going to record a children's chor

[Swanse]

I going to record a children's chor in the church

How do you think I could do it ?
I have only 3 I/O ch 2 - Shure PG 81 & one - RODE1000.

I very interested mic placement e t c...

Have you got any ideas ?

 

[MikeA]

Are there any soloists in this group? If so, use the RODE as the solo mic and place the Shures in an X-Y or wide spaced pair. If no soloist then use the RODE as a distant mic to blend in some ambience.

 

[lysis]

honestly, just play with it and see what works best. i've done very weird mic configurations and they just seem to work for me. now, me; i would hang the two shures about 10 feet away from the choir, and about 5 feet from the sides (so on the corners). i'd hang the Rode dead center, towards the rear of the choir.



shure shure

--------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------
rode
---------------------------------------------------------------------



but that's just me.

 

[Swanse]

Thank' you for replies /

I think they haven't got any soloist - only choir singing .

And what distance do you think i can place stereo pair pg81 and RODE for acoustic spaces ?

I used record with stereopair some other things in the closed studio and I was dissatisfied with outcome (
May be I was doing something wrong .

 

[Swanse]

Thank you LYSIS for ...
I'v just seen it...

 

[Han]

Put your PG81's as an ORTF pair behind the conductor at some 10 or 12 feet high.

If it's a small choir a NOS pair will probably be better, both ORTF and NOS will give a more realistic stereo image than XY which works only good with hyper cardioids.

ORTF: diaphragms 17 cm apart, angle 110 degrees.
NOS: diaphragms 30 cm apart, angle 90 degrees.

Hope this will help you.

 

[Swanse]

Thank you HAN !

I think I'd try to do it.

 

[lysis]

for some reason my pretty picture didn't work right . . . lol



shure shure

---------------------------

---------------------------
rode
----------------------------

ok well it still doesn't want to work right. umm, shures on either corner, and the rode dead center.

 

[Swanse]

Hi !

once I've already used two mic with 3 metr between and I was upset about it .
It was a fail In the middle of stereo picture and I doesn't know what I could do with it .

Now I'v decided use something like this :

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chris.burmajster/O.htm
or
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chris.burmajster/Blumlein.htm

I think it'll be better .

Howewer, I still worry about ambience . I want keep a chorch's sound completely .

 

[Han]

The first link is indeed an ORTF pair of AKG C414's

The second link though shows a photo of a Jecklin disc with a pair of SDC's and not the PZM's that are mentioned.

Blumlein is a placement of two fig 8 mics at an angle of 90 deg. so the mics 'look' to four directions.

You can find it all at the DPA website under 'microphone university'

www.dpamicrophones.com

 

[bgavin]

Han,

Is the ORTF configuration pretty good at giving good results when there is little time for setup?

If one is recording children, the attention span is short, and the performance will probably suffer, should they be kept waiting too long.

 

[Han]

You have an important point here, children mostly begin a recording session rather shy. After some time they will feel more comfortable and will perform great.

But you better record then because it won't take long before they start getting to make a mess of your session!

The ORTF pair of SDC's is my favorite placement for choirs, bigbands and orchestra's.
It will give you a very realistic stereo image and you'll have no problems on a mono set.

Try this: put an ORTF pair in your garden or somewhere outside, put the wires into your studio and plug them into your board.

Take a good headphone and listen to the ORTF pair with your eyes closed. It feels like you're standing outside.

Now put the same mics in an XY placement and listen again.

I bet you'll like the ORTF placement better.

 

[bgavin]

Try this: put an ORTF pair in your garden or somewhere outside, put the wires into your studio and plug them into your board.

Take a good headphone and listen to the ORTF pair with your eyes closed. It feels like you're standing outside.

Cool... I can hear the helicopter as it circles over head, and the scream of the sirens as they pan left to right. Very realistic sounding.

ORTF handles the plosives well... the gunshot from the neighbor at Hard Left was very distinct.

Welcome to California



Thanks for the suggestion. Whenever there is a group project, setup time seems to be scarce. It sounds like the ORTF is good method for put-up-and-go, and will deliver good results most of the time.

 

[tubesrawsom]

this is a great mic setup which worked out great
the mics should be about 2-5 feet away from and 2-5 feet above the choir

 

[Han]

But didn't you have a stereo image with a hole in the middle?

 

[tubesrawsom]

notice how the chior is curved the picture isnt tht symetrical but the mics should be equidistanton either side while minding the 3 foot rule