Microphones & Vocals

[Clairval]

Hi people.

Having been invested in choirs by the past, I never touched the hardware question further than "Wow, that's expensive for our two dozen people ! Let's be gentle with all this stuff. ".

Now that I just read the ribbon microphones forum guide, what I understood is that they are a great tool for single instrument recording. Does it go the same way for vocals ? Voices being my main instrument, I wondered how many I should spend in order to live-record a quatuor in good quality.

[zircon]

If you're recording multiple vocalists then of course you will need multiple mics, but the key is to find the right balance. More mics creates more potential phase issues because each mic is picking up audio from the same sources, but at fractionally different times.

You might try four mics to start with. Three mics on the stage, not far from the choir (~10ft) and spaced evenly from each other. A fourth mic could be placed farther back to pick up the ambience of the room, assuming you're in a nice hall.

[Clairval]

Thanks a lot for your lightning answer. In fact, that was exactly what I expected : the best option for me is probably to borrow one of my friend's rock band studio and material. Except if you tell me that some microphones are worth being multi-bought under $100 piece.