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Help me mic a small choir!


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I need to mic a 21 person choir next weekend for SR. I have at my disposal, 4 - ATMB4000, 3 - AT3528, and thats about it, unless I rent. I tried just to fly an xy pair (AT3528) about 4 feet over the choir, but not enough gain before it fed back (boy did it ever!) I added a left and right (mb4000) to help pick up more of the backrow. Then I added a center mic (3528) So... When I did the mix down for the recording I ended up dropping the left and right mics I added to get a clearer stereo image. With the SR signal it still sounds muddy or not enough gain. They have monitors but no mic signal is going to them only playback. We can't fly choir mics, we have no budget to buy mics, but we might be able to rent. We need to make this choir loud, but blended really well. Help me out guys! PD
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I am assuming this is more of a chamber or chorale concern. If it is a gospel choir, it would be relatively easy (most gospel singers can sing away from the entire group). Depending on numbers per section, I'd mic each section to a 3528 mic (seven per mic, S-A-T) and then also track with a stereo pair just a little bit over head level. Micing 4ft over their heads just creates more problems. I've never liked that sound (it sounds thin), so don't do it. You also didn't say whether this is a live recording, but you could also do a second stereo pair further out in the room to capture ambiance and/or audience (watch out for phase!). You'll get the isolation for each section and then overall group tone to mix with.

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The recording is a seperate stereo mix than FOH. I tried to mic each section, but my prob is the gain. I can't get enough before it feedsback from the mains. The closer the mics get the more it picks up one or two people. Most of which don't sound that great by themselves. I wanted to use a couple crown 30D's on plexiglass and get the whole choir that way, but we blew our cash earlier this year. I miced the same choir earlier on the road with 7 mics. They were almost 35people then. It worked well, but was obnoxious with all the stands and cable. it looked like they were behind bars! Ill try anything at this point. THanks PD
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Hello, I need also to mike a small choir in the near future and would like to know how you finally miked yours during the last week-end. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience. Pierre
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An ORTF pair of cardioid condensers behind the conductor will be a good start. Very nice stereo image.
The alchemy of the masters moving molecules of air, we capture by moving particles of iron, so that the poetry of the ancients will echo into the future.
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Remember the 3 to 1 rule! If you are micing a choir dont use too many mics - less is more. I just miced a 20 voice choir with just 3 414's and one beta 58 for solos. Make sure the mics are evenly spaced with adequate coverage of both rows (assuming there are 2 rows). The key to succsessful choir micing is to have little or no choir coming out of the stage monitors. The choir can definitely hear themselves anyway. This provides for very clean sound at FOH. Enjoy!
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The Verdict is... Last night was their last rehersal before the performance sat. I used two 3528 XY about 2 feet overhead and 4 feet away from the front row. Worked great for the stereo image for recording. Used a little of this in FOH, but also added a third mic right behind the XY pointed right at the ctr back row. This fed me the bassline nice and loud. I used an MB4000 for a ambient mic from the rear of the aud. and the AT7000 wireless for solos. I think I will get enough juice for FOH and the recording sounds great. My only concern is when the aud. is full of people it soaks up alot around 2k and some of the female vox go soft. Thats life. Thanks for the input. I do like the 3 mics on the choir and one at house. later J
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Thanks for the feedback. I have just one silly question. As my mother tongue is not english, I have no idea of what does "FOH" mean. Ii would be great if someone explains it. Thanks in advance, Pierre
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[quote]Originally posted by Larochep: [b]Thanks for the feedback. I have just one silly question. As my mother tongue is not english, I have no idea of what does "FOH" mean. Ii would be great if someone explains it. Thanks in advance, Pierre[/b][/quote]FOH = Front Of House. Usually the location of the engineer that mixes the music/audio that the audience hears. Visualize a Ricard outdoor concert. There's usually a truck in the middle of the crowd with a lot of gear (sometimes lights too). That would be the FOH engineer, at the FOH position. NYC Drew
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There's so many variables here, what about speaker positioning, eq, room acoustics.... What size is the venue? Are your speakers positioned in front of the mic line? Are they delayed properly to align with the acoustic blend of the choir? Are the speakers in phase?(a common problem) I've done a good deal of choir recording and reinforcement, and had great success with very munimal micing, as the choir should be able to naturally fill a rather large space. 3 matched mics positioned about 2-3ft above each section, and maybe a soloist mic should do you fine. Good luck.

Hope this is helpful.

 

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