Hi,
Can anyone help me?

I'm conducting a small boys' choir (just 8 boys) on Monday evening, and I'm not sure how to mic them up.
They're performing outdoors, and they're singing against musical background (which I prepared on a PSR640). So I need to mic them up.

I have a few Shure SM58's, and a cardioid condenser in my studio setup. Are these helpful? If I have to, I'll hire last minute some other mics.
I've already got mixer/amps/speakers etc. Just need help with micing up.
Also, is it really important to use wind-shields? (I don't have any).

Thanks for any help offered.
Zalms

[This message has been edited by zalmi (edited 10-02-2004).]

A windshield would be necessary if it is a windy day. Otherwise the shures should be alright, but the studio mic should probably use a windscreen.

Some basic tips would be not to keep the mics too close to any of the kids. Otherwise some will stand out more than others. Two feet would probably do it. Space out the mics a bit -- keeping them close to each other will cancel some of your sound. You shouldn't need more than two or three altogether besides the solo mic.

Chony

Thanks for the advice.
So what's the difference between a windshield and windscreen? I think the Shures have one of them built in. Is that sufficient?

Do you think that I should use the condenser? If so, where about should I place it?

Zalms

Put the condenser in the center, and the two Shures offset in an arc to make a semi circle in front of the singers.
Make the center mic the loudest and pan it dead center, then pan the others hard left and hard right for a spacial, stereo field.

Experiment with distance to see how the pickup pattern works in this specific situation.

Mic placement is a science all to itself - take your time and test out several places with headphones before you turn up the main system volume.

I have great success with choirs of almost 300 members using just two AKG C1000s mics. Place them at or above eye level too. Good luck!

Uncle Dave,
when you say a semi-circle, I assume mean that the condenser should be further out? Should the mics be facing down, or face-on? I know I should experiment, but I want to keep that to a minimum, because of lack of time , and also because the boys will get restless!

BTW, the signal will be coming out mono from the system. Does that change anything?

Zalms

Dave is right. Place the condenser mic in the middle and point it straight at the singers. Most have a wide, omni-directional pattern that will pick up just about everything. The Shures should be centered halfway between the center mic and the end singer on each side. You will have to play with the positioning to some degree until the sound is balanced and crisp. As Dave said, be sure they are positioned slightly above eye level and pointed directly at the group or at a slight downward angle. Three mics should be sufficient for 8 singers, even if they are standing in two rows of 4 and staggered spacking between persons.

Good Luck,

Gary

Yeah, what HE said !

I use 2 AT PRO-4's with my choir of 25. The AT's are similar to the Shures. I would set them about ten feet in front of the boys and at about top-of-the-head level. They should work just fine. As for your studio mic, I'm not sure how sensitive it would be to the outside wind and other noises. The 58's will do the job.

Thanks everyone.

It went quite well. I didn't use the condenser, because of what cassp said. I put the 58s as suggested, and got a decent sound (I think).
I asked a friend to set the levels while I conducted, but apparently he didn't do a great job, because people told me afterwards that the choir wasn't loud enough compared to the music and soloists.

Also, for some reason the kids kept going sharp (tuning), so I had to continuously correct them by playing on the keybaord (the music was pre-recorded). Is this nerves? Maybe they couldn't hear themselves well enough? Or maybe their monitor was too quiet? They sang in tune in the practise sessions.

Despite all this though, I got loads of great feedback, so thanks for the tips.

Zalmi

Zalmi, It sounds like a pretty good first try. After 30 years using two mics and a tiny Shure line mixer, I now have 3 new AT choir mics, two At Pro-4's, two channels for my digital piano and in/outs for tape and CD. All this goes with a long-awaited PA system too. The first few weeks were trial and error to get the mixes and balances, but now everything seems just great. I'm sure you too will get everything just perfect very soon. Good luck.
Cass

Thanks for those encouraging words, cassp.
We are actually planning a bigger (indoor!) performance in a few months. We're also in the middle of recording a CD.

Zalmi