Choir
Barbershop quartet
Four unaccompanied voices (tenor, lead, baritone, bass) in close, consonant four-part harmony, with "ringing" chords whose overtones reinforce each other. Men's and women's groups use the same part names. The tenor sits in countertenor range and sings its top notes mainly in falsetto; the lead matches a classical tenor; the baritone a high lyric baritone range with tenor tessitura (Wikipedia, Barbershop music).1
Part of the Choir family; that family's advice shows here too.
- Sources
- 5 (4 independent)
Mics sources recommend
15 setups from 5 sources, 4 of them independent of any mic maker. Each mic shows how many sources name it for that role, and how many of those are independent. Listed alphabetically: there is no ranking.
Studio
Main pair or array
- Audio-Technica AT40331 independent source
- Earthworks SR691 independent source
- Royer SF-12 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- Royer SF-24 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- Shure KSM321 independent source
- small-diaphragm condensers, X-Y pair1 independent source
Area
- four mics, one per singer, in a semicircle ("LDDs" as written, likely large-diaphragm)1 independent source
Close
- Earthworks SR691 independent source
- Neumann KM 1841 independent source
- Oktava small-diaphragm condenser pair1 independent source
Named, no placement given
- Neumann KM 1841 independent source
- Schoeps MK 41 independent source
The 9 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Main pair or array 2 × Earthworks SR69main pair, chest high, about 2 ft from the quartet
"A pair of SDC (my favorite is the Earthworks SR69s) set to an XY configuration. About chest high and about two feet away."
2 - Main pair or array 2 × small-diaphragm condensers, X-Y pairmain pair, quartet in a semicircle
"Treat them like a stereo source ... X/Y would work for me, with the actual angles set to match the spread of the singers."
2 - Area four mics, one per singer, in a semicircle ("LDDs" as written, likely large-diaphragm)one mic per singer, semicircle
"4 LDDs in a semi-circle so they can do it how they normally do it" (one reply); another advised against close mics.
2 - Close 2 × Earthworks SR69pair, X/Y (used for regional and national barbershop competitions and large holiday choruses)
moresound: barbershop competitions are particular about micing; "They suggest SDC in a X/Y configuration"; he uses Earthworks SR69s (paraphrase)
3 - Close 2 × Oktava small-diaphragm condenser pairpair, mounted high and centred over the chorus
Rimshot: a pair of Oktava SDCs high and centred over the chorus; "It is best if it is in a room that already has good acoustics" (paraphrase)
3 - Main pair or array 2 × Shure KSM32 or Audio-Technica AT4033pair, stereo pair on the chorus
Xdrummer: good results with large-diaphragm condensers, a pair of Shure KSM32s (paraphrase) ... Xdrummer: once used a pair of AT4033s with good results (paraphrase)
3 - Close 2 × Neumann KM 184pair, matched pair in NOS
Richard Monroe: matched pair of small-diaphragm mics such as KM184s; "I've had my best results with NOS"
3 - Named, no placement given Schoeps MK 4 or Neumann KM 184pencil mic, preferred type
Search summary of the same thread lists MK 4, KM 184, SM81 and AKG C 480/C 451 as preferred pencil condensers; not opened. ... Listed with Schoeps MK 4 and Shure SM81 as preferred pencil condensers (search summary only).
4 - Main pair or array Choir advice Royer SF-24 or Royer SF-12stereo pair for vocal groups
"The SF12 and SF-24 are especially useful for recording vocal groups in stereo."
5
Studio and stage
Main pair or array
- AKG C451 (earlier version of the AKG C451 B)1 independent source
- AKG C4801 independent source
- Neumann KM 1841 independent source
- Schoeps CMXY 4V1 independent source
- Schoeps MK 41 independent source
- Sennheiser MKH 401 independent source
- Shure SM811 independent source
Overhead
- Pearl TL 441 independent source
- Schoeps CCM 41 independent source
The 5 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Main pair or array 2 × Schoeps CMXY 4Vpair, X/Y with capsules about 110 degrees apart, on a stand off the front of the stage at 42 in above the deck (mid-chest height); quartet stands in a taped 3.5 ft diameter semicircle
Schoeps CMXY 4V used on all quartets; X-Y at about 110 degrees, 42 inches above the deck, quartet in a 3.5-foot semicircle; "simple, elegant and accurate" (paraphrase)
6 - Main pair or array 2 × Sennheiser MKH 40pair, earlier quartet stage pair before the CMXY
Sound director Glen Glancy previously used Sennheiser MKH 40s on the quartets (paraphrase)
6 - Main pair or array 2 × Schoeps MK 4 or Neumann KM 184 or Shure SM81 or AKG C480 or AKG C451 (earlier version of the AKG C451 B)pair, alternative pencil condensers for the quartet X/Y position
Glancy's preferred pencil condensers include Schoeps MK 4, Neumann KM184, Shure SM81, AKG C480 and C451 (paraphrase)
6 - Overhead Pearl TL 44overhead, suspended upstage above and in front of the choral risers (barbershop chorus contest)
Chorus: one Pearl TL 44 stereo mic suspended upstage, above and in front of the risers (paraphrase)
6 - Overhead Schoeps CCM 4overhead, two suspended eight feet to either side of the central Pearl TL 44 (barbershop chorus)
Two Schoeps CCM 4s suspended eight feet to either side (paraphrase)
6
On stage
Main pair or array
- Schoeps CMXY1 independent source
The 1 setup behind this: placement and quotes
- Main pair or array 2 × Schoeps CMXYmain pair, contest stage, about 42 in above the deck
Search summary of a Reddit thread: BHS sound crews have used Schoeps CMXY stereo pairs; thread not opened, so low confidence.
