Church Choir and Organ (Reprise)

[Gedit]

I've spent the last two evenings searching "choir" and "church" here and I've both learned a lot (thanks everyone) and narrowed my choices accordingly. Figured I'd run through the specifics and see if anyone has additional comments or suggestions.

The Gig:

12-person choir with stereo organ. One four-hour session (we get what we get). Various choir members solo depending on song.

The Environment:

- Small plaster-over-cinderblock church (25' x 40') with high A-frame ceiling.
- Very reverberant room. Carpeted throughout but no wall hangings to speak of.
- Stereo organ comes through four Community speakers: two 10" mounted up in the rear corners and two 10" on floor in front corners. System volume is balanced for greater SPL in front.
- Choir will be standing center in front of altar facing rear, arrayed in a semi-circle with basses in center, altos mid-center and sopranos to the edges. Organist off to left side.

Tentative Mic Placements:

There are two ways I see to handle the stereo organ coming from four speakers at the same time (which will basically bleed across every mic in the room). The first is to go with it and see what happens. The second is to swivel the front speakers around so they face the front wall (effectively taking them out of the equation) and mic the rear speakers. I'm sure there are oher ways but those are the two I've come up with so far. I'll also run a DI from the organ as a back up.

- Blumlein 9- to 15-feet back from choir at 9-feet height.

- Omnis spaced at edges of choir about 10-feet back

- ORTF 10-feet from rear speakers at height of speakers.

- Organ DI'd to board

This gives me the following inputs:

1. L Blum
2. R Blum
3. L Omni
4. R Omni
5. L ORTF
6. R ORTF
7. Organ DI


What have I miseed or screwed up?

george

[corworld]

I wouldn't worry about bleed seeing as you will not be overdubbing anything. Focus on getting a main pair that captures a good balance and spot the choir and organ to support that.

[Gedit]

Originally Posted by corworld

I wouldn't worry about bleed seeing as you will not be overdubbing anything. Focus on getting a main pair that captures a good balance and spot the choir and organ to support that.

Thanks for the observation. You're right, hopefully.

Anyone else have anything to add? I'm sure I'm missing something here

[Dave Slevin]

Originally Posted by Gedit

Thanks for the observation. You're right, hopefully.

Anyone else have anything to add? I'm sure I'm missing something here

M-S pair 8 to 10 feet back from centre of choir?
Omni's about same distance apart as ORTF ('cept pointing forward) pair 1/4 way down the church?
Three 414's across the front of the choir works well too, just be careful that you are not picking up too much of any particular singers.
I would usually use the MS as the main mic's, I've never been too crazy about spaced pairs, perfer closer setups. I don't imagine you will need to get too close to the PA, the organ should really be sunk into the room a good bit.
Dave.