About


Welcome to JazzPianoCafe, a website devoted to the appreciation and study of jazz piano, as well as miscellaneous comments related to music, food, and technology. This website is the creation of Geoff Peters.

2 responses to “About”

  1. Hi Geoff

    I’d be enormously grateful if you could weigh in on this.
    I’m experiencing annoying static/distortion whilst recording
    with a quality upright. I’m recording vocals too, both live.
    My kit consists of:
    focusrite scarlett 2i2
    Audio Technica AT2020 Mic,
    RODE NT1-A
    Macbook with GarageBand

    I am getting distortion on both mics on playback, even when
    I turn the gain down on the Scarlett. Have tried different
    positions on the AT2020. No distortion though on the voice.

    I realize I may have to buy more gear, more DAW equipment,
    but I should be able to do this on the laptop from what I read.
    2 or 3 mics for the piano is of course better, which would mean
    I’d have to set aside the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. Still the challenge
    is the distortion/static I’m getting from the instrument.

    Can you shed any light on the distortion?
    If I need 3 inputs rather than 2, what pre-amp should I go for?
    Would you have any tips for avoiding the same piano distortion bleeding
    into the vocal (Rode NT1-A) Mic?
    Is there software for vocals/piano that is to be preferred above Garageband?
    Ideally I don’t want to spend a lot of software, as I just need a very clean and
    simple recording, with a bit of mastering-reverb.

    Many thanks, Gerard

  2. @GerardV
    Hi Gerard,
    The biggest cause I find of distortion, is called “clipping”. That is where the audio signal maxes out and the digital information is lost. Try turning down the gain on the Scarlett to a really low level. You can always increase the gain in the mastering/mixing stage. Try to make the peaks max out at around -12db when recording, to give you enough headroom.

    Geoff

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