choir sound re-enforcement techniques

[csg]

Hello all

 

Id like to hear peoples opinions on providing PA re-enforcement of choirs.

 

A lot of my work involves live sound and large scale pubilc adress, but it is several years since I have tackled anything in this direction.

 

The last time I did a similar event, I used a dozen or so small diaphram condensors ( akg 451 / ck1's) on tall stands for the choir, with some shoeps for soloists

 

so, has anything changed in the last few years ? or would a different approach work better

 

the situation is several choirs up to 50 singers in size on an outdoor stage ( windjammers at the ready...)

 

 

so, any advice would be appreciated

 

cheers

[minty]

Thats sounds exactly like the technique I'd use mate...

[Bobbsy]

No change in the times for me either...that's still my method too (except I've never justified the expense of the Shoeps to myself and use more 451s on long extension tubes instead for soloists).

 

The one exception to this is that a good many choirs these days have a more rock/gospel repertoire and, for those, I'll some times give soloists some form of handheld mic.

 

Of course, all bets are off if the choir is backing up some kind of very loud act but, from the phrasing of your question, I suspect that's not what you're asking about.

 

Bob

[i_hate_fisicks]

I would favour Neumann KM184s over 451s for this kind of work. Depends on the budget rather though I guess. I would probably go for large diaphragms over 451s if that was a choice and 184s weren't (though perhaps not outside!). All down to personal preference and what you have available in the end isn't it.

[csg]

thanks for the comments so far. I hire the shoeps in, so cost is not too much of an issue.

 

Ive used km 84's and 184's for orchestral work, and find them lovely on strings of all varieties. Im sure they would work well on choirs as well.

 

I always have a few radio sticks around for soloists, comperes etc - my stock mikes are trantec s5000's with audio technica condensor heads which work well with most genres including opera.

 

So, it looks like ill stick with the same strategy this time. the only accompanyment is a single instrument, usually piano I think, so levels should be no problem.

[chris4monitors]

I have done a few shows now with choirs recently, backing a rock band and star singer. We have gone down the route of giving each choir member a headset mic, and the results have been amasing. We do 4 stereo mixes on a seperate console of each of the sections which if then sent to the FOH and Monitor consoles.

The only real drawback is cost of 50+ headsets / extra console / extra engineer to operate choir sub mixes. But the results are truly fantastic.