First Time Choir Recording

[Luckystrike0007]

I was just asked about possibly recording an all boys choir for a Christmas cd. I've never done one, so I was farming for some opinions.

I've read a bunch of stuff already and plan on trying different things during some rehearsals, but I was wondering if you guys had any insight on some well recorded choirs that I could listen to and kinda get some reference. As well as any heads up advice you may want to offer.

As far as I know, there is no accompaniment, so all voices. All rehearsals and performances are in a nice big cathedral built in the 20's.

Cheers!

[Halfway Competent]

I've usually used SM-81s to record choirs, but they were part of a larger performance ensemble on a stage. A pair of SM-81s or SM-94s at a distance of several feet yielded a good balance between presence and cohesion (not picking out individual voices). More exactly, I followed a guideline that I read that the microphones should be 2' above the back (highest) row, and 2' forward of the front row.

Since your concert is voices only in a cathedral (and so "cutting through" would not be an issue), I'd use omni mics, and probably a spaced pair several feet from the ensemble. Set up before they rehearse in that space... Then listen to headphones while they're singing, and move the mics around to find the distance that is that magical combination of cathedral acoustics and choir voices.

As for preamps, I always used what was in the board I was using (Mackie or Spirit, depending on what I had available to me). For your concert, to really hear every detail of the hall, you'll probably want something a little (OK, a lot) better than that. I have no experience with the high-end preamps, though I saw one guy record a choir in a cathedral who was using an Apogee mini-me (I think that's what it was, anyway) with a pair of B&Ks. Never heard the recording so I don't know how well that worked.

[AndrewHutchinson]

First of all, I must say: I have never recorded a choir before, so everything I'm going to relay to you is 2nd hand advice.
1) In a setting like this, space is your friend. Don't mic anything too close, or you'll lose the benefit of the cathedral. (There's a reason that every digital verb/plugin has a cathedral setting) I would recommend 3-10 meters away from the choir, and at least 2 meters off the ground.
2) I don't know what your budget or mic locker is, but, 2 or 3 omni's is definitely the way to go. If you have, or have the cash to rent, two or three nice omni's, set up a spaced pair at about ear height, or a decca tree at about 3-4 meters off the ground.
Overall, use the space to your benefit. It's not often we're lucky enough to record in such a nice place. I defer completely to those with actual experience in this matter, but this is just what I've read. I might have a gig like this coming up around Christmas time, so, I'll be following this thread closely.

[Sandyrb]

I was wondering if you guys had any insight on some well recorded choirs [...] As well as any heads up advice you may want to offer.

Hi Jeremy.

We've recorded bunches of choirs of differing sizes and at different venues. We generally use two good cardioid mics in an ORTF pair, direct to recorder. Distance depends on size and spread of choir. Now, choice of mics and stuff depends on what you have available; we use 2x Lawson L251s with the M7 capsules. As for pres, we've used API, Neve and Millennia Media but now we have NPNG that's become the go-to model. No compression, no EQ... plug the outputs of the pres straight into your recorder and off you go. Monitor on cans through your recorder. Dead easy! :)

We find that the ORTF mic arrangement gives the best combination of space and directionality but we sometimes take additional ambient tracks as well (often a Blumlein pair way further back). This would depend on the venue, but it sounds like you're going to be in a really tasty one. :)

If you want to hear some examples (although personally I'm not that fond of them) there are a couple of audio samples on our website - click the link in my signature.

Hope this helps. :)

Cheers,