Place a table approximately 36 inches behind the piano.
Fit the condenser microphone into the collar of the microphone stand.
Connect the female end of an XLR cable to the male XLR socket on the bottom of the microphone. Wrap the cable around the stem of the microphone stand to stop if from sagging.
Set up a telescopic microphone on top of the microphone and extend the boom arm so the collar of the microphone is level with the center of the piano, approximately 72 inches above it. When using a single condenser microphone, it’s preferable to capture the ambient sound rather than “close-micing” the strings, which is more suitable if recording with two or more microphones.
Connect the other end of the XLR cable to the “XLR In” jack on your recording console or audio interface. The audio interface is for recording to a computer-based digital-audio workstation such as Pro Tools or Cubase. They are ostensibly the same as a recording console, but the sounds record to the hard drive rather than the console. If using an audio interface, connect it to the computer with a FireWire or USB cable, depending on make and model.
Play the piano as loudly as you intend to when recording. Monitor the volume units meter on the front of the recording console or mixer. If the red light flashes, this means the signal is too high and will cause distortion when recorded. Because condenser microphones have a very sensitive diaphragm, it’s very easy to overload the recording device with a strong signal. Mitigate this by reducing the “Gain” setting on the console or audio interface. This tempers the input level from the microphone.
Tweak the "Gain" setting. Aim to set it as high as possible before it causes the volume units meter to go red. This ensures you have the strongest signal, but with sufficient headroom to prevent distortion.
Hit “Record” if using a recording console. If using a digital-audio workstation, launch the program, create an audio channel from the “File” menu, name it “Piano” and then hit "Record.”