New at The Playroom, Arundel – Yamaha C7 Acoustic Concert Grand Piano
Built in 1979 in Hamamatsu, Japan for a Japanese customer the piano then came to England early in the 21st Century and was sold to a concert pianist in Oxford. In 2022 the concert pianist decided to upgrade so we were able to secure its purchase from Roberts Pianos, Oxford at the end of the summer. Roberts Pianos arranged to store the piano for us while we started to build a new space at the end of the Playroom’s live room to house it.
By the middle of September the booth was complete with all its bespoke cabling (including microphone lines, headphone mixer feeds and talk-back) and controlled heating in place. We took delivery of the piano late in September 2022.
Whilst we finished off the building externally and tidied up, the piano was able to aclimatise and was still beautifully in tune when Marcus from Roberts Pianos came to visit and give the piano a post-delivery once-over, and it was ready for action.
The piano plays beautifully and is in pretty much mint condition. A number of respected pianists from the South of England have been to play and record the C7 all ready and are extremely happy with the results.
We are using three microphones to record the Yamaha. Two AKG-214s just behind the music rest for a standard stereo image left/right and a third (an AKG-414) at the very bottom end of the bass strings to enhance the low end.
The Piano booth itself has an acoustically treated ceiling but we have left the walls and floor with only gentle treatment to allow the piano to sound alive and acoustic, not dampened to the point of losing its personality. So far we are very pleased with all the recordings we have made.
Here is an example of the piano in an excerpt from a new album to be released during 2023 of music by Terry Pack and The Full Circle Quartet provisionally called ‘The South Downs Suite’.
Drop us a note or give us a call if you would like to arrange to come and record with the Yamaha C7.
Rates dependent on amount of time booked and other studio usage requirements.
All contracts discussed on and individual basis.