Image courtesy of Hope Community Church, Raleigh, NC.
Even the most modern churches can have a Christmas choir or ensemble, extra musicians, a drumline, or special music to add a little more traditional flavor to their Christmas services. For churches that don’t normally have these extra aspects of their service, this can be a little overwhelming.
So this article gives you tips for mixing a few different types of services a church may unwrap for Christmas.
Mic’ing a Christmas Choir Without Breaking the Bank
Image courtesy of Hope Community Church, Raleigh, NC.
One of the challenging aspects of a Christmas choir, if a church doesn't usually have a choir, is buying mics that work well but don't just sit around until next year.
Churches have gotten louder since the days when choirs were the primary worship expression. So when choirs are part of a service today, mic’ing them is important so they can be heard above the music. One suggestion is to purchase two Shure SM137 Condenser microphones. They are $189.99 each, and after Christmas they can be a great upgrade for the current drum overhead mics or for great audience mics. Either ways, they can serve many different purposes.
For those who’ve never mic'd a choir before, there are two things that need to be done: First, take the mics and position them to be just above the heads of the people in the first row (assuming there are three rows). This will allow the voices to all be picked up together and not to simply pick up the people in the front row, predominantly.
The second and most important thing to be done is to take the time to “ring out” the choir mics prior to a performance or sound check with the choir. For anybody who doesn’t know the term “ringing out” a mic, it means that the sound engineer turns the gain up slowly on a microphone until its starts to ring. Then, when it starts to ring, they use the EQ to cut the frequencies that are causing issues. The engineer then repeats the process at least two or three times.
Making Christmas Vocal Solos Sound Like Christmas
When most of us think of Christmas solos we think of songs like Mary Did You Know, or Silent Night, or any other variation of older Christmas songs. The feel of these types of songs is a little bit old-school.
The easiest way to make a vocal sound more Christmassy is to take a reverb and make it a little longer than it typically is on a Sunday morning. Then, if possible, add either a small chorus effect or delay (whatever your preference). Don’t overuse the effects, but the slightly longer reverb and a little chorus or delay has more of an ‘80s or early ‘90s quality and will “feel” more like Christmas.
Lastly, if possible, have the soloist sing on a microphone that is either a condenser or a mic that naturally has a brighter quality. For example, if the church has a Shure Beta 87A around, this will give a brighter and more airy tone. While it's not a condenser, the SE Electronics V7 ‘also gives a similar vibe.
How to Mic a Drumline or an Orchestra for A Christmas Service
Many churches are including their local high school drumlines for an element of their Christmas services and doing a version of Little Drummer Boy. The two questions are, how can this be mic'd for the room and how can this be mic'd for live streaming. First, unless the church is in an auditorium that seats more than 1,000 people, they probably don't need to be mic'd in the room. For live streaming, if the church has good room mics, then EQ those room mics to pick up the sound of them playing together during practice and use that.
If a sound engineer finds themselves in a large auditorium (more than 1,000) and wants to add a little clarity, they might choose to strategically place 2-4 condenser microphones in and around where the drumlines will stand. In that scenario, aim the mics above the drummers so they pick them all up together (like mic’ing a choir).
While you may want to mic an orchestra in a medium-sized auditorium, the principle of how to mic them is similar to that of a drumline. Spread some condensers out in and around the orchestra and ring them out ahead of time (just like the choir mics).
Christmas can often throw the sound guy or girl quite a few challenges. The key with these experiences is not to let them be something that frustrates or ruins Christmas. Remember, most of us became sound engineers because we loved a challenge and we loved mixing. So enjoy experimenting with whatever torture (I mean special projects) the worship pastor throws your way.
