Earthworks PM40 User manual

Congratulations on your purchase of the innovative Earthworks PianoMic™ System.
We know you will be thrilled with the results you achieve using the PianoMic™ Sys­tem for both live performance and recording.

Items Enclosed with your New Earthworks PianoMic™ System:

PianoMic™ System Model PM40
1 – PianoMic™ telescoping bar with attached microphone heads
1 – Microphone electronics box
1 – Leather pouch for electronics box
1 – Mic stand mounting bracket for electronics box
2 – Ears for the mounting bracket
2 – Screws for the ears & bracket
4 – Felt pads with adhesive backing
1 - User’s Manual for PianoMic™ System
1 – Carrying case

EVEN IF YOU DON’T LIKE READING MANUALS PLEASE READ
THIS SECTION BEFORE INSTALLING THE PIANOMIC™ SYSTEM

USING THE PIANOMIC™ SYSTEM

The majority of those who purchase the PianoMic™ System have experience in
miking pianos with conventional microphones, and may nd the close-miking tech­niques described in this Manual to be unconventional. Please keep in mind that the
PianoMic™ System uses a number of new technologies and that the PianoMic™
microphones work and perform much differently than conventional microphones.
The typical practices for piano miking using conventional microphones will most
likely not apply when using the PianoMic™ System. With the PianoMic™ System
the rules for miking pianos have changed.

Conventional miking practices suggest that a piano must be miked from outside
to achieve a good sound, and that a good piano sound cannot be achieved with
closely placed microphones inside the piano, especially with the lid closed. When
you listen to the incredible results achieved using the PianoMic™ System (at full­stick, half-stick or lid closed), you will realize how unique and ground-breaking
it actually is. As the PianoMic™ System changes many of the conventional rules
and methods of miking pianos; we strongly suggest that you start by following our

guidelines rst. Afterwards, if you want to experiment, you can take it from there.

The Earthworks PianoMic™ System incorporates a number of proprietary
technologies that allow this method of close-miking pianos to achieve results
that have previously not been possible. This improved performance has been

accomplished by using specially designed High Denition Microphones cre­ated specically to work inside a piano. These carefully matched Random In-

cidence omni microphones have extremely fast impulse response, very short
diaphragm settling time, extended frequency response (4Hz to 40kHz), near

perfect polar response, high current Class A ampliers and the ability to handle

sound pressure levels up to 148dB SPL.

Version 5, July 7, 2011

1

The PianoMic™ System provides the following benets:

• Excellent overall piano sound with uniform level from all strings

• Superb sound with the piano lid up or down

• Tremendous gain before feedback

• Minimal leakage from other instruments surrounding the piano

(with piano lid closed)

• Microphones are not visible from outside the piano

People are astonished when they hear the exceptional sound quality of the
PianoMic™ System with the piano lid closed. Conventional microphones per­form poorly in a closed piano as there is no single dominant direction from which
sound arrives at the microphone. Every string is a sound source. The sound board
is a large and complex sound source. In addition, sounds are reected off the pia­no sides, the sound board and the piano lid multiple times with little attenuation.
Sounds inside a piano are randomly arriving from every possible direction at
similar levels, all at the same time. This is a classic example of a “diffuse sound

eld” which is dened as a conned area where there are multiple sound sources
and multiple reections arriving at the microphone from every angle at similar
levels simultaneously. A microphone that is placed in such a diffuse sound eld

has to pickup all of the sound with a proper tonal balance. For optimum results,

this task requires a High Denition Random-Incidence Microphone.

Conventional microphones
(i.e. virtually every micro­phone used for recording
and live sound) are “Free
Field” microphones, de­signed to accurately pick
up sounds in front of the
microphone (direct sound)

(See Figure 1).

Random-incidence micro­phones are designed to re­spond uniformly to sounds
arriving simultaneously
from all angles, rather than
to the sound coming from
a primary source that is in
front of the microphone.
Random-incidence micro­phones have exceptional
accuracy and tonal balance

in a diffuse sound eld,

where sound arrives from
all directions randomly and
simultaneously.

2

Figure 1. Conventional “Free Field”Microphones Inside a Piano

Figure 2. Random Incidence Microphones Inside a Piano