Miking vocals for musical theatre recording

[Musicnut1416]

I have searched and searched and have not found anything on how to make a stereo recording of a musical. I am weary of recording with one x-y config because I don't want the singers to sound distant as in a choir, but I don't want to use like 5 mics. Some of the songs have only one singer, but others have 18 singers each with a solo at one point, while other times everyone is singing the same thing. Any suggestions on how to mic this?

For anyone who might know, the musical I am recording is Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods"

 

[DonF]

I don't want the singers to sound distant as in a choir

I don't want to use like 5 mics.

These two requirements are pretty much contradictory, I'm sorry to say. The standard way to record such a performance would be to use some kind of stereo array (choose your poison: X/Y, ORTF, Decca Tree, etc.) plus spot mikes (wireless) for the soloists.

Here's a suggestion: Bring all the singers and the orchestra into a recording studio, and have them perform there. You don't seem to be much interested in capturing the sound of the live performance anyway.

Don

 

[RAK]

Are the performers going to be mic'd (headset/lav, that sort of thing) for the purposes of sound reinforcement for the house? If so, take a split off the live feed, and run that to your recording rig.

One other thing, how is the music being performed (live orchestra or playback)? You need to make sure you capture the music also.

 

[Musicnut1416]

Its going to be a recording session, not an actual performace... sorry I didn't make that clear. We are using a MIDI system from Sinfonia called "Orchextra." I am going to mic the speakers and singers at the same time because of cues. We don't have that many resources in the way of mics/cables and such so that is why I was wondering if just an X-Y config would be fine to pick up everyone.

 

[DonF]

That should make it considerably easier to get the recording to sound the way you want it to sound. You could just use an X/Y pair, and situate the performers around the mics to get the desired sound. The performers should be instructed to ignore the staging and stay where you place them, or move on cue from you if you need to vary their position in the soundfield.

When you say "mic the speakers," are you referring to PA speakers or to people who are speaking?

Your success with capturing the sound with an X/Y pair will depend very much on the characteristics of the room.

Don

 

[Musicnut1416]

I will be miking the PA speakers and it is a small intimate theatre (150 seats I believe)