Locations for overdubbing a church choir in Chicago?

[grrrayson]

I have a jazz/funk project for which the client is considering overdubbing a gospel choir on some tracks. We could easily do it in the studio, but the client (after seeing an inspiring choir performance) is interested in recording a gospel choir at an actual church.

Any recommendations for places in Chicago to make such a recording? Would this be the same kind of places people do chamber recordings at? What are the popular "chambers" in Chicago in general?

I have some gospel clients I work with that I'm talking to about it, but additional suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

Grayson

[MikeMcDonald]

Originally Posted by grrrayson

I have a jazz/funk project for which the client is considering overdubbing a gospel choir on some tracks. We could easily do it in the studio, but the client (after seeing an inspiring choir performance) is interested in recording a gospel choir at an actual church.

Any recommendations for places in Chicago to make such a recording? Would this be the same kind of places people do chamber recordings at? What are the popular "chambers" in Chicago in general?

I have some gospel clients I work with that I'm talking to about it, but additional suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

Grayson

i used to engineer for schubert recording services...the owner had a lot of connections due to being a northwestern grad and 'gigging' musician in town...if i may be so bold as to refer to classical jobs like that.

i remember recording the chicago chamber orchestra in the public library...northwestern also opened up their recital halls for rent. there were fairly regular jobs that used churches in the northern burbs too...

basically - if you have the cash...make some calls.

Mike

[ALL*MYTEE]

There's a church in Pilsen that a friend recorded at, if you email me from my web site (below) I'll email him and ask where it was. There are lots around.

Best,

Eben

[bove]

The Alice Millar Chapel and the smaller Vail Chapel in the same complex at Northwestern University are both nice reverberant spaces. They are both available for rent.

Here is some rental info:

Weddings, University Chaplain, Student Affairs, Northwestern University

[JEGG]

Originally Posted by grrrayson

I have a jazz/funk project for which the client is considering overdubbing a gospel choir on some tracks. We could easily do it in the studio, but the client (after seeing an inspiring choir performance) is interested in recording a gospel choir at an actual church.

Any recommendations for places in Chicago to make such a recording?

Waiting for Plush here, but the suggestions made are good ones.

Somehow this doesn't quite make complete sense to me: It seems to have a natural logic to want to do it in a church, but what is the logic really? To have this work, you'd really need to specify quite precisely the acoustic nature of the space-"church" is much (!) to broad. And many churches come with different sorts of acoustical and ambient problems-which is all to say, again-that without really honing what you want you may end up with an unsatisfactory space.

You'd really have to have an acoustic in mind, and how much ambient noise can be tolerated, *and most importantly* if the church has a management structure in place that can guarantee the availability of the building when needed.

And then there are fees for facilities rental-that can be a wild card, as there are good places available for a modicum of money (500-1000$), and worse places that cost more. You'll have to pay for furniture you want moved and replaced, probably a custodian will need to be present, and maybe an additional facilities manager. You may have to comply with quite narrowly defined loading times and places, and deal with designated areas for gear storage, which are often not convenient.

I record a great deal in churches, and they are not easy places to deal with- even when the churches are churches that I am otherwise employed in!

[Plush]

The way to find your venue is to first find your choir. The choir will be affiliated with some church such as a COGIC church or other church with a real gospel tradition. Otherwise, if you dont' have a man on the ground who can arrange a choir, do it in a studio.

There really is no difference in the result and you'd have no playback/sing-a-long capabilities at the church without bringing that in. The church doesn't want a big production and they don't want nobody nobody sent.

[grrrayson]

Thanks for all your replies.

I was mostly asking for a curious client.

I do work on a fair amount of gospel music and I also know some old-school session vocalists. Putting together a pro group would be no problem. I already have quotes on that.

I've worked countless choir sessions in the studio, which is usually lovely, but sometimes a choir on the bigger side will start to saturate the room and it leaves me wondering if it would be more interesting sonically to have them in "their" environment. It might positively effect the performance as well.

Budget would not be an issue. We'd take a Pro Tools rig to the church.

Hudson–I met you at CRC at that Neumann thing. Danny Leake actually said you'd be a good guy to ask about this. I was under the impression that you were fairly old-school about finding the proper space; it surprises me a little that you said the difference between a studio and a church would be negligible. I agree with this in the case of smaller groups, but I'd think 30+ people might be pushing it for a typical studio. I could be wrong, of course. =) Care to elaborate?

Thanks again, All!

Grayson

[Plush]

I can agree that 30+ people in a typical studio would not work. There would not be enough space around the sound. A typical studio would not be big enough for that. I recommend that you get in touch with Tim Powell from Metro Mobile Recording in Glenview , IL. He is doing more gospel work than I am these days and he has the contacts.

[Remoteness]

Plush is right...

Timmy would be an excellent contact for this scenario.