Thread: Equipment. How to record a choir?

see the above sticky for links and videos. "How to mic a choir"

You need an interface and some software to accomplish what you are attempting. The quality of that interface and software will help to get a better sound.

The issue you are describing is one of gain staging. A completely different and difficult can of worms to untangle.

Whether you can survive with just a stereo input of your choir or need all 8 mics at once will determine the size of the interface you need. You will also have the choice of USB/Firewire for the interface which may also be determined by your software choice.

With your budget I would recommend starting in the used category for more options.

oh, okay If its like that, i was hoping for an immediate solution. but if its going to get done, i want to do it right. So as for budget, i can manage to save 3-5k, within the next few months. do you or anyone have any recommendation for said interface, and software? and (i understand software is just a program i buy+install..) whats "interface."

Well i would just like to know any preferred softwares/interfaces out there.
and as always thank you for your replies.

An interface will allow you to take multiple inputs (like a mixer does) and record them onto seperate tracks. There are lots of options ranging from entry level to pro. A few hundred bucks to many thousands.

You could use your mixer and take a stereo line into the laptop, but your mixer will add noise that you don't need to add in the digital realm.

What is your end goal? How do you want to use these recordings?

Some software (Pro Tools - the older (used) versions anyway are hardware based and the software won't run unless their hardware is attached via USB or Firewire. There are newer options that give you more choices. Software and hardware packages come in all shapes/sizes. Use the search button above and make your decisions.
An example of a quality interface (small advertisement here) is an RME FF800, they list for about $1600 new, I'm selling one in the Recording.org classified for about 1k. You could also begin with ProTools entry level stuff (M-Audio, etc..) for a few hundred dollars if you want to survive with 1 or 2 inputs at a time. I'm selling off the RME because I don't use it, I have used ProTools for over 10 years and have owned M-audio and most interfaces are built well enough not to cause you headaches.

Good Luck

Phil

in our choir we have about 20 people. I saw in Audix: how to mike a choir Audix Microphones - Errorhat its recommended to use 1 mic per 20 people. My question is that. w/o our mics we have a very weak alto/tenor section and lound bass/soprano. about 5 people in each section. I am constantly raising and lowering mics through my mixer, so that their voices can come out even through our hanging speakers.

on the stage each section (tenor,bass,alto,sop.) has their own mike. So a total of 4 mikes up there.
Is it that because the same mics i use to record is also the same mics that i use to increase their voices, that im getting a nasty recording? (i have a feeling my mikes are picking up more than "just" their own section.) > which led me to believe i need an interface to isolate the mics individualy to get a proper recording.

but im thinking maybe i should just use 1 condenser mic to record the whole choir. My only concern with this method, is like i said our choir is very bad at "harmonizing lol"
which is basically my job so far as the sound man. because they refuse to try...
its just a personal thing that i want to record them (because they asked and i want to do it right =/)

i had a thought that i would use the regular 4 mics i have up there to regulate their voices, and use an extra condenser mike positioned to record the whole choir.
but would that be good? im sure it'll only pick up their raw (unregulated voices) which means an uneven recording.. *weak alto/tenor, strong bass/sopr....

any thoughts on this... i think this could have been its own thread.. but i would hate to flood this awesome forum with my noobish threads/