Skip to main content

i'm recording a makeshift small choir for my band & i'm faced with the current situation:
we tried recording simply our singer doing each note of the necessary chords in the vocal booth & layering them all together with some reverb [with pretty good results i must say]
but now we're lucky enough to have a female friend bring a couple of her female friends & a guy friend who were all in choir together to record.
the living room in my house is somewhat large with hardwood floors & about an 8.5 foot high ceiling.
so i was considering placing the four of them around my M-Audio Sputnik at about two feet's distance, then having my Audio-Technica AT2021 at about six feet away, six feet up, and pointing down at them. we'd then have them do several takes & layer & position them properly to make a larger choir sound.
how do you think that would play out & are there any better options given my microphones & room:

-SM57
-M-Audio Sputnik
-AT2020
-AT2021
-Samson CO1
&
-the room is about 22'x13'

any suggestions are much appreciated.

Comments

Cucco Mon, 11/19/2007 - 08:34

I would personally have them line up so they're facing down the long end of the room and use a stereo pair to pick them up.

I'm assuming this is a background type choir for a pop/rock type tune?

The stereo of the pair will allow you to seat a lead vocalist in the middle without having to compete and if they're not singing at the same time (no competition...) then at least it won't sound like 4 singers knocked your lead singer over and took center stage.

UncleBob58 Mon, 11/19/2007 - 08:56

How and where you mic depends upon the type of sound you are looking for. Experiment, experiment, experiment! They'll need the warm-up and practice anyway, LOL.

Also keep in mind that you can do multiple tracks for a bigger sound. If they have the range (and the talent) you can also have the girls switch parts, so that the same voice isn't always on top. This will give the illusion of more than just four singers. Four unique tracks panned hard left, hard right, 50% left and 50% right will give you a huge sound.