Has anyone here recorded a bell choir before?

M

mam

The Round Mound of Sound
I have a project approaching soon that entails recording a high school bell choir. Not sure how many players there will be, but I do know that They'll be setting up seven 6 ft tables in a "U" shape. Not really sure how to go about micing a setup like this. Suggestions are much appreciated!

Thanks! :confused:
 
Small diaphragm condensers, 1 at each table, 6-8 feet away, 8' high angled down, LOTS of headroom - You don't want a peak above -14 or -12 at the track level.

I'd actually shoot for lower personally.

If that isn't going to work, you can try an ORTF pair of SDC's toward the center of the "horseshoe" (panned hard) and a LDC (sub a SDC) between them panned center.
 
Bells are very quiet, so use preamps that can give you a lot of clean gain.

I toured for a while with a professional bell choir that played rock and roll and jazz on their bells! I played keyboards, and there was a drummer as well. The drummer was on a Roland V-Drums kit because acoustic drums would have been *far* too loud, even when played softly. The V-Drums and electronic keyboards allowed the mixer to get the right balance between the bells and us.

I don't think you will have to worry very much about peaking your meters!
 
Is the bell choir and handbells are the same? I was in a handbell choir before and didn't have the change to record it but anyway they are loud not quite.
 
having played in a handbell choir for a number of years, i can attest that those things will require a significant amount of headroom to record well--they are VERY dynamic instruments and can go from quiet and meek to loud and shrill in an instant. and the BIG ones go down to C2 and whatnot.

i'd do either what massive suggests, or i'd put up a spaced pair in a big room about 20ft out. or both/all. assuming this was a one-shot deal, i'd hang a lot of mics and see what gives me the best sound in the room. it might differ from song to song.

also, a big room (i'm thinking church sanctuary) would be pretty beneficial to a good recording. you want to give the bells some time to develop their sound as a whole unit and you want to get some natural ambience in there too.

mic selection will be pretty key--with the propensity for those things to get harsh/shrill, you want to avoid mics with that bump at the high end. or at least ones that have a "cheap sounding" bump. :D

good luck!

cheers,
wade
 
SonicAlbert said:
I toured for a while with a professional bell choir that played rock and roll and jazz on their bells!!
Click to expand...
:confused: A pro bell choir? Was it the Raleigh Ringers?
 
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