There has been a lot of great advice and information given here on
making YouTube video.  I don't claim to be any expert with YouTube
but I have been quite happy with my processing chain.  We all have
our own means, experience and limitations to work under to produce
the best YouTube video or audio, so "kudos" to anyone trying.  Most of
this discussion seems to revolve specifically around piano recording
and that is where I am coming from as well.  My own routine comes from
my personal experience as an audio record-ist and sound engineer.

Unfortunately one of the biggest factors is the instrument itself
and we don't always have the luxury of improvement there; however,
one of the significant things that we may have some control over is
the instrument being in tune.  Unless you are trying for that barroom
honky tonk sound, the foremost rule in piano recording is "Get the
piano in tune!"

Personally I don't have an instrument limitation because I record with
a Pianola push-up player which I can put on any piano and I have access
to a wonderful 7-foot grand piano.

From an audio engineering perspective, and with access to professional
audio equipment, I use a separate audio and video track.  For the audio
I use stand-alone phantom powered condenser microphones like the Schoeps
CMC6 with omni capsules -- or, for a more economical alternative, two
Oktava MC012 with cardioid capsules -- set on a short stereo bar with
one pointing toward the bass section and one pointing up at the treble.
I record direct to a high end digital recorder, however many of the
shirt pocket recorders record great audio, such as the mentioned Zoom
recorders.

The microphones are often more important than the recording device so
spend money there first.  Some of these small digital recorders also
have built in microphones that are reasonably decent and you could
start with those and upgrade later.  Bear in mind, however, that
condenser microphones do require 48 volts phantom power and will need
a preamp.  There are also a few high quality self powered condenser
microphones that run on battery that will not need a preamp, such as
the Rode M3, AKG C1000, or MXL1006BP; any of these would be an upgrade
over Radio Shack types or dynamic un-powered microphones.

One of the things that I think is important is to record the audio in
uncompressed WAV format and then reduce the whole thing down later with
your audio package for YouTube.  This way you have the greatest amount
of leeway in making your YouTube reduction and the least amount of
fidelity loss.

For the video I simply use two small compact digital cameras that
do HD video.  Currently I am using a Cannon S90 and the Sony NEX5
(which takes outstanding HD video).  I set both cameras to capture two
different static angles set them to record and then I am off with three
separate recording tracks two video/audio tracks and one high quality
audio track.  I then simply load all three tracks into my video editor
(I use Adobe Premiere, but there are many other programs that will
effectively do the same thing).

I visually line up the audio wave forms in my editor for synchronization
(a slap stick can be helpful to create a spike to line up to later)
then I can cut and paste between cameras for a little more interesting
video and keep it all lined up.  When I am happy with the edit I mute
the audio on the cameras and let the WAV track be my audio track.  Then
I reduce the whole thing down for YouTube with my editor using the
flowing Adobe Premiere "YouTube" settings:

  Format: H2.64
  NTSC, 1280 x 720, 24 fps, De-interlaced
  ACC, 256 KBPS, 44.1 kHz, Stereo
  VBR, 1 Pass, Target 6.00, Max 9. BPS

To give some tracks a little more concert hall flavor, I add a bit of
reverb.  Here are the results: http://www.youtube.com/user/awardaudio 

Joseph LaQuiere
St. Clair Shores, Michigan