What mics do you use on choirs?

[ljudatervinning]

Have used Schoeps MK2S, Neumann KM84, Line Audio CM3 and Oktava MC012.
The Schoeps sounded great but will use DPA 4006 next time in that church.

[phatjones]

depends on the room but spaced pair is always a go to. if you want to go the extra and mic the piano that's cool. I've used 84s or the mk012s.

[mathieujm]

Originally Posted by Mats H

Btw I've recorded a lot of concerts since then with my current choir and here are some youtube links from concerts recorded with a Schoeps MSTC64 into a KORG MR-1000:

S:t Jacob's Youth Choir - Sleep - YouTube

S:t Jacobs Ungdomskör - Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orléans by Claude Debussy - YouTube

Bravo !
Is it the natural acoustic or did you add some reverb ?
JMM

[bobkeiser@ieee.o]

Originally Posted by Mats H

Thx! Btw I've recorded a lot of concerts since then with my current choir and here are some youtube links from concerts recorded with a Schoeps MSTC64 into a KORG MR-1000:

Mats, lovely work by the ensemble on the Eric Whitacre piece. I've sung the Debussy ( in English)...nice work there, too! I think the recordings are superb. Where are you in this group?

We're loving our MR-1000s.

What camera did you use for the videos, BTW?

[Mats H]

Originally Posted by bobkeiser@ieee.o

Mats, lovely work by the ensemble on the Eric Whitacre piece. I've sung the Debussy ( in English)...nice work there, too! I think the recordings are superb. Where are you in this group?

We're loving our MR-1000s.

What camera did you use for the videos, BTW?

Thanks! I'm a second bass so I'm the short guy to the far left in the Debussy piece. The rest of the 2nd basses are unfortunately out of picture in this video. We had a couple of rearrangements of the choir this particular concert so they were visibile at times... In the Sleep vid, I'm to the right of the bearded guy.

For the Debussy piece I only brought a bag with recorder, mics, cables, my Canon EOS 550D with kit lens (as it's the widest lens I have) and two mic stands. One stand was for the camera. Hence the simple format. There's a 4 GB file limit in the SLR camera, which amounts to about 12 minutes of video. So I had a friend sit and press rec between the pieces.

The Sleep vid was taped with a Canon Legria HF200. Similar setup.

Our concert on the 6th of January this year had a slightly more elaborate setup with 9 mics for surround recording:

S:t Jacobs Ungdomskör - Francis Poulenc: Un soir de neige (complete) - YouTube

[npulsipher]

Originally Posted by Mats H

Our concert on the 6th of January this year had a slightly more elaborate setup with 9 mics for surround recording:

S:t Jacobs Ungdomskör - Francis Poulenc: Un soir de neige (complete) - YouTube

I always get excited whenever you post because it means that I get to hear a great choir performing some really beautiful music. Thanks as always for sharing!

[MichaelPatrick]

Originally Posted by npulsipher

I always get excited whenever you post because it means that I get to hear a great choir performing some really beautiful music. Thanks as always for sharing!

[mathieujm]

+1 even if I am not used to your interpretation and if your french is not perfect

[rumleymusic]

Lux Arumque

I shared a little from my previous thread about the director not liking this recording, but here is another excerpt.

Mixture of NOS (edit) MKH8040 and 66cm AB DPA4061. Probably should have backed it off a little.

[MichaelPatrick]

Originally Posted by rumleymusic

Lux Arumque

I shared a little from my previous thread about the director not liking this recording, but here is another excerpt.

Mixture of ORTF MKH8040 and 66cm AB DPA4061. Probably should have backed it off a little.

I'm listening on a computer but so far it sounds just great. There's something to be said for hearing a good articulate choir.

[Norm@gear]

Very short example from recording session this summer for major label.
3 4006s used in Decca tree configuration.
It is not my production, only my equipment was used.
Download CHOIR from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way
Norm

[boojum]

I have had good luck with spaced omni's - DPA 4006 TL's and 4061's - Jecklin disc - 4006 TL's - and the good luck combo of Schoeps Mk4's in ORTF with DPA 4061's in AB at ~35 - 40cm. With that combo setup I can blend to get the mix of reach and room I want.

I just did a recording of Amahl with the Pearl DS 60 in MS plus 4006 TL's as outriggers. It worked but the mics could have been higher as the singers made a lot of noise with their feet. I hope not to get caught on that one again.

[Mats H]

Originally Posted by npulsipher

I always get excited whenever you post because it means that I get to hear a great choir performing some really beautiful music. Thanks as always for sharing!

