Recording a 6 person vocal group

S

Solafide

New member
I have a music group that wants me to record them next month. They normally just have one person playing keybord and the rest standing around singing.

I have three questions that I would really appreciate some help with.


1. I am planning on getting the keybord player to come in and record the music first and then give all the singers headphones and let them sing all together to give it more of a live feel - as opposed to tracking one at a time.

Any one have any experience with this? Is it best to track them together or seperately?

(by the way my recording room is well treated and sounds quite good.)

2. Any favorite mic positions for this - ORTF, xy, or something else?


3. I have some surplus funds from my last recording so I'd like to get some new equipment. I will list my gear below, and then list the gear I am considering, and I would love to hear what you think would benifit me most in this recording project.


CURRENT GEAR
monitors
krk v4
sound card
Motu 2408 mk3
Cables
Monster studiolink 500, canair cable with neutrik ends
Preamps
Demeter hm1, Grace 101, rnp, focusrite voicemaster pro
Mics
Adk hamburg and a51 type v, Rode ntk and nt1000, 2 marshal 603s, a matched pare of kelaudio hm1's
sennheiser 421, sm57, ev 635a, re15, etc.
Compression
rnc, dbx 160x, psp mixpac and several other plugins
Reverb
plugins like spin audio Room verb m2, etc.



So in my opinion I have to areas of need - a good reverb unit, and a couple high end overhead mics. My thoughts were a kurzweil rummor or Avenson Audio ST0-2 http://www.mercenary.com/avensonaudio.html.

Which do you think would be more of a benifit, or is there something else I should be considering? I have about $500-$600 to spend.

Thanks
 
If your room sounds good, why not try a Blumlein pair? Get a couple of those new ribbon mics from Pacific Pro Audio and set them up as Blumlein. You may not need any artificial reverb. It really is the bee's knees for vocal groups IMO.
 
If your room sounds good, why not try a Blumlein pair? Get a couple of those new ribbon mics from Pacific Pro Audio and set them up as Blumlein. You may not need any artificial reverb. It really is the bee's knees for vocal groups IMO.
Click to expand...

What ribbon mic are you referring to? All I saw was the AEA R84 which would be a little out of my price range!
 
There are two sounds you can go for, one is a coincident pair technique like described above, which gives you a nice group sound, or if you want a more detailed, in your face sound, put two singers apiece on panned LDCs. Or do both, to capture the room sound!
 
Being a "group singer" myself, can tell you that ensemble singers ALWAYS sound better without headphones.

Couple of questions...

1) Does "keyboard player" mean they're using a electric keyboard?

2) Are the singers good enough to track their vocals BEFORE you record the
keyboard player? And is the keyboardist skilled enough for this?

3) With all due respect to the "well treated room", is there access to a room
(ala church) that has excellent "natural reverb"?

Then can better advise you.

Chris

P.S. Not too hip on digital 'verb, but have you looked into Altiverb, etc?
 
1) Does "keyboard player" mean they're using a electric keyboard?
Click to expand...

Yes it is an electric keyboard.

2) Are the singers good enough to track their vocals BEFORE you record the
keyboard player? And is the keyboardist skilled enough for this?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure on this one. They are very well rehersed, and I have no question that the keyboard player could do this, but there are some young members in the group (it is a fimily) that might not be quite as confident.

My biggest consern would be that they would not staying perfectly in pitch through the entire song.

It might be worth a try though!

3) With all due respect to the "well treated room", is there access to a room
(ala church) that has excellent "natural reverb"?
Click to expand...


No, I wish, but I don't think I could. For this type of thing I would call my room more neutral. The natural reverb doesn't cause me problems (I have all angled walls/ceiling with bass traps, etc.), and for some things it enhances things, but it is no Cathedral!


P.S. Not too hip on digital 'verb, but have you looked into Altiverb, etc?
Click to expand...

Ill take a look.

Thanks for your info.
 
Glad to help.

Remembered an old trick...

Your chances of recording the vocal well (without keyboardist) will go up substantially if the player makes a recording of their part for the family to practice with when the player isn't there. On their own time before showing up.

Also there's a possibility of hedging by hearing how well they do,
and if you have to, lower the keyboard volume just to where they can hear it softly in the background. (sometimes "bleed" enhances a recording!)

For sure, don't use any headphones with the "less confident" singers.
They'll already be a little freaked out from getting recording, and the pitch
almost always suffers.

Chris

P.S. You can use one omni for the singers, has worked for almost a century.
 
Pacific Pro Audio advertised a ribbon mic with their own branding, although it looks like the Nady, in the last issue of Tepe Op Magazine. Around $250. I don't know why it's not on their web site...

At any rate, you wouldn't have them in time for your session. Sorry.
 
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