Recording a choir

[gjkung]

what's the most economical method of recording and micing a choir in a relatively large room or hall.

I'm trying to mic my choir as our choir is dying on stage during rehearsals in school where the PA is shit. all they have is a bunch of 5 year old karaoke mics so I was thinkin of getting something for the choir to perform louder on stage so we won't have to strain our voices on stage.

The secondary need will be to record my choir singing in the music room. I need something that would produce sound quality good enough to hear at least intermediate tone so we can listen to ourselves and note our own mistakes. The recording can be digital or analog, both will be good.

It would be best if both needs can be fulfilled by the same setup, that would be perfect. Please advice me on this as I have no experience in micing or recording.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

i think u need condenser mics... those karaoke mics are dynamic mics which only pick up sound from very close range...

there are a few kinds of condenser mics... SHURE mics are reliable...

note that some condenser mics need phantom power... meaning the mic jack on what ever u plugging into (most probably a mixer) needs to be able to supply a small voltage across to the mics to power them...

most conder mics have a few settings to adjust their dynamics (e.g. to pick up sounds from certain/all directions of the mic)

i only know so much... maybe sum1 more pro in this micing business can help?

 

[amoslu]

Yea, get condensers, they pick up the little nuances more accurately than typical dynamic mics. Condensors do need phantom, as mentioned by madwerewolfboy, but some accept a 9v instead, in case you do not have a mixer with phantom.

You need to adjust the pickup pattern and mic distance to prevent the mikes from picking up too much of the room reverb, usually for condensers, theres a ring or some heads you can interchange or remove to switch between pickup patterns. IIRC, you should be using cardiod pattern.

1 thing i've read, is that the less mics the better. Too many mics, and you run into some comb filter effect, where the sound from a singer reaching 1 mike and another mic cancels each other out a some frequencies due to their slightly different phases and you get a thin sound...

THis is all i can remember for now, but wait for some pro to come in...

 

[gjkung]

so far condensors is all I know, but I don't know what's a "cardioid pattern"

and I need some recommendation, cuz so far I've been looking around and beyond "condensor mic", the rest of the description are all tech specs and is getting me a bit lost.

How much would a basic condensor cost? And what other equipment do we need besides the mic?

 

[Colarndo]

Phase cancellation only takes place when the distance between two mics is lesser than the recommended 3:1 ratio.
Which means if the mic is 1m away from the singer, the next mic has to be 3 metres away.
There is a phase inversion button on every console btw.
If it's a large choir, you might have to hang it from the ceiling in the centre of the choir aiming to the floor(upside down). Try to find the best spot where the overall sound from the choir is balanced. This is for single mic applications.

For the recording, you can try recording the Bass section, followed by Tenors and so on, and later balance out in the mixing stage. And you only need 1 mic.
Don't have to worry about phase cancellations.

 

[gjkung]

It's kinda hard to record section by section cuz we listen for each other for our cut-offs and entries.

So does anyone has any recommendation and price estimation? Cuz most condensors seem pretty expensive and require an even more expensive mixer.

what are the options that don't require a mixer?

 

[soft]

gjkung, there are 2 questions in your post.

1. sound reinforcement
2. sound recording

you can get a pair of condenser ( i am using MK012 )

for reinforcement
connect it to your school hall mixer. they must have phantom power to feed these condenser mic.

for recording
connect the microphone to an audio interface ( Presonus Inspire )

do you have a budget to work with? there are lots of product out there.

 

[gjkung]

thanks soft, for the recommendation. Budget would be around a tight $200-400.

I've sent you a PM regarding recording my choir, please read it ASAP.

 

[chanxj]

Hmm the sennheiser e664 would be a fine choice i think. My school choir is using 3 pcs of it. we bought it around the 300 dollars range with a windscreen.

 

[qfactor]

I've also used the M-Audio Nova condenser mics to pretty good results. It costs $180 each and Sinamex sells them.

Don't forget to consider mic stands as well, as you could also haul some of the mics higher to pick up the middle and back rows as well, besides trying to figure out how to hang them!
Boom mic stands would be useful for this.

QF

 

[kithsa]

I'd think that since it's a large choir, two pencil condensers observing the 3:1 rule should be fine... I've done quite a crude recording of a choir performance with two Beringher B-5s... those are really very cheap, but I think for a school hall, should be fine.

 

[robsg]

Another cheap alternative would be the Samson Audio CO2

Swee Lee carries them and it is really cheap. around 200+ per pair

So far so good for my regular choir jobs.


Regards
Robin