Guide to Amplifying Choir

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to provide all you need as a music director to get you started with recording and amplifying your choral ensembles. For the purpose of this guide, a choral ensemble refers to an ensemble made up primarily of singers

The guide is broken down into two sections, each with three Tiers to help you get started regardless of the equipment you may have or plan to get. Since most choirs perform concerts, the main focus will be on capturing and recording your ensembles regardless of where they may be performing. Due to the “portability” of the human voice, there are several occasions where you will need to amplify your choir.

At the bottom of this guide you will also find suggestions for recording and amplifying specialty choirs such as show and jazz choirs.

Amplification

Tier 1

Techniques and Placement

XY (Coincident)

ORTF(Near Coincident)

Amplification

Because choirs are not susceptible to the elements like orchestras and wind ensembles, amplification is a natural part of what we do during performances. For all tiers, you will need a dedicated audio mixer to handle your mixing needs.

Tier 1

Tier 1 focuses on just getting a great sound using at least two microphones and therefore looks very similar to that of Tier 2 from the recording section.

Techniques and Placement

XY (Coincident)

XY is a great way of recording choirs as it allows you to capture the manner in which the vocalists blend with each other. You get both a focused ensemble center while still capturing the SATB separation. For this method you will:

Need two Cardioid microphones angled 90 degrees toward each other
- (Can be mounted on two separate stands or on one stand using a stereo bar)
Place the array a few feet back from the conductor
Place the array 3 feet above the conductors head
Aim the microphones toward the middle of the ensemble

ORTF(Near Coincident)

ORTF is one of the most common near coincident methods for recording. It resembles an XY array in that the two directional microphones cross but instead of 90 degrees, they are angled 110 degrees. This method most closely resembles the human ear and allows for the instruments to appear in the sound field the same way they would before you. For this method you will:

Need two Cardioid microphones angled 110 degrees apart.
Suspend microphones 3 feet above the conductors head
Aim the microphones at the center of the ensemble.

** This method can also be flown/suspended if you want a more permanent solution.

Spaced Pair

If you have an exceptionally large choir, you can use a spaced pair to amplify them and get good SATB separation. This is most commonly seen in auditoriums by dropping down omnis in front of the choir. For this method you will:

Use two omnidirectional (omni) microphones, each mounted on their own stand or dropped down from the ceiling
Place the microphones 10-12 feet apart with you (the conductor) in the center.
Microphones should be about 3-5 feet above the singers heads

This method can also be done with cardioid microphones,

Tier 2

Tier 2 uses more than just two microphones in an effort to more accurately capture the ensemble. Along with using these methods, you may also use a soloist mic in the event of a soloist.

Equipment

Audio Mixer
Microphones (omni or cardioid depending on the technique used)

Techniques and Placement

XY (Coincident)

Exactly the same thing used in Tier 1 but can be expanded with outriggers (side microphones) in order to get a wider stereo field. In order to do this, you will need:

Additional two cardioid microphones
Each outrigger is placed on its own stand
Outriggers are placed at the same height as the main XY and 6-10 feet in both directions from the main array.
Aim the microphones toward the middle of the ensemble and pan hard left and hard right.

** This method can also be flown/suspended if you want a more permanent solution.

Spaced Pair

Similar to the AB setup in Tier 1, however this uses 3-4 microphones and is designed to capture each individual section of the ensemble. For this method you will:

Use 3-4 omnidirectional (omni) microphones, each mounted on their own stand or dropped down from the ceiling
- If using three - use the center of the existing two found in tier 2.
- If using four - place the microphones in front of each section of the choir

Soloist Microphones

If performing a piece with a soloist or multiple soloists, a large diaphragm condenser microphone can be set up in front of the choir adjusted to the singer's height. Another option that you can consider, especially if your soloist is in front of the speakers is using a handheld dynamic microphone.

Piano

Please refer to the piano microphone placement section of the individual instrument recording guide.

Tier 3

Tier 3 is a little different from tier 3 of the recording section. For Tier 3 you will still use the same techniques used in tier 2 but with the option of combining certain techniques to achieve different results. Some suggestions are:

The most common combination is using an XY or ORTF array in front and using omni directional microphones in front of each section to control the balance of each section.
- Especially helpful if you have uneven sections.
For Pianos, please refer to the piano microphone placement section of the individual instrument recording guide.

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