Handbook for Sound Engineers

Microphones 589

16.13.4.6 Group Vocals

A vocal group could consist of two singers or a chorus
of several hundred. For a small group (less than eight), a
single microphone with an omnidirectional pattern
placed in the center of a circle of vocalists often works
well, Fig. 16-182. This microphone arrangement
requires that the singers achieve a proper balance of
voices in the studio. The final balance can be fine tuned
by having the necessary voices move closer to or farther
from the microphone. If the singers are relatively close
to the microphone (two feet or less), then their positions
become more critical. A small change in position can
have a major effect on the blend.
For stereo, the group could be divided into two
circles, each with its own omnidirectional microphone in
the center. Two bidirectional microphones, oriented at
90° to one another and placed one above the other, could
be used to obtain a stereo omnidirectional recording
when placed in the circle of vocalists, Fig. 16-183.

Whenever omnidirectional microphones are used,

the room becomes more apparent in the recording than

it would with unidirectional microphones. This effect

must be considered when recording group vocals in this

manner.

If greater presence is required (or less room sound)

or if the balance must be controlled by the engineer for

some reason, individual microphones could be used for

each singer; however, this method has obvious practical

limitations if the group is large. It also requires more

set-up and balancing time, puts a musical burden on the

recording personnel, and might have a disappointing

result if lack of isolation creates phase problems when

mixing the multiple microphones.

For really large groups, techniques similar to those

described for string sections might be employed.

Typically, group vocals will be recorded as an

overdub on a previously recorded musical track,

requiring the vocalists to wear headphones. With a

number of singers wearing headphones (which could be

turned up quite loud) standing next to an omnidirec-

tional microphone, a significant amount of leakage from

the headphone mix is possible. This leakage from the

headphone mix can become even more of a problem if

one or more of the singers prefer to remove one side of

the headphones from his or her ear in order to better

hear their own voice and/or the blend of the other

voices. Background vocals are often by nature relatively

quiet parts requiring higher than normal gain on the

microphone channel. All these factors can combine to

degrade the entire recording seriously.

Solutions might be to use as low a headphone level

as possible, have the singers sing as loudly as is appro-

priate for the part, turn the microphone off when the

vocalists are not singing, or use a noise gate to do this

automatically. In a really severe situation, the solution

might be to use individual directional microphones.

16.13.4.7 Lectern Microphones

For redundancy, two or more microphones are often

provided on a lectern. Only one should be active at a

time, or phase cancellations can result. Often two

microphones are arranged on opposite sides of the

lectern, angled in toward the talker. The goal is satisfac-

tory pickup as the speaker moves from side to side. This

arrangement can cause serious phase cancellation prob-

lems because of the spacing (usually a couple of feet)

resulting in feedback problems since the normal

frequency response has been disturbed through the

comb filter effect. A better arrangement places the two

microphones in the coincident configuration as close

Figure 16-182. Group vocals micing—monaural.

Figure 16-183. Group vocals micing stereo.

3 ft typical

Omni-

directional

microphone

Adjust spacing to obtain proper balance of voices

Bidirectional microphones at 90° to one another