Recording soprano, choir, 2 percussion and church organ

[jullekoalabear]

Dear forum.

In three weeks i will record a performance in a church.

the choird will be in the background, the percussionist and soloist till be in a line in front. The church organ is also placed in opposite end of room, behind audience. i have two dpa 4003 microphones, a millennia 2b-m preamp and a apogee duet sound card with my lap top. Im wondering how to get the best result with this limited but very nice sounding gear. How should i place the microphones? A A-B Stero setup high up in middle of room or really close to the choir? I have really no idea, im just the composer of the music, but need a good recording of this very bad. Any suggestions?

thank you

[hbphotoav]

Originally Posted by jullekoalabear

Dear forum.

In three weeks i will record a performance in a church.

the choir will be in the background, the percussionist and soloist till be in a line in front. The church organ is also placed in opposite end of room, behind audience. i have two dpa 4003 microphones, a millennia 2b-m preamp and a apogee duet sound card with my lap top. Im wondering how to get the best result with this limited but very nice sounding gear. How should i place the microphones? A A-B Stero setup high up in middle of room or really close to the choir? I have really no idea, im just the composer of the music, but need a good recording of this very bad. Any suggestions?

thank you

Walk the room during rehearsal and find the sweet spot where everything seems to be balanced. Rope it off. Use your 4003s and put them as high above the crowd noise as you can get. That ought to get you a nice facsimile of the concert.

Or... hire someone with enough gear and experience to get a better blend of the disparate elements.

Above all... don't be afraid to ride herd on the percussionist. At a recent concert I recorded, the tympanist outplayed (SPL) a 8-piece brass choir, a 100+ voice choir and a 54-rank organ in a 1300-seat sanctuary. The altos (some within 5 feet) suffered greatly from his... exuberance...

First time I ever needed to use a compressor and a hard limiter in post just to get the balance close...

[sonare]

[QUOTE=hbphotoav;5380118 At a recent concert I recorded, the tympanist outplayed (SPL) a 8-piece brass choir, a 100+ voice choir and a 54-rank organ in a 1300-seat sanctuary. The altos (some within 5 feet) suffered greatly from his... exuberance...[/QUOTE]

Was his name "George of the Jungle"?

[JonesH]

Originally Posted by jullekoalabear

the choir will be in the background, the percussionist and soloist till be in a line in front. The church organ is also placed in opposite end of room, behind audience. i have two dpa 4003 microphones /.../

Tricky! But as you're very familiar with the music; what role does the organ fill? Is it accompanyment and color or is it intricate solo melodies? I just wonder what level of clarity we have to aspire to. Can you describe the room a bit more?

I've done several recordings in churches where I didn't have anything except the main pair for choir+ensemble and there suddenly was some organ as well. Some of the times it's worked out fine when they're all playing together, but the organ never sounded very detailed or could stand on it's own (solos sounded nasty).