How do I get a more blended sound from my choir mics? | FSB #6

[@stevek4423]

I use 3 dynamic mics for my church's choir. I asked the soprano & bass members to stand in the middle and pan their one-mic in the middle. The alto members stand a little to the left for which I pan their one-mic a little to the left. The tenor members also are panned a little to the right. A tad bit of reverb & chorus and there's a beautiful, rich atmosphere created. Try it out.

[@GLBProductions]

Thanks for the contribution :)

[@matheusPMAVieira]

My church presents a musical every Christmas with choir, vocals, full band and orchestra. It's madness for me hahaha. Really challenging! We use a Yamaha TF5 and behringer C-2 for choir. Very cost-effective!

[@MrTrazzie]

Our church uses an Audix MicroBoom setup, single small diaphragm condenser on a long thin carbon fiber boom and it works beautifully. Audix also publishes a very useful, short choir micing guide for this sort of approach, which we have followed with great results. Highly recommended.

[@GLBProductions]

Oh yes I've seen those long Audix choir mics - perfect tool for the job! Not cheap though! How many people are in your choir?

[@MrTrazzie]

@@GLBProductions We generally have from 10 to 15 in the choir. I was able to purchase ours locally for around $750 Canadian, not insignificant but it really works well and no issues of phase as a multi mic setup could introduce. The whole secret of this kind of mic approach is to take advantage of the polar pattern (cardioid, in our case) by aiming the capsule more directly to those choir members furthest away from it, ie. the back row and those closer to the mic become more off axis to it, resulting in a naturally balanced sound. A bit of shuffling a few choir members around helps balance things out too. The boom and mic are so slender, they go nearly unnoticed. You can get similar systems from DPA and Earthworks but for considerably more money. For us, the Audix was the best value proposition.

[@GLBProductions]

Great advice for other viewers! One mic can cover 10-15 singers easily, and will generally give the most natural sounding reproduction compared to multiple mics.

[@SucculentFever]

What microphones do you have? What models?

[@ErrolFernandes365]

Hi Bruno, excellent video! It was very clear and detailed :) I face the same dilemma now before our upcoming programme, and I'm trying hard to get one condenser mic per section. I will also check out the shure document as well. Thank you again for a very well made video, the part about accompaniment through monitors was new for me. I'm glad others found it helpful as well. Cheers

[@GLBProductions]

You're welcome Errol, thanks for watching!

[@dodo-susastela1485]

Once again, great job. Simple yet very informative.

[@amylynnbakes]

I feel like I am singing to a padded wall. We have no vocal in our monitor. You mentioned monitors are relatively distant from the choir but our 30 member choir has a soundtrack monitor at the actual feet of the first row. Can vocals be added considering this? 8:13

[@GLBProductions]

I suggest you have a word with your choir director and sound engineer about this. In my experience sending choir mics (as opposed to individual mics) to any stage monitor results in almost immediate feedback.

[@andrewr9097]

@@GLBProductions Can't we have a perfect world where I can have both condenser microphones and hear ourselves singing at the same time? 🥲

[@GLBProductions]

@@andrewr9097 Actually it is possible with in-ear monitors, but rather expensive as well 😅

[@SucculentFever]

Now in 2021 what top 3 Condenser microphones do you recommend for choirs? I need to get 2 for my church choir. Thank you for your time.

[@GLBProductions]

Thanks for the question Ivan. To be honest with you any quality cardioid or supercardioid condenser mic can be used for choir, as long as they are positioned correctly. Good choices would be the Shure SM81, Audio-Technica AE5100 and Rode NT5.

[@SucculentFever]

@@GLBProductions thank you for your time!!!

[@KZRDkhar]

Sir please suggest me what is the best condenser microphone for choir

[@GLBProductions]

Any small diaphragm condenser microphone with a cardioid polar pattern can be used.

[@Shawnne01]

How about having choir in a semi circle with 1-3 rows around a single mic? Just a thought.

[@GLBProductions]

Theoretically that would work but it might not be practical for several reasons. First of all those at the ends of the rows would be facing inwards and thus have a hard time seeing the conductor. Secondly most choir risers are straight so constructing a semi-circular set of risers would require some ingenuity. Finally it would probably interfere with the acoustic projection of the sound because some singers would be facing the audience directly whereas others would be up to 90 degrees off-axis. Perhaps for recording? But probably not for live performance.

[@Jinaci1732]

Hello I'm wondering how I can mount the AKG CHM 99 Ws on stands. I'm searching over the net, but I can't really find a mic clip for a 13.5mm diameter mic. I don't wanna fix then to the ceiling, I want to be able to move them when needed. Any tips, please?