Why thank you

[Mats H]

Originally Posted by mathieujm

Bravo !
Is it the natural acoustic or did you add some reverb ?
JMM

Thx! I added very light reverb on the Debussy piece, using ValhallaRoom. Mostly because the audience steals aways some ambiance... I believe I added some bass EQ as well. The Sleep piece also has some bass treatment due to distance (proximity effect). I always go through the recordings with Izotope RX to paint away coughs and so on.

[bobkeiser@ieee.o]

Originally Posted by Mats H

I always go through the recordings with Izotope RX to paint away coughs and so on.

Ah...and here I thought you simply had an outstandingly considerate audience...

Folks, all the examples I've heard here are really nice. Thanks for sharing!

[bobkeiser@ieee.o]

Here's an excerpt (flac) from a project we did in spring 2010. Mic was a Neumann KU-100 dummy head (Frau Blücher) about six feet high, direct into the Korg MR-1000 with internal mic-amps.

Pic here:

Cello | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

(Apologies for the photo quality..."iPhone Classic" in low light. iPhone 4 was waiting at home!)

[mathieujm]

Do you know you gave us access to all your Flickr photos ?

[amfortas2006]

Originally Posted by rumleymusic

Lux Arumque

I shared a little from my previous thread about the director not liking this recording, but here is another excerpt.

Mixture of NOS (edit) MKH8040 and 66cm AB DPA4061. Probably should have backed it off a little.

I like it - But there is a hole in the middle, you can fix that with something like a stereo shuffler. Or did you intend it this way with most of the info coming from far left and far right?

[Tom McC]

Originally Posted by Mats H

I always go through the recordings with Izotope RX to paint away coughs and so on.

Care to expand a little on this, Mats?. For I'm still finding my cough removal efforts to be unduly time-consuming, and with sometimes inelegant results. I can usually cope with those instances where, say, folks "get their coughs out of the way" :-), in a Pavlovian response to the conductor jerking up his hands to start the piece. But those coughs slap bang atop a singing- or instrument-playing segment can be a real pain..

And thanks for all those fine music clips and thoughtful comments that you drip feed us with.

[Mats H]

Originally Posted by Tom McC

Care to expand a little on this, Mats?. For I'm still finding my cough removal efforts to be unduly time-consuming, and with sometimes inelegant results. I can usually cope with those instances where, say, folks "get their coughs out of the way" :-), in a Pavlovian response to the conductor jerking up his hands to start the piece. But those coughs slap bang atop a singing- or instrument-playing segment can be a real pain..

And thanks for all those fine music clips and thoughtful comments that you drip feed us with.

Thx

Yeah noise removal takes a lot of time. I usually recognize clicks and low frequency disturbances like passing cars way before they occur just by looking at the spectral view, but I do listen through the entite concert with revealing headphones and take away all coughs, clicks, booms and so on. However, I only remove them to a degree where they don't interfer with the original sound. Sometimes a slight reduction of the offending noise source is quite enough so it isn't as disturbing. It's a careful balance. A concert which lasts an hour takes about 3-4 hours to process. This is usually included in my packages.

** rant - What I can't understand is why people keep bringing infants to concerts and why the loudest "coughers" choose the front rows, not even attempting to mute their throaty noises. ** end rant

[bobkeiser@ieee.o]

Originally Posted by mathieujm

Do you know you gave us access to all your Flickr photos ?

Thanks. Yes, it's a public stream.

[rumleymusic]

I like it - But there is a hole in the middle, you can fix that with something like a stereo shuffler.

A hole? There is alot of center info on my speaker system. They were positioned so the strongest singers were on the far left and right though.

[Bibster]

Originally Posted by Tom McC

But those coughs slap bang atop a singing- or instrument-playing segment can be a real pain..

Worse than that: This happend to the NY Philharm...

Now, back on topic.

[mathieujm]

Originally Posted by bobkeiser@ieee.o

Here's an excerpt (flac) from a project we did in spring 2010. Mic was a Neumann KU-100 dummy head (Frau Blücher) about six feet high, direct into the Korg MR-1000 with internal mic-amps.

Pic here:

Cello | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

(Apologies for the photo quality..."iPhone Classic" in low light. iPhone 4 was waiting at home!)

I really like this one on headphones, really

[bee]

Anyone using a Superlux S502?

[Bibster]

Originally Posted by bee

Anyone using a Superlux S502?

check out the 'triple blind test' thread somewhere around here.

P.

[Mats H]

Originally Posted by mathieujm

I really like this one on headphones, really

Very nice sound, it sounds good in speakers as well