Mics and set-up for recording a choir

[scottfs]

I'm thinking about recording my church's nice choir for use in futures films I do. Obviously, this avoids copyright issues if I use old music, which most hymns are.

My question is, how do I go about doing this. I can record in the church itself, which has OK acoustics. What mics should I use? How many? How many tracks? What recorder? I anticipate mixing down to stereo track for the films.

I know nothing about recording music at all, the last time I did so were bands in high school.

 

[unclebob6958]

First we need to know your budget.

As always I recommend that you rent what you need.

 

[Jim Feeley]

If the choir is singing from hymnals or sheet music printed before, um 1920 or so (double check), then you should be good to go. But newer music on paper might have copyrighted arrangements and such. Geez; I should know this for sure, but at my church at least our hymnal and much of other music (even old music on new sheet music) is licensed by us to use in church (though not to record and distribute...that's a different license).

As for recording the choir, poke around the internet. I do such recordings once in a while, but it's not my main bag. To keep things simple and increase likelihood of a recording you like, try an ORTF pair close to the choir and if time/complexity allows, a spaced pair further back.

ORTF was developed by Radio France and is kinda like an X/Y arrangement, except you use cardioid mics in a V arrangement with the capsules 17cm apart and offset by 110 degrees. A pair of Rode M5 mics will cost you US$200 and work pretty well (a bit bright; deal with in post)...there are of course other options, but I'm not really familiar with that end of the market...Then you need a two-mic bar that will let you set up ORTF for $50-$100 (and most will also let you set up an XY pair if that fits your needs better), a tall mic stand (or more elaborately, rigging from above the choir), cables. Main advantage of ORTF- rejects a bit of room ambience/reverb, and you get a wider image than with XY. So there's that.

But you know, it's the archer, not the arrow. So maybe see if you can visit some other churches or choral groups that record their offerings/performances, ask questions of the person setting up and making the recording, listening to the results.

Then read some more.

Then rent or borrow some stuff to see if you like what you can pull off (really; you don't need much stuff...just record to a small flash recorder for now). Haul along someone you've met to tweak your positioning... And have at it.

Or just buy a Zoom recorder with XY mics and stick it about 15 feet in front of and 10 feet above the choir....then move it depending on the configuration of your choir and church...make notes, listen to the results...

You know, I used to work in recording studios, then made equipment for a company that sold to recording engineers (note: "making" is far easier than "designing" or "engineering"), and now do a fair amount of location recording for documentaries and corporate stuff. And I record music a bit for fun. But I'm a rank intermediate at music recording. So I ask advice, allow extra time to get things set correctly, and live with less-than-Grammy-winning results...

It's fun, but hard.

So maybe the best idea is: Draft someone who already knows what they're doing and think your project sounds fun (or sounds like a possible ministry).

Google has lots of other suggestions.

Well this is fairly scattered... Hope this helps a little...

 

[Richard Crowley]

Check your hymnal. Quite a number of hymns, etc. which old enough to be in public domain are published in modern hymnals using modern ARRANGEMENTS which are still under copyright. In our hymnal there is a copyright notice (or P.D.) at the bottom of each page (i.e. for EACH hymn number)

Spend a few quality milliseconds with Google. I used the search term: microphone placement choir
This prime reference is one of the top 10 results: http://www.shure.co.uk/support_download/educational_content/microphones-basics/choir
And second was: http://www.audixusa.com/docs_12/about/videos_how_to_mic_a_choir.shtml

Feel free to borrow a couple of mics and see if somebody has a recorder (like a Zoom, et.al.) and just experiment with mic placement. If your venue has nice acoustics then you could find a magic spot for the mics that captures a pleasant combination of direct and reflected sound.

 

[John Willett]

I'm thinking about recording my church's nice choir for use in futures films I do. Obviously, this avoids copyright issues if I use old music, which most hymns are.

My question is, how do I go about doing this. I can record in the church itself, which has OK acoustics. What mics should I use? How many? How many tracks? What recorder? I anticipate mixing down to stereo track for the films.

I know nothing about recording music at all, the last time I did so were bands in high school.

For recording a choir I would normally use a single stereo pair slung high in front of the choir, just behing the conductor.

My choice would be a Sennheiser MKH 40/30 MS pair or a pair of MKH 40, 8040 or Gefell M 300 as an ORTF pair.

As has been said, you *will* need to check copyright as it runs from the date of the arrangement. Depending on whaat the video will be used for you just pay the royalty fee to use.