choir recording

[SilentSound]

I'm about to do a simple stereo choir recording and have a solid plan of attack but am wondering if people who have done such a recording have run into any problems.

Specifically, I was told that the acoustics of the room aren't the best and that they were thinking about renting acoustic foam/panels. I was just going to control the sound of the room by mic placement and proximity to the performers. This is not a live performance.. just the choir and piano.

I've also read several different opinions about mic pickup pattern and placement but they seem to all be preference and argue in circles. i'd like to hear more on that... thanks so much,

mm

[Blue Bear Sound]

First thing to try is ORTF at the front of the choir... you can accent the back rows by using small-dias on the sides........ the main stereo image in that case will be coming from the pair at the front and you'd match the side mics in terms of placement based on that.

You could also add a center mic if choir is very wide.

[bennychico11]

i plan on possibly doing some choir stuff soon too (and by soon i mean a few months or more)...but if it was a smaller choir, like a chamber choir....i'd try the MS technique too. At least, that's what i want to try when I do. Have them get in a half circle around the mics. i think this would create a cool effect almost like the choir was singing around you.

[xfinsterx]

I recently did a 14 person choir with the whole band and everything.
I just put them in an open room, stood them in a circle, put a omni in the middle and went for it. A little DDL and reverb later. It sounds great!

[SilentSound]

The choir in my case is about 40 people. I've done a small one before and given the omni and go for it trick. I thought i was pioneering by trying that back then...

The room isn't very large so I'm thinking about using two cardiods up front and one in the center and back to supplement the middle areas. I think any more mics might be overdoing it in such a small space and create more problems than it would alleviate. What do you think?

[xfinsterx]

I think by the sound of your reply you have a tangible amount of experience with this stuff as is.
The choir i did was my first.
Id say use the skills you have, and improv the rest.
But to generalise it.
I would look at the choir like a big fat drum set personally.
When i mic the "overheads" for a kit i might spend 30 or 40 minutes getting it just right.
Perhaps you could do the same.
1 omni at 10 feet out front...\
2 or 3 cardioids spaced out, angled above and towards them.
Then start moving them around untill youre feelin it.

[Han]

Another vote for an ORTF pair of SDC's and a couple of spot mics.

[Speedy VonTrapp]

Here's another question about this. Hopefully it's still on topic enough, and if not, sorry for hijacking the thread, SilentSound.

Let's say you go with just about any of the suggestions here, as far as stereo micing. What is it that you actually do with the choir?

Do you have the choir stand in their respective groups? That is, tenors over here, altos over there, etc.

Or do you mix them all together?

If you have them stand seperate, how do you mix it? You'd pretty much have all the tenors in one side of the stereo field.

Is there a standard for this? Tenors on the left, bass on the right? Or do you try to go for something different?

-Speedy

[bennychico11]

generally a good choir will mix themselves and you probably won't have to do much in the mix process. Singers who are under the direction of a choir director generally have worked on balancing the overall sound. The director will be the "mix engineer". Also, you'd want them to stay in their section otherwise the singers will be confused. Chances are they've always sang as a section and need to hear the pitches of eachother to balance better. Also, the rhythms might not be together if they are spread apart.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Originally Posted by Speedy VonTrapp

Let's say you go with just about any of the suggestions here, as far as stereo micing. What is it that you actually do with the choir?

In this application, unless you're doing something very exceptional, the idea is to be capturing the sound of the choir, as they are, in their ambient space.

In Chorale, classical and many Jazz recordings, you're simply capturing a very natural in-room, in-context sound of a group of musicians.....

This is where stereo mic'ing techinques are particularly effective.

[Son of Mixerman]

I have had decent results using a cardioid LDC and a 2 SDC's in an X-Y with the capsules all coincidental. 108 people in the choir. Mics were about where the song leader stood on the podium. Most conductors like to stand about where he/she believes they are getting the most balanced sound...and thats where I first stick the mic's. YMMV


Peace,

SoMm