Some Qs

sei046

Okay, I am recording two choirs in the next few weeks and have a few questions.

If i want to record a 17 piece choir in a small room whats the best micing or standing position?
I was thinking that maybe the four harmonys could stand at oppostite corners facing each other with the mics in the middle facing out to each group. Presuming i use something like a 58 or 57 i shouldnt get too much bleeding should I?

This would also allow for the choir to follow each other.

Or should i try building up the choir as in record each harmony seperately? If thats the case should I play the other harmonys back over speakers then record just the the backing and knock it out of phase to just leave the harmony? Will this mess up the rest of the track?



For the other choir i have to record a 30 piece SATB arrangement with an organ on location in a church. My main Q here is does anyone know a mathematical way of getting the mic distance i should use and then the corresponding pan values to get a nice stereo image when i get down to mixing?

I have recorded a very large choir before but had some bleed issues i want to avoid. I used a variety of mics at that but think i will stick to dynamics this time around

frobisher

At the risk of making a dangerous assumption, do you have much experience recording proffesionally or with this kind of set up? I've also seen that you've posted on another pro-audio site that has a lot of serious pro's on it with more experience than me. Do as much research as you can and make sure that what ever you end up doing you learn as much fromit as possible. Here's my 2 cents worth:

There are no steadfast mathematical equations for what works or what doesn't. While an XY mic position (example http://www.presonus.com/adl600applications.html as overheads in the pic of drums) will give you nice stereo spread without phase problems, it doesn't mean it is the automatic choice for what sounds best. Another danger maybe in trying to seperate the choir, instead try viewing it has a whole and try to capture that. At a real push I'd suggest hiring a condensor for each part of the SATB arrangement and a 2 condensors in an XY position at a little more distance to catch the ambience and "wholeness" of the choir. What you could then do is possibly keep the XY mics as your main playback and just slide in the corresponding individual mics should you need more of each SATB section. This might offer a good whole sound with minimal pahse problems. Just an idea out of the 1000's possible but a good place to start.

Although you could also set up with what gear you have and give it a go. Even without massive experience or great gear, you'll probably end up with what sounds like a choir anyway! Plus you'll learn alot. That is presuming that you aren't trying to record an album for EMI here, right!?

Another important factor will be the singers. Choir singers aren't like rock n rollers. Try and have absolutely everything ready in advance and use the warm up as your sound check. Be on top of it all and professional to get the best out of them.
I'd be interested in hearing what you decide to do in the end.

sei046

I am prob going for an Xy setup or possibly 4 condensers out of phase. Will see on the day i think

frobisher

sei046 wrote:

I am prob going for an Xy setup or possibly 4 condensers out of phase. Will see on the day i think

Well, if you're going to do that I'd suggest going with combining those positions as I mentioned above.

LegacyUser

Why not try an ortf setup in the middle and two mic's set up as a spaced pair on either side of the otrf pair.

Using this method you will not have to record out of phase.

More info here.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may04/articles/qa0504-3.htm

frobisher

I'd love to hear what you did in the end and how it went for you.