Condenser Overhead Mics for 15 person church choir

OnlyGrace

New member
Hey all, our church choir has recently decided to record a CD. And since I have a small recording studio in my garage, I'm helping them out. I wondered what kind of condenser mics would be good for this? Maybe some MXL , AT, or CAD mics will work well? And I've been needing some drum overheads for a drum set. I've thought maybe a pair of Behringer C2's? Some people say their good others say they're cheap. Or maybe a pair of JoeMeeksJM27? I And I've heard great stuff on those Naiant mics. Oh and would a Alesis Multimix Firewire 12 do the trick for an interface. Sorry for all the questions, and thanks in advance, Jacob

Oh and since I need any amount of advice fell free to email me @

jacobshah@gmail dot com
 
Don't know your budget, but the first mics I'd reach for would be my Beyer MC930's. Around $800 a pair. They are serious mics, and would work well in this application. I've heard them on choirs.
 
Oh, cool. You're in Owensboro. My aunt and uncle are across the river from you in Rockport.

My first pick for overheads would be a pair of Oktava MK-012 mics with the standard cardioid capsules, e.g.

these

You might be able to get them cheaper if you buy them unmatched on eBay. I can't say how close they are likely to be; my unmatched pair is good enough for X/Y stereo work, but as always, YMMV. :)

http://www.musicgoround.com/detail.aspx?id=745059
http://cgi.ebay.com/oktava-mk-012-0...6|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50
http://cgi.ebay.com/Oktava-MK-012-C...6|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

For choir microphones, those would be fine (though you might decide to boost the top end a little with EQ) as long as you have a decent room where you can mic them from a reasonable distance. Where will you be doing this recording?
 
There are as many answers to your question as there are posters on this board. The real answer is- any relatively well-matched pair of small diaphragm condensers. For the choir, large diaphragms would work fine, too. In fact, there are quite a few folks who use large diaphragm mics for drum overheads, but it would be fair to say that they are the minority.

The bottom line is- it depends on your budget, and the rest of your signal chain. It doesn't make sense to put a diamond brooch on a tee shirt, or to plug a pair of Schoeps CM6's into a $100 cassette deck. That said, these are my best suggestions:

The Naiants wouldn't be my first choice unless your garage sounds pretty damn good- just because they are omnis. I would choose a pair of cardioid mics in coincedent (X-Y) configuration, facing down from above, with the choir in a circle, and start backing off the loudest singers a step or two at a time until the balance is right. I wouldn't choose the Behringers just because I hate them (not Behringer- the B-2's). They appear to be bad knockoffs of the Studio Projects C-4's, and may even be made in the same factory, but I much prefer the C-4's, and they would be one of my first choices for your application. Based on the mics you listed above, I would guess that your budget is very limited, so I think I won't recommend Schoeps, Neumann, Josephson,Earthworks, etc. I'd say get a pair of Marshall Electronics MXL604's ($200)and go play. If you have a little more money, I would recommend the Studio Projects C-4's ($350) or Rode NT5's ($429).
In the end, you get what you pay for. The most expensive mic is not always the right one, but the cheapest possible mic usually sucks. Best of luck.-Richie
 
If your garage doesn't sound good, then recording a 15 person choir is even more hopeless than recording a drumkit in a bad space. So let's assume your garage is a good space. Otherwise, record in the church.
 
If your garage doesn't sound good, then recording a 15 person choir is even more hopeless than recording a drumkit in a bad space. So let's assume your garage is a good space. Otherwise, record in the church.

Agree big-time with this.

I recently recorded an ensemble of 20-30 camp singers with SM81s in ORTF (plus some spot mics on guitars and lead vocal) that sounded pretty good. To find a place to record, we looked at all their buildings onsite. We found one that had a very high ceiling, rough wood walls, and carpeted floor that sounded best to me. We avoided any small room with low ceiling.
 
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