Recording a quartet and small choir

[Tileeba]

I am trying to find out how best to pan a quartet in a mix. I read a lot about the lead vocal and backup vocals, but how should I pan four "equal" voices in a quartet or musical group? Should all the voices be in the middle?

And what about a small choir ensemble? If I have each part (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) recorded on different tracts, what would be the best panning?

Thank you for your help!

[Pinky]

Interesting... I'm not sure you'd have to pan them to specific 'places' in the sound field, though that's the contemporary train of thought.

What I usually do in the event of numerous duplicate multitracks (usually with layers of guitars) is create an offset duplicate track (duplicate the track, then shift it ever so slightly off-time, like a few ms). This creates an artifical 'stereo reverb' on the track. I learned this trick here, and boy does it work!

You can then take the 8 tracks and mash them together as you feel. I usualy swap L/R pan 3/4 and alternate the duplicate track offset L/R to create a more full (chaotic) mix. By crossing the duplicate tracks L/R you don't get all the action starting on a single channel, it kinda masks the offset and retains the stereo effect all at once. The volume and EQ on each track depend greatly on the performance, and I find the less effects you put on them the better (especially chorus, tends to muddy things up when duping tracks).

Example:

__Track 1____Track 1B (offset)___Track 2____Track 2B (offset)
--3/4 Left--------3/4 Right-------3/4 Right------3/4 Left

Once this is established, you can place the music in the sound field simply by panning one of the tracks slightly more center, which will shift the field further right/left but still retain the stereo effect of the offset track.

Frankly, it's kinda hard to describe my technique, as I think I'm the only one who uses/understands it... I could link a song where I used some of it if you're interested. I've toyed for hours in just using this to isolate sounds and place them exactly where I want in the field.

[Tileeba]

I appreciate your reply! Thank you for the tip! If you don't mind, I *would* like the link to hear and try to understand the effect.

[flatrockrecordin]

Is this going to be a live thing or in-studio? If it's in-studio, I'd record each part at least 2 times, but 3 sounds rich, and spread everything out. Usually even with quartets, there will be various lead parts, which you could record separately, or cut and paste each lead part to a "lead" track and process accordingly.
If it's live, I would spread it some, but each part needs to sit in mix somewhere close to where it sits in the room mics.

[Son of Mixerman]

Doh! Doh! Doh!


I just taped over a barbershop quartet on the E-16 tonite!

Usually I use 2 sdc's in spaced pair with a ldc in the middle and pan the sdc's to the 2 and 10 O'clock positions... 3 tracks lots of room in the equation. YMMV


SoMm