Steeo mix for choral effect

C

cwhowell2

New member
I am getting ready to mix a choral arrangement that consists of 32 vocal tracks. 11 of my children and grand-children, 3 tracks each. The tracks are 4 parts, SATB so I can put them anywhere in the stereo spectrum but am wondering how to get the fullest sound. Should I keep each of the parts together, sopranos, then altos etc? Or should I spread them all over the pan. They were all recorded dry, so I can add reverb to the final mix but with this many tracks, it's a bit difficult to use trial and error. I suspect high school chorus teachers group them by vocal part, simply so neighbors aren't distracting but does that produce the fullest sound? Any comments welcome. Thanks - Bill
 
There's probably a few ways to arrange the choir according to range, I'm sure you can find that somewhere.
I think choirs are usually recorded as a group, with like a couple of stereo mics...and all the vocals blend as one into the mics....with maybe a spot mic on any soloist.
That's probably the easiest way to record them all at once and to get that full choir sound that sings as a group in unison.

Since you recorded voices individually (if I'm understanding you)...then you have to build and group the choir virtually in your mix.
I guess you'll just have to experiment where to put each track...and if they did sing the parts individually...you'll have to probably move them around, line them up, etc...to try and make it sound like a choir singing together, instead of layered parts.
 
I would use LCR panning to help with the clarity, just experiment with panning more than EQ or any fx first, it all depends on the arrangement, that will dictate the panning.
 
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My first thought would be to group them in the same way that choirs are usually arranged.

If not happy with that, then I would pretty much what Btyre2013 suggests. Mix the SATB groups up in equal amounts left and right and middle.
 
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