Good Dynamic Mic For Studio

[Dwetmaster]

I will be recording a Gospel ensemble (about 20 persons) soon and I was wondering about this. We are micing the whole choir with a few mics all around them but the choir director also wanted close micing at the same time. Are SM58 my best choice or are there better microphone for the job in the studio?

Thanks

[kassonica]

The humble 58 would be good.

A beta 58 would be better and a RE20 a notch or 3 up from that.

The beta 58's are damn good and I've used them on singers in the studio with excellent results.

They seem to work when no other mic/pre combo does.

[DeafMute]

I'm assuming you'll be close miking certain soloists right?
I'd pick the best mic or mics you have and put them up there. Treat those soloists as you'd treat a singer in your studio.

[rodger1811]

The Shure SM7B is a must have in anyone's mic locker!

[BradLyons]

The problem with close-miking choir is it creates for soloists even if you don't want them to be

[Dwetmaster]

This ensemble usually use a close micing setup when they sing live. I want to have a nice ensemble micing setup but the choir director likes to hear that close micing thing. But when I recorded them all separately one at a time the performance lacks togetherness ( if that word exist...)
So that's why I would like to mic them all like they usually do on stage and use that in combination with ambiance mics. The soloist will be done after anyways. I just need to setup 18 mics like they usually have on stage.

So Beta 58 is the way go?

Thanks

[kassonica]

Yep the beta 58 has an extended range, has more presence and 6db more of gain and damn good rejection as well.

I highly recommend this mic.

[daniel.sneed]

Just wanna mention that Beta58 has much more proximity effect than SM58.
If the singers are not trained to close miking, could lead to boomy or poppy tracks.
RE20 has no proximity effect, sounds very good, but could be hard to find 18 of them for a reasonable price !

Just a thought : Shure 565SD is a little *brighter* than SM58.
IMHO, the rock and roll mike !
I take it against SM58 any time, except for bright female voices.

[mhschmieder]

I have the RE27 which is an updated version of the RE20 with greater headroom. It's known as a broadcaster's mic, and also I think was historically used for choirs. It's a fairly large/heavy mic though, and in this light, you might also want to consider what the singers are comfortable with.

Will the soloists be in front of the choir, or mixed in? This too could make a difference in what sort of mics to use for the soloists.

[kassonica]

I have the RE27 which is an updated version of the RE20 with greater headroom. It's known as a broadcaster's mic, and also I think was historically used for choirs. It's a fairly large/heavy mic though, and in this light, you might also want to consider what the singers are comfortable with.

Will the soloists be in front of the choir, or mixed in? This too could make a difference in what sort of mics to use for the soloists.

RE27, I didn't know about them.

I bought my RE20 last year and I love it.

Great on kick drum and bass amps.

Great mic all round....

[Dwetmaster]

Thanks for all the answers guys.
Two things I should mention:
- The soloist will be overdubbing so I'm not worrying about them while recording the choir.
- I'm definitely NOT buying all these mics but I believe I could rent them.

So RE20 Is my best bet? what about rejection? I want minimal bleed from the neighbor singers.

[kassonica]

Thanks for all the answers guys.
Two things I should mention:
- The soloist will be overdubbing so I'm not worrying about them while recording the choir.
- I'm definitely NOT buying all these mics but I believe I could rent them.

So RE20 Is my best bet? what about rejection? I want minimal bleed from the neighbor singers.

It has excellent rejection and no proximity effect either.

Was a radio broadcast mic way back when and was discovered by the rock n rollers to be an excellent recording mic.

[miguelmrq]

Sennheiser MD441 is great. For me, better than any Shure and else.

Though in this case I would never use a dynamic mic.

[Phil O]

...But when I recorded them all separately one at a time the performance lacks togetherness ( if that word exist...

I recorded a large groups once by separating them into groups of 8 (2 from each, SATB). On the first take the conductor counted off two measures and we did the subsequent tracks without a click. Everyone was amazed at how tight the group sounded. I used an ORTF pair for the recording only about 4 feet in front and slightly above the group as I recall. The final product was very natural sounding with a good balance of all singers, but had that close mic sound you mention. I added a little reverb (shhh, I didn't tell them about that).

The small groups worked out quite well. Everyone had headphones, but the conductor had a different mix than everyone else. He wanted mostly the previously recorded tracks in his mix. Have some fun and explore your options.

Phil

[Dwetmaster]

Thanks Phil for this post.