4
Where the sound comes from
- voices: Many incoherent voices whose intensities add; a few loud voices dominate fortissimo.7
The sound
No source with levels. Because the chords depend on overtones lining up, avoid close mics and heavy processing (my inference).
Layout
The quartet stands in a semicircle (forum, a barbershop recordist). In Barbershop Harmony Society contests singers perform at a single fixed position in front of the stage mics; the Society dropped a second set of mics placed a few feet outside the quartet because they were hardly used. Singers tune and balance to each other by ear, so the sources say to record them together and not to overdub.2,9
Recording it
- A pair of small-diaphragm condensers in X-Y, about chest high and 2 ft (60 cm) away; the poster used Earthworks SR69s and says competitions allow only this.
- A moderator: treat the quartet "like a stereo source", X-Y with the angle matched to the spread of the singers.
- Another: four large-diaphragm mics in a semicircle, plus omnis for the room if it sounds good.
- Room matters more than mics: in a small room put singers in the middle away from walls and mics close; in a large room put mics farther away.
- Handheld mics only suit singers who really know mic technique, according to a moderator.
- From a search summary of a Reddit thread (page not opened): BHS sound crews used Schoeps CMXY pairs 42 in above the deck on a boom, and pencil condensers (Schoeps MK 4, Neumann KM 184, Shure SM81, AKG C 480/C 451) are preferred.2,4
On stage
- Small-diaphragm cardioid or supercardioid condensers on stands or hanging, about 45 cm in front of the first row and 45 cm above the back row's heads; or '2x2': 2 ft in front, 2 ft above the tallest singer, for up to 20 singers.
- About one mic per 6 m of singers; 30-45 voices need two or three.
- Keep neighbouring mics at least three times as far apart as each is from its singers (3:1); with few mics it can't always be met.
- Aim a supercardioid at the back row: the front row is then about 60 degrees off axis and the back row 1.4 times further away.
- Gain before feedback drops fast as mics cover more singers: in DPA's example for 12 singers, six mics lose 17 dB and three mics 25.5 dB against one mic per singer.10,11,12,13
Problems to watch
How loud
Sound pressure level measurements as published. Different kinds of figure (a playing level, a peak, a dose at the player's ear) can't be compared with each other, and neither can figures at different distances.
| Playing level | |
|---|---|
| 50–90 dB | at 20 m; 64-voice ensemble, model: about 90 dB at high frequencies at maximum, about 50 dB at low frequencies at minimum7 |
| Dynamic range | |
Sources
- Wikipedia, Barbershop music
- HomeRecording.com forum: Recording a Barbershop Quartet
- HomeRecording.com forum: What are good mics for recording a chorus? (Jul 2011, barbershop quartets and a 40-50 voice barbershop chorus)
- Reddit r/barbershop: What mics do BHS use (2024; read only as a search-result summary, page not opened)
- Royer Labs FAQ: Which Royer mic would you recommend for recording vocals?
- Mix: Sound Design for an American Tradition (Mark Frink, Dec 2002, BHS international convention)
- Titze and Maxfield: choir dynamic range model (JASA 142(4), 2464-2468)
- Katz and d'Alessandro: voice directivity measurements (ICA 2007)
- Barbershop Harmony Society, Second set of mics discontinued in quartet contests
- ProSoundWeb: Church Sound, Effective Microphone Strategies For Choirs
- SoundPro: How To Mic a Choir, Best Mics & Placement Tips
- DPA Mic University: How to mic a choir
- Audio-Technica: ES933 datasheet (hanging choir mic)
- ProSoundWeb: Choir Mic Techniques, Rising To The Challenge