Make your next piano recording on the industry-standard Yamaha C7 grand piano.
If you're looking for top-tier piano recording in the Bay Area and Santa Cruz, look no further. Silver Moon Sound features a recently restored 7'6" vintage 1979 Yamaha C7. We maintain the piano meticulously with regular tunings and maintenance. It is always ready to be the star on your next piano recording.
Are you a classical pianist recording your next solo album? Are you a singer-songwriter looking for the emotion a real grand piano can bring? Whatver your piano recording needs, Silver Moon Sound's Yamaha C7 has you covered.
How should you choose a studio for piano recording?
If you're looking for Bay Area piano recording at the highest level, you need:
- A great instrument that is well-maintained.
- A space large enough to accommodate the full resonance of the instrument, and it must be professionally acoustically treated.
- An engineer who has extensive experience with piano recording and a specialized set of ears.
The Silver Moon Sound Piano Recording Difference
Piano is one of the hardest instruments to record well due to the complex physics of its 230+ strings vibrating and resonating together. This sends the sounds bouncing around the instrument and room in non-linear ways. Place a microphone too close to the strings, and certain notes are louder than others. Place it too far away, and the instrument loses its impact. Move a closely placed microphone an inch or two left or right, and phase cancellations degrade the bass notes and ruin the recording.
Only a master of the piano recording craft can hear every nuance and know the techniques to get a recording right.
Silver Moon Sound's owner and chief engineer Shelby Lock is a classically trained pianist who is an expert at making great piano recordings. She knows how to bring out a more mellow, "classical" sound when desired or how to make the piano have enough edge to cut through a dense pop song. Shelby has been recording this particular piano for over fifteen years, including for her own solo piano album.
The few studios that bother to have any kind of acoustic grand piano often aren't invested enough to properly care for the instrument at a level that satisfies a pianist. On the contrary, as a studio owned and operated by a pianist, Silver Moon Sounds treats the C7 as a beloved part of the family.
Hear the Piano in Action
Below are a variety of piano recording styles engineer Shelby Lock recorded on Silver Moon Sound's piano.
Traditional R&B: "Since You've Gone" by Jess Lamb
Classical Crossover: "Amore Mio" by Andrew Andraos
Note: the piano part for "Amore Mio" was recorded in Silver Moon Sound's former studio space in Virginia, but on the same piano and microphones.