "background noise" fade in and out, in microphone recordings. But with a DP, direct-wired to the camcorder, there is _no_ background noise.

So ALC/ AGC / etc just makes everything sound equally loud.

. Charles

PS [edit] -- yes, it does have ALC, and you _can_ turn it off -- see the excerpt from the camcorder manual, above.

Reducing the volume was enough to clear most of it up, but it sounds like the automatic gain is what's making the mp and mf sound the same (pp and ff are pretty close, too). I'll try turning the ALC off and see if I can't clear it up completely.

Thanks again for your help.