Mics for recording choirs

[53mph]

Hi, I might be recording a choir in a church soon. I've never done that before so was wondering what mics people would recommend for recording choirs, and how many mics are really needed.I was thinking of 2 omnidirectional condenser mics, placed about 3 foot away from the left and right edges of the choir, for stereo. A centrally placed condenser mic, near to the epicentre of the choir, and perhaps 1 or 2 condensor mics way back in the church for ambient sound.As I say, I've never done it before so am open to advice from people who have.Thanks.

[matto]

Hi 53The more mics you use in approximately the same proximity to the choir, the more phase problems you are likely to encounter (which are caused by the same signal arriving at different mikes at slightly different times). That can result in a hollow, unpleasant, unnatural sound.Your ambient mikes are a lot farther back and should be no problem, but the 3 front mikes could cause trouble.Check these links for info on the most common stereo miking techniques:http://www.tape.com/Bartlett_Articles/s ... tereo/Good luck!matto

[53mph]

Thanks for the info Matto.I hadn't thought about the phasing.I'm used to micing up individual instruments in isolated enviroments so phasing issues don't usually fall into my problems.CheersPhil

[ernstinen]

Hi Phil,I agree that 2 quality condenser mics should do the trick. A friend of mine often records his church choir, and that's what he does. I believe he puts them on booms pretty high up --- maybe 15 feet or so.Is there any way you can run a snake so that you can monitor in an isolated room? I used to record large ensembles directly to video, and my control room was completely isolated from the large room. I had a second engineer move mics around until we found the sweet spot (I had a talkback system to tell him "There --- Stop!" )Good luck ---Ern