Don Camillo Choir: 'Trude The Bumblebee'

[The_Metallurgist]

I much prefer mix#1 Don. As you said, you lose too much bottom end in mix #2. I found the bass group worked best with the #4 mic inverted. Seemed to stabilize things a bit. I also used a gentle transient controller on the bass group to tame some of that roomy glowing sustain that's present. Whether is was a right move or not it did seem to make the bass vocals more defined. I am pleased that you are outside of your comfort zone and the reality is, we probably all are. This is a good thing. Well worth the excise to dig in.

Thanks for Having a listen Dave ,will try that .
This one is a great test.

Cheers

the problem with inverting is that it's either everything or nothing....and this material, owing to it's infusion of microphones creating, as well as sitting amidst the myriad of time delays, is that much of the phase will lie somewhere in between 0 and 180. relying on the switch will not achieve the best outcome because of the complexity here. it's one of the reasons we are hearing a hollowness in the various posts - nasty combfiltering. working the phase will affect both treble and bass....just to complicate things, but not equally of course. and don't forget that EQ (and compression) will add it's own phase gremlins.

the more microphones we involve ourselves with here....the greater the phase interactions and the more exponential the issues on audio quality that can potentially arise. the moral could be to select the keepers from the dumpers wisely in order to reduce or minimise the complexities in their interactions and the subsequent issues regarding combfiltering.

i'd like to know the room size and approx dimensions. in a decent mixing situation, we'd have the mic layout too.

for reference, i strongly recommend not using the preview track, at least for the bass. the BBC has a lot of choir progs from competitions and so forth that can offer a guide regarding general frequency response - youtube.

super multi...shame about the room though. given that a choir doesn't perform to an audience in small spaces (small village halls may rank as the exception...but i wouldn't expect a 35 member choir and accumulative SPL to be typical), and we as an audience are accustomed to generally hearing performances in larger spaces, i think the room's recorded signature would be a problem for an informed listener. we can't make the space feel subjectively larger because we'll be putting the acoustics of a small room inside that of a larger one - impossible in nature and a contradiction that will lead to discomfort and distraction.

there's actually a recording technique which can make a small room appear 4x larger than it really is........but you'll need to subscribe to my blog for that

all good fun, eh?