Recording Choir in Africa

Doug Lange · March 19th, 2008, 02:12 AM

Allen, thanks. It was the first rehearsal after spring break. I hit the record button and left to taxi another child to ballet. I picked it up 2 hours later, after the rehearsal.

Booming a Sony D50 would require the remote or leafing it to record the entire session without being able to monitor the levels.

If you want to use your Macbook pro, Presonus has the Firebox firewire buss audio interface with 2 mic preamps. (Other brands available, too.) You would be able to use phantom powered mics such as the AT825 or Rode NT4, which will give you a cleaner signal.

Doug Lange · March 19th, 2008, 03:04 AM

A choir will rehearse regularly to achieve a certain sound the director is seeking in order to perform well at contests (not sure if choir in question is competitive) as well as in church services. Everybody wants to join the choir when a video crew arrives. The director may not have the political clout to be able to say "no" to certain head families who have not been in the choir but suddenly want to become the star. An outsider can do the dirty work of ridding the choir of unwanted new "singers" so the director doesn't suffer from any local political fallout.

Novelty items are different in various places. One novelty around here is scented pencils. Another local novelty is Italian gelato. With only one real Italian gelato machine in town, the price is outrageous! When I was in Italy last summer, I could buy gelato everywhere that taste better and was less expensive.

Giving away little novelties isn't to show how wealthy you are compared to "them", whoever they may be. It is to say "thank you for your generosity in allowing me to be here and being able to learn more about you and your community."

Allan Black · March 19th, 2008, 03:42 AM

Brian, they all love the pens, especially the kids. Elders 'might' pass them on to them.

You can do all that polite stuff in western countries, it's mighty different working in the third world.

In Africa time gets away faster than you ever thought possible.

Cheers.

Matt Duke · June 9th, 2008, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allan Black

Some lovely voices in there Doug.

Matt, for your budget and the choir, IMO get a Sony HI-MD minidisc recorder and an Audio Technica AT822 stereo mic, total cost around $A400. If you can afford it get a safety set.
.

Hi Allan,

Just looking up the Audio Technica AT822 mic, is this designed to go on a video camera mount or mounted on a tripod? I leave in one week so just finalising this at the last minute.
Thanks,Matt

Gary Nattrass · June 9th, 2008, 04:07 AM

Another vote for the sony d-50 from me, the mic amps are very quiet and the in-built mic is very good.
I also use mine with the sony ecm-957 M/S mic so I can place the mic away from the recorder.

Petri Kaipiainen · June 10th, 2008, 12:30 AM

I just made a nice live recording with a matched pair of Oktava 012 omnis with a self made Jecklin disk. Small church, chamber ochestra with violin and hautbois soloists. Disk was about 2.6 m up, 1.5 m behind the conductor.

Oktava sells a relativelly cheap set of matched cardioid, hypercardioid and omni capsules with two mic bodies. With those it is possible to rig all possible standard stereo setups (exept MS and Bluemlein). The only downside is that they do require phantom power from the recorder/mixer.

Still, a set of Oktavas and a simple phantom box/mixer coupled to a laptop woud possibly give the best possible result within the financial constraints.

Would an Okatava set with ProTools LE MBox2 be under a grand?

March 19th, 2008, 02:12 AM	#16
Doug Lange Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Fairbanks, Alaska Posts: 138	Allen, thanks. It was the first rehearsal after spring break. I hit the record button and left to taxi another child to ballet. I picked it up 2 hours later, after the rehearsal. Booming a Sony D50 would require the remote or leafing it to record the entire session without being able to monitor the levels. If you want to use your Macbook pro, Presonus has the Firebox firewire buss audio interface with 2 mic preamps. (Other brands available, too.) You would be able to use phantom powered mics such as the AT825 or Rode NT4, which will give you a cleaner signal. __________________ After years of lurking, I finally made the mistake of opening my mouth.

March 19th, 2008, 03:04 AM	#17
Doug Lange Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Fairbanks, Alaska Posts: 138	A choir will rehearse regularly to achieve a certain sound the director is seeking in order to perform well at contests (not sure if choir in question is competitive) as well as in church services. Everybody wants to join the choir when a video crew arrives. The director may not have the political clout to be able to say "no" to certain head families who have not been in the choir but suddenly want to become the star. An outsider can do the dirty work of ridding the choir of unwanted new "singers" so the director doesn't suffer from any local political fallout. Novelty items are different in various places. One novelty around here is scented pencils. Another local novelty is Italian gelato. With only one real Italian gelato machine in town, the price is outrageous! When I was in Italy last summer, I could buy gelato everywhere that taste better and was less expensive. Giving away little novelties isn't to show how wealthy you are compared to "them", whoever they may be. It is to say "thank you for your generosity in allowing me to be here and being able to learn more about you and your community." __________________ After years of lurking, I finally made the mistake of opening my mouth.

June 9th, 2008, 04:07 AM	#20
Gary Nattrass Trustee Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Cornsay Durham UK Posts: 1,992	Another vote for the sony d-50 from me, the mic amps are very quiet and the in-built mic is very good. I also use mine with the sony ecm-957 M/S mic so I can place the mic away from the recorder. __________________ Over 15 minutes in Broadcast Film and TV production: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1044352/

March 19th, 2008, 03:42 AM	#18
Allan Black Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sydney. Posts: 2,931	Brian, they all love the pens, especially the kids. Elders 'might' pass them on to them. You can do all that polite stuff in western countries, it's mighty different working in the third world. In Africa time gets away faster than you ever thought possible. Cheers.

June 10th, 2008, 12:30 AM	#21
Petri Kaipiainen Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Espoo Finland Posts: 380	I just made a nice live recording with a matched pair of Oktava 012 omnis with a self made Jecklin disk. Small church, chamber ochestra with violin and hautbois soloists. Disk was about 2.6 m up, 1.5 m behind the conductor. Oktava sells a relativelly cheap set of matched cardioid, hypercardioid and omni capsules with two mic bodies. With those it is possible to rig all possible standard stereo setups (exept MS and Bluemlein). The only downside is that they do require phantom power from the recorder/mixer. Still, a set of Oktavas and a simple phantom box/mixer coupled to a laptop woud possibly give the best possible result within the financial constraints. Would an Okatava set with ProTools LE MBox2 be under a grand?