[@GLBProductions]

Hmm that's a hard call because that mic is specifically designed to be hung... I would definitely get in touch with AKG and see if they have any suggestions. Otherwise you may need to improvise with clips or tape - make sure that you secure the base of the mic and do not cover any of the ports near the head. You could also try using a T-bar off a lighting stand and hanging the mics from the ends of the bar, or suspending the mic from the end of a normal boom mic stand, using tape to secure the mic cable to the boom arm.

[@Jinaci1732]

@@GLBProductions The Rode M5 has wider frequency response... do you tink they might be better than the AKG CHM 99W? It's mostly to be used with choir

[@GLBProductions]

Hard to say unless you compare them directly in your space. The M5 is definitely a good choir mic though, and much easier to mount on a stand 😄

[@Jinaci1732]

@@GLBProductions thanks anyway

[@selvansamuel3434]

We have only 2 mics for 14 member of choir we use studio master 12 air mixer but it is not enough for good vocal sound how we want to set the mixer

[@GLBProductions]

Adjusting your mixer probably will not help in this case...

[@czedy3845]

Sir what condenser mic do you recomend for choir?

[@GLBProductions]

Any small diaphragm condenser mic will work well eg Shure SM81, Audio-Technica ATM450, SE Electronics SE8 etc.

[@ArpanPatel108]

Can you make a video on how to setup Graphics EQ or EQ a hall with pink noise. What do you prefer, tuning the feedback out or using pink noise?

[@GLBProductions]

Nowadays I will use SMAART to do this - modern loudspeakers are so good that very little corrective EQ is needed.

[@fritzvegaph1252]

This is what I'm looking for. Sending regards from PH 😊

[@GLBProductions]

Glad to hear that, regards from Singapore 😊

[@andrewr9097]

Fritz, what solution did you came to? I'm also from the Philippines. I'm having a dilemma on what to buy the type of microphone, most specially because I already bought monitor speakers.

[@theDfLopes]

Great video, help a lot. In our church, we have only two rows available to a choir of 25 kids (6 - 15 yo), so we get a wide choir (9m-10f of widht) in a flat surface, using two condesend hypercardio mic, still not good sound.

[@GLBProductions]

Yeah those wide yet shallow setups are not good - the tendency is to place the mics too close, which results in picking up individual voices rather than a blend of the entire ensemble.

[@hieuphysics]

Thank for your great video.

[@jeromemckenna7102]

Enjoyed the video, since I don't know as much about microphones as I wish. We do karaoke but a microphone is a microphone.

[@morgan17121712]

Hi Bruno, Can you please do a video on multitrack recording using the Allan & Heath QU series mixers "QU Drive" function. Many thanks, Morgan

[@GLBProductions]

Hi Morgan, thanks for the request but I'll leave that one to the recording guys.

[@lalmuanpuiakhiangte4700]

Would 3 Sennheiser XSW2-865-A sufficient for a Church choir of 40-50, adhering to 3:1 rule?

[@GLBProductions]

No I wouldn't use those mics - for choir use I recommend a general purpose condenser mic like the Shure SM91 or Sennheiser e914.

[@dipakbhalodia7155]

Good

[@southernnyer6086]

Great info!.. I just found your site.

[@GLBProductions]

Great to have you!

[@celestineumunnakwe7621]

Can I use sm27 mics for my choir?

[@GLBProductions]

Yes those should work fine.

[@48snapper]

Another excellent video Bruno, many thanks. Interesting, informative and instructional. Visually, you are giving us a superbly sharp and clear picture. However, the auto focus hunting is a little distracting for me.

[@GLBProductions]

Thanks Alan, it's distracting for me too! Still working through different possibilities for shooting this type of video to minimise post-production time.

[@josephamusah8245]

I love this

[@ramble-on1333]

why not put the choir in a half circle and use a ORTF setup??

[@GLBProductions]

Good question! First of all, half-circle setups require curved choir risers and do not work well with rectangular buildings. Secondly, ORTF is a recording technique and may not provide sufficient gain before feedback when used for live applications. The primary reason for this is the orientation of the microphone capsules at an angle rather than directly forwards, which often points them towards the loudspeakers in the venue.

[@gairngorms]

Ramble-on hi Bruno, you’re right. It’s a recording technique. Thanks for the answer. Love your video’s. Regards from Holland.

[@GLBProductions]

You're most welcome, always love hearing from my viewers!