Recording Group vocals

[Samz0r]

I'm currently working on a country punk drinking anthem and the idea for the chorus is to have lots of people singing along to give it a feeling of being recorded live. so nothing tight, no harmonies. it needs to sound rowdy and unrehearsed, but needs to sound professional at the same time.

we're recording with an mbox1 so were limited to two inputs. I have access to a C414 and a pair of sm81's. so, any suggestions on how I should record it?

[deskman]

use the sm81's in xy

set up people in a semicircle around them

do a few passes and get them to shuffle around each time

=

massive group vocal

(nice room doesn't hurt either)

[Shan]

...also do the same with your 414 mic for tonal changes. Omni/and or figure 8 with everyone around the mic. You'll need to do a lot of eq carving of the final stem in the mix. Use an IR verb for the desired room size. You'll need a few takes with the pitch nailed so use the best singers for those passes. Everything else can be fairly loose depending on enunciation and the "bigness" desired etc.

Shane

[JonnyGinese]

Umm... how many people do you have in the group of people?

if you only have like 4 or 5.. try using the C414.. line people up in almost a straight line(head over the other peosons shoulder.. stagered) and record the segments. First person goes to the back of the line till they have all singers have been first in line.
That way you have the Room sound, plus 4-5 Diferent locations for each singer, and you have more control over the individual singers.. with the other singers a little lower per take..

Soo.. if you have 5 people it would be like this

Mic - 1 2 3 4 5
Mic - 2 3 4 5 1
Mic - 3 4 5 1 2
Mic - 4 5 1 2 3
Mic - 5 1 2 3 4

So you have 5 Recordings... with 1 dominante vocal per recording .. Mix the dominant vocals and it will sound like a group singing together.

Each person should be almost touching the person infront or behind them and the person next to the mic should be about 2.5 ft away.

Try it!

[mblanton66]

If you are seeking that large group vocal that sounds like the responsive reading in a large church, and you have a cymbal handy, place the mic about 2" off a cymbal that's near the group (anywhere in the room within 10 ft) and have them do their thing. Don't ask how I discovered this...

[Samz0r]

the group is maybe 4 to 6 people mostly guys, but I'm hoping to have at least two girls.

thanks for the great ideas, this will definitely help. I'd like to try them all, but I don't know how long it will take before my group starts getting unruly and demanding the beer I promised.

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by Samz0r

but I don't know how long it will take before my group starts getting unruly and demanding the beer I promised.

Well it is a drinking song