D. L. Bullock wrote in MMDigest 981107:

> I know Mr. Stahnke is a fanatic about the electronics and pneumatics
> and that is the only way to get the quality found on his CD, now we
> know he is also fanatical about the piano as well.  This is a good
> thing.

There is another variable, which is the choice and placing of micro-
phones.  My experience has been that cardioid mics tend to give a
harder sound than omnidirectional ones.  Closer microphone placing will
also give a harder sound than more distant placing.

These then interact with the sound of the listener's hi-fi equipment
and the listening room.  The engineer has to make a judgement.  It is
possible that Wayne had his microphones a little too close to suit some
home playback equipment.

The old Mercury system of using three spaced omnidirectional mics worked
well, as you can hear on any solo piano disc on the Mercury label.

Some engineers prefer to record on a DAT or ADAT machine and then
transfer to computer rather than digitize on a card inside a computer,
where interference might cause more jitter.

The CD sounds okay to me, but it is certainly a clear rather than
mellow sound.

Regards

Don Cox
doncox@enterprise.net

 [ I think that, after due experimentation in the recording hall,
 [ the recording engineer suspended a single stereo microphone several
 [ feet above the piano.  The lid of the piano was removed.  The distance
 [ from the mic to the piano presumably was adjusted to control the
 [ amount of reverbration recorded.   -- Robbie