I think a really good omni mic in a great sounding room with them standing around it is the best bet. You could have then sing louder of softer to adjust the mix untill it blends like it does when they sing normally. Listen to them and try to get it to sound as close as possible to how they sound before recording...

Omni might not be the best pattern though...you'll get a lot of room. Try it though, and figure-8 and cardiod.

what about miking them individually. I have enough good mics. Or what about taking two mics and xy'ing them. I was thinking that if I used individual mics then I could pan some and make it seem more real.

I sing in a southern gospel quartet and try to record us. I would definately mic all four. You will still get some bleed from mic to mic, but if it is just a demo this will be good enough.

All gospel guartets today perform using 4 mics. (almost all)

An omni would work in a great room but it sure is hard on us bass singers. :lol:
Larrye

larrye wrote: I sing in a southern gospel quartet and try to record us. I would definately mic all four. You will still get some bleed from mic to mic, but if it is just a demo this will be good enough.

All gospel guartets today perform using 4 mics. (almost all)

An omni would work in a great room but it sure is hard on us bass singers. :lol:
Larrye

the key to your comment is "perform"...this is a recording. You can use separate mics. this will seem the best at the begiining. But one good mic will sound best as a mix. As far as not enough bass...he stands closest..the loudestest stands farthest. Mono sounds great. The depth will come from the room and the balance of the individuals. No phasing.

I agree in a recording situation this might be best IF you are in a great room. However I don't believe the professional albums are recorded this way today. Most of them are recorded over a period of time. They are stacking, track after track, overdub after overdub.

Larrye
PS- Barbershop quartet - I would definately say 1 mic

larrye wrote: I agree in a recording situation this might be best IF you are in a great room. However I don't believe the professional albums are recorded this way today. Most of them are recorded over a period of time. They are stacking, track after track, overdub after overdub.

Larrye
PS- Barbershop quartet - I would definately say 1 mic

I record professional albums for a living and almost always if the subject is a gruop of voices then I many prefer to record it as a group, it sounds better. If they're amatuers and cannot sing and balance themselves as a live group then maybe I would record and stack them individually. What's a great room...can you tell? Few rooms are 'great' many and most are fine. Ever see Sun Studios? NOT a big room.

I have been singing in a gospel quartet for 10 years now and every group i know, from the Gaither Vocal Band (that's big time in the Southern Gospel world) to the part timers all record individually miced! The trend now in SGM is to record the same song three times. Two of them are combined and panned left and right for stacks (also used for live performances) and third is the main vocal straight down the middle. Have talked with many "pros" in gospel music. Alll done this way.

Yes..there's options.
You could use cardoid's and mic every person individually, then mix them later and add verb.
Or you could get them to stand in a circle, which is how they like to sing anyways, and put an omni in the middle of them which will not only pick them up as you would hear them, but will pick up some of that church verb that will act as a natural verb. I like natural verb over anything else.

The reason I said omni in the first place is for a number of reasons.
It's hard to blend their voices in a mix to sound like it does in real life..and an omni in the middle would do this naturally.
The room sound is good for a recording...especially for something like this.

If you insist on stereo you could always use an A/B pair overhead in either cardoid or omni..which ever you prefer.

jhagerty,
Interesting about how they record, I wondered how they were stacking. (I don't like it when they use it live, I think its cheating). I have heard them all but have never talk to any of them about how they record. Although Mike Calldwell of the Kingdom Heirs did recomend a mic to me that works very well.

Southern Gospel music is a little different than small group music. Barbershop quartets and groups like In Sync (whatever their called), have a totally different sound.
larrye

jhagertybhs wrote: I have been singing in a gospel quartet for 10 years now and every group i know, from the Gaither Vocal Band (that's big time in the Southern Gospel world) to the part timers all record individually miced! The trend now in SGM is to record the same song three times. Two of them are combined and panned left and right for stacks (also used for live performances) and third is the main vocal straight down the middle. Have talked with many "pros" in gospel music. Alll done this way.

well too bad for them is all I can say. It amy sond elitist but the majority of people I;ve worked with before I was in first chair are rather unimaginative and treat recording like glorified sound reinforcement..i.e. lot of mics. They put things up in symmetry (like drum mics especially) on how it looks and start eqin'd before thatye really listen...leaving everything for the mix. That's why some records REALLY stand out ..most of it is average and junk. But don't take my word for it...follow the pack of "pros"

Sorry for the sarcasm...and of course we all have opinions...so please don't take it personally.LOL :D