Choir mic'ing very cheaply

[jpgerard]

Hi, going back to the CM3's, yes, they're more of a sub cardioid than a straight cardioid. Personally I tend to really like this but then I rarely need a high back rejection... so keep this in mind. What I really like is the "lifelike" response, both frequency and polar responses are very natural.

[NorseHorse]

Originally Posted by JEGG

At what angle were they pointed, relative to singers and/or the floor? What sort of floor was under the singers?

Did you use any EQ, and what other processing was done in terms of reverb, and so on?

Thanks for asking, JEGG (et al).

Recording chain for the concert was the KSM141s (ensemble) and a Schoeps CMTS 501 (soloists) run through a Grace 801 to an Edirol R44.

The mics were about 7.5 feet high (2 1/4 meters), really just outside the frame of the video I posted. The mics were parallel to the floor, not pointed down. No EQ was used. No reverb was used. Since this was part of a larger pop concert, I did have compression on the ensemble. 1.3 ratio around -19dbFs and 3.5 ratio around -8dFs. The second mic was still on in this mix, but it is 20db down from the 141s. Casually cutting it in and out of the mix was imperceptible.

Thanks for the kind words, Harry. If anyone wants to check out that video (the mics are visible), it's here: YouTube - Superstition (Stevie Wonder) - DoubleTake - 2011 Final Concert

I would not describe the 141s as a home-run for choral work, but they worked very well in this context. If anyone is interested in samples of larger groups, feel free to PM/email.

[aracu]

Originally Posted by NorseHorse

The mics were about 7.5 feet high (2 1/4 meters), really just outside the frame of the video I posted. The mics were parallel to the floor, not pointed down. No EQ was used. No reverb was used. Since this was part of a larger pop concert, I did have compression on the ensemble. 1.3 ratio around -19dbFs and 3.5 ratio around -8dFs. The second mic was still on in this mix, but it is 20db down from the 141s. Casually cutting it in and out of the mix was imperceptible.

Very nice room sound and engineering!