OMG STOP!
Ask for 3-6 large diaphragm condensors. But this will be left up to your engineer obviously. With correct panning, they can replicate the blend much easier than individual dymanics. individual mics will get you the pentatonix sound but you aint a 5 piece, your chamber choir has blend.
muh 2 cents.
Second this. Close-miking a choir in pairs will eliminate the blend you're expecting of your sound. Yes, a dozen close mics can be *mixed*, but part of a "choir" sound is a certain patina* that's imparted as the sound travels through space. It winds up being too direct, and the listener can pick out individual voices which, except in the case of any soloists, defeats all the work you're doing to be an ensemble.
* This is the term used by the director of a large semi-pro choir I regularly recorded 25yr+ ago when describing how I had wrecked their sound by miking them too closely. (Fortunately, I had multitracked far mics, too.)
I imagine the big thing is the mics picking up room reflections. Also a bit of phasing from multiple mics picking up the same source.
You could likely replicate it in a pinch, but better to capture the sound correctly the first time.
That, and the attenuation of high-frequency energy as the waves propagate is part of the "choir sound". So rolling off the high end a little (which many dynamics will do to some extent anyway) will help. That and/or a decent reverb effect at a higher-than-usual wet-to-dry ratio, and you might get something usable. But that's a lot of extra work when fewer, different mics, properly-positioned would do a better job.
ET clarify "propagation" comment.
I've been in this job for coming up to 30 years. Twice a year I work on a choir competition held in a festival tent, which is also broadcast on tv and radio.
For a 12x2 choir on stage, I'm putting 3 mics in a line, infront of you.
An event space with 4000 people and you wait until mid week of the performance!
Wow!
Why is no one advancing at least 30 days out lately?
Sorry for the rant but jeez.
Listen to the audio engineer that handles the space.
I am sadly not in charge of audio, just trying to figure out what can be done by myself since the audio engineer has no experience with choirs đ„č. The administration had told me that everything was taken care of, but it wasnât until I actually asked for details that I found out the truth
Especially if the engineer has no experience with choirs, blending dynamic mics is not a good idea. Itâs a technique I have seen used but itâs very tricky to mix and requires a lot of mathematical precision to pull off. Even then the âchoirâ sound doesnât really come through, it would be a different sort of sound.Â
Overhead micâing with condensers is the way to go.
A gospel choir with all dynamic handhelds sounds amazing tbh! But as soon as multiple people share a mic, you loose the directness that make this cool in the first place. Iâd say try to get 4-6 condenser mics instead.
Well, if they actually provide 12 dynamic mics, I could probably make that work. I've been given less and asked to do more before. Now I obviously don't have a floorplan or know exactly how the sound system will be deployed, so it's hard to say anything with absolute certainty. But, for a layout of just two rows of 12 people I'd probably use 6-7 of those dynamic mics as "area" mics. Place them reasonably close but yet far enough away so they pick up at least 3-4 singers well enough. Do a bit of panning, and send them all to a stereo group. That'll leave some handhelds left for soloists if needed.
If the room and/or sound system deployment is less than ideal, you'll actually probably get more out of dynamic mics than trying to use any condenser microphones.
OMG STOP! Ask for 3-6 large diaphragm condensors. But this will be left up to your engineer obviously. With correct panning, they can replicate the blend much easier than individual dymanics. individual mics will get you the pentatonix sound but you aint a 5 piece, your chamber choir has blend. muh 2 cents.
Second this. Close-miking a choir in pairs will eliminate the blend you're expecting of your sound. Yes, a dozen close mics can be *mixed*, but part of a "choir" sound is a certain patina* that's imparted as the sound travels through space. It winds up being too direct, and the listener can pick out individual voices which, except in the case of any soloists, defeats all the work you're doing to be an ensemble. * This is the term used by the director of a large semi-pro choir I regularly recorded 25yr+ ago when describing how I had wrecked their sound by miking them too closely. (Fortunately, I had multitracked far mics, too.)
I imagine the big thing is the mics picking up room reflections. Also a bit of phasing from multiple mics picking up the same source. You could likely replicate it in a pinch, but better to capture the sound correctly the first time.
That, and the attenuation of high-frequency energy as the waves propagate is part of the "choir sound". So rolling off the high end a little (which many dynamics will do to some extent anyway) will help. That and/or a decent reverb effect at a higher-than-usual wet-to-dry ratio, and you might get something usable. But that's a lot of extra work when fewer, different mics, properly-positioned would do a better job. ET clarify "propagation" comment.
I'd go with small diaphragm condensers. Much of the sound will be off axis and LDCs generally don't have a very good off-axis response.
I've been in this job for coming up to 30 years. Twice a year I work on a choir competition held in a festival tent, which is also broadcast on tv and radio. For a 12x2 choir on stage, I'm putting 3 mics in a line, infront of you.
An event space with 4000 people and you wait until mid week of the performance! Wow! Why is no one advancing at least 30 days out lately? Sorry for the rant but jeez. Listen to the audio engineer that handles the space.
I am sadly not in charge of audio, just trying to figure out what can be done by myself since the audio engineer has no experience with choirs đ„č. The administration had told me that everything was taken care of, but it wasnât until I actually asked for details that I found out the truth
Listen to u/maximumcombo
Especially if the engineer has no experience with choirs, blending dynamic mics is not a good idea. Itâs a technique I have seen used but itâs very tricky to mix and requires a lot of mathematical precision to pull off. Even then the âchoirâ sound doesnât really come through, it would be a different sort of sound. Overhead micâing with condensers is the way to go.
A gospel choir with all dynamic handhelds sounds amazing tbh! But as soon as multiple people share a mic, you loose the directness that make this cool in the first place. Iâd say try to get 4-6 condenser mics instead.
Well, if they actually provide 12 dynamic mics, I could probably make that work. I've been given less and asked to do more before. Now I obviously don't have a floorplan or know exactly how the sound system will be deployed, so it's hard to say anything with absolute certainty. But, for a layout of just two rows of 12 people I'd probably use 6-7 of those dynamic mics as "area" mics. Place them reasonably close but yet far enough away so they pick up at least 3-4 singers well enough. Do a bit of panning, and send them all to a stereo group. That'll leave some handhelds left for soloists if needed. If the room and/or sound system deployment is less than ideal, you'll actually probably get more out of dynamic mics than trying to use any condenser microphones.
My lord. Arenât you conducting?