Making a successful choir recording, whether it’s a large male voice choir or a small boys’ choir, depends on a number of crucial factors. Before we get started, I want to clear up a couple of common misunderstandings. First of all, you can’t make a successful recording of a choir in a conventional recording studio unless it has large live recording rooms or is built specifically for that purpose, like Abbey Road Studios in London. 99% of commercial studios have small acoustically dead rooms primarily for recording electric instruments. This leads us to the next big fallacy that for a room to be acoustically good for recording, it must have a flat or dead sound with little or no ambience. This is bad. The room is your friend and the following article will outline what to look for when choosing a good location to record your choir. I know because I have been recording choirs, orchestras and marching bands for the last 20 years.

To get a successful recording, the best start is to look for mobile recording studios or location audio recording in your area, as these guys will be used to dealing with big musical groups in big environmental spaces like town halls, churches, etc. Pick someone with a lot of experience, as anyone can show up with a cheap pair of microphones and a laptop.
Location sound recording or mobile audio recording has its own set of rules and issues that distinguish it from more conventional studio recording, but fortunately it has one big advantage over recording in a studio and that is size. Live concert recording is always done in a big venue that sounds good and no matter what anyone says size does matter and surprisingly things can even be too big!

The primary purpose of location sound recording is to enable a large ensemble, such as a choir, orchestra, or marching band, to create a blend of the group’s direct sound with the natural environment or acoustics of the venue.

With this in mind, there are actually 3 separate elements that contribute to the final sound of any mobile recording; Choice of venue, preparation of the choir and skill and experience of the engineer. Get all three right and you’ll have a great-sounding recording.

1. Rent

The choice of location or venue is really a critical factor in determining what the final recording will sound like. All venues, large and small, have their own unique acoustic properties that interact with the musicians’ performance, and some concert halls become famous for their great sound, while others achieve notoriety for theirs.

However, that doesn’t mean you have to hire a famous concert hall for a big recording, and over the years I’ve made some very good sounding recordings in local Methodist chapels, old churches, community halls, and even concert halls. of schools that can sound very good. As a general rule of thumb, it can really be said that if the room sounds good for singing or playing, it’s probably also a good place for a location sound recording. Usually with a choir you really need a space that can comfortably fit everyone in 4 or 5 beats and with a fairly high ceiling. Then this space kicks in for the recording, blending the vocals into an overall sound so individual parts don’t stick out. Of course unfortunately people don’t come with volume control and every now and then there is someone who gets to be heard above the others and this is where the recording engineer and musical director have a discreet word.

churches

Some churches are really too big and can have a massive reverb that washes over everything, though of course religious music is written specifically for this type of location. I have done many mobile recordings in old medieval churches over the years and while in the sense that they are often the largest and least expensive venue you can get, they do have a number of things to consider. The first is the natural reverberation of the church. Every time I walk into a room for the first time, I check the natural reverb by doing a single loud clap and listening and counting until the reverb fades away. Most old churches have a nice smooth reverb between 2-3 seconds, but some large churches, cathedrals and cathedrals can have huge reverbs which can be a real problem. Some also have weird flutter echoes due to their design where the sound bounces directly off a wall and repeats. Other things to remember are that in winter churches can be very cold places and often have very little light on a December afternoon. Methodist chapels are usually a fairly good size and can have very nice acoustics, but really avoid chapels or any buildings with vaulted ceilings as they can be an acoustic nightmare.

Try to find a place that is not on a busy street as traffic noise is a real problem along with the occasional ambulance or motorcycle. Make sure you can get drink facilities at rest periods and that there is adequate power. Old churches may sound nice but they can be very cold places in winter and remember that at 3pm in winter it gets too dark to read music (I live in Yorkshire). getting a virtual recording studio on a laptop and running cables to an external pickup is practically a thing of the past. but some older churches still don’t have power outlets in the nave or chancel.

school halls

I have made many recordings in school halls and not just school choirs. They are a good local asset and some school halls can sound quite good. They usually share one of the most important characteristics of a good sounding venue, as they usually have a high ceiling which is great for mixing the sound. Very often schools can have a very nice piano and in East Riding schools I know of three Bluthner grands, two Bechsteins, a very nice Richard Lipp and a beautifully restored 7ft Ibach. On the other hand, some schools have old upright pianos that can’t be played, but you can still use the place, just bring your own Roland or Yamaha digital piano.

2. Preparation

The second vital element in getting a decent recording is choir preparation.
Being prepared has not only served the boy scouts well, but is invaluable advice when it comes to the recording session. By the day of the recording, the choir must be ready to give a great performance and no matter what level of performance the choir has, if it is rehearsed and positive, it can make a good recording. This means organizing a rehearsal schedule up to the date of the recording so that on the day of the recording everyone is ready. Recording sessions are expensive and shouldn’t really be used for rehearsal purposes.
Making a recording can be a big decision, but there are a number of helpful tips to ensure that the day of the recording is an enjoyable and successful experience.

First of all, you should carefully consider the choice of material you want to record. Always choose material that you know you can do well rather than attempting material that is beyond your standard. It is much better to have all the material at a good level and remember that your rivals will always want to hear a bad performance!
Just because a CD can hold 75 minutes of music, don’t think you have to fill it up.
Decide on anything up to 15 pieces that you feel comfortable with. A runtime of around 45 minutes to an hour is fine and even if you’re wonderful after an hour, the listener will want a change.
Choose a variety of material with some light and shadow so that there are different moods on the CD, unless of course you intend to produce a CD of hymns or show songs.
I can’t stress enough the importance of the location and if you can, do a rehearsal there so there are no surprises on the day of the shoot. When a choir begins to sing, it resonates in the room and I’ve had all sorts of weird vibes, from light fixtures and ceiling panels buzzing to loose window panes rattling sympathetically!

Oh, and finally did I mention Practice, practice, practice.

3. The recording engineer

Mobile recording really has its own set of rules and I know from experience that really good studio engineers often struggle with recording on location because they don’t have the experience of recording in large rooms. Experience gives you confidence and I know that, like in most jobs, you not only have to be good at your discipline, you also have to be good at managing people. This is really true when running a recording session with a choir of 30 or 40 people! So the engineer needs to be experienced in location recording, but they also need to have some pretty good equipment to make a good recording of a choir. Choirs inherently have a large dynamic range and some quality microphones are an absolute first place to start when considering recording a choir. There are a number of different stereo recording conventions favored by different engineers, but essentially you’re looking to produce a stereo image of the choir so you can hear the different sections, but not necessarily the individual singers. You also need to be able to effectively balance the accompaniment with the chorus, so I tend to put the mic on the piano and record it on its own track. That way you can get the best choir and piano positions and, if necessary, raise the level of the piano in the mix in the studio.

In the next article, I’ll cover the basics of the recording session, microphones, and recording rig, as well as discuss digital editing and post-production.