Microphones - Weak Chorus... What To Do????

[ChrisButterworth]

I'm currently in the rehearsal stage for a musical in June...

The principals I have to work with are mostly fantastic, strong and clear voices, not much work for the wireless mics there - however - I do have one rather BIG problem... the chorus!

It doesn't matter how much the MD tries to get the chorus to project, they just simply wont / can't.

For last years show, I had 3 audio-technica pro45's over the stage just behind the pros-arch, and 2 crown floor mics... and I still struggled, maybe it was the way I set them up, i don't know ???

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do?, I may have 3 rifle mics available and a further 2 pro 45's i could use, but I fear that may be way too much...
Any Help???

Cheers

[DaveySimps]

For the most part, there is not a whole lot you can do to compensate for a poor quality sound source. As the old saying goes "garbage in, garbage out". However, there are a few things you may want to try. It sounds like you are on the right track with hanging the PRO45's and using the Crown mic. You may want to try and add the other AT mics upstage a bit so you have more options, depending on where the chorus is singing on stage. Remember, just because you have all of the mics, does not mean they all need to be on all of the time. By "rifle mics" do you mean shotgun mics?

You may also want to see what you can do about eliminating other ambient sounds in the theatre. The quieter the background noise is, the more effective your area mics will be. Noises such as the orchestra spill on the stage, fan noise from lighting equipment, noisy scenery, etc. can just raise the overall noise floor to a point that area micing is just not practical when your original sound source is poor as it is in your case.

~Dave

[ChrisButterworth]

Yeah, I call shotgun mics 'Rifle mics'... What do you think is best positioning for the Pro45's?

Cheers

[Eboy87]

What's the set look like? You can hide mics in the set in places where the chorus seems to congregate. I've had trouble getting enough gain out of the A-T mics, but if you have five to use, hang three behind the proscenium, and two further upstage. The Crowns go on the downstage edge of the deck. If worse comes to worse, you can put the rifle mics on short stands (desk stand maybe) on the downstage corners of the deck pointed across each other upstage.

My $.02

[ChrisButterworth]

The set is made up almost entirely of trucks, thats the only trouble :S
Thanks

[BillESC]

What is the proximity of the Pro 45's to the chorus?

[ChrisButterworth]

They would be set up just behind the pros-arch, DSL, DSC and DSR DSL & DSR would be 7/8 foot in the air and DSC around 9/10 foot... If I hang the other 2, they would be hung on a bar CSL and CSR at the same hight...

[BillESC]

You'll want to get them closer to the chorus. They would be within 5-6'.

[howlingwolf487]

Here's what I would do: tell them they don't get any mics if you can't hear them well from a couple of rows back. Microphones won't do anything if there is nothing for them to pick up.

You said the musical is in June - that gives you and the director time to work with them and help them improve. Every single one of them needs to sing as if they are trying to reach the back of the room.

Again, solve the problem, not a symptom of it.

[TimmyP1955]

It befuddles me how 20 people can seem to collectively sing less loud than a good soloist, but I've heard it with my own ears. I don't think anyone teaches about chest voice and projection anymore.