Microphone specifics

[Le Berger]

Hi guys, figure this is probably the best place to ask and since this is an area where I'm definitely out of my debt, all input welcome.

I want to record something in a very specific room and wonder about mic placement, which type of mics to use and especially if the equipment is likely to endure or be damaged by unusual environmental conditions.

The room is about 16-18 feet X 16-18 feet, square, 3 walls are made of ceramics and the last one is windows. The ceiling is an inverse diamond shape making the middle of the room narrower in height than its corners and sides. The material to be recorded will be solely human vocals (at least 8 different voices) coming from all sides of the room. Plus, the room is insanely damp and hot (if that matters? I assume water is somewhat a sound barrier...)

I'm all ears.

[jórgos]

Well basically there are two types of mics..dynamic and condenser (there are also ribbon mics and piezo mics but lets not talk about that) obviously those two types of microphones sound totally different but no one can say that condenser mics are better that dynamic, although dynamic microphones tend to compress the sound more.
If you want to record a choir (or something similar) you will need three microphones (condenser ones for sure) and you must apply a certain stereo technique which i can mail you in more detail if you are interested. Also you can find one figure of 8 microphone and place 2 people on one side of the mic and the other 3 on the other side, like they used to record musicians in the 60's. But with this technique you have to route the signal in a second channel and reverse the phase.
Don't try to record those voices in different positions in the room because you will get really nasty phase problems especially in a not acoustically treated room.
If you want i can mail you a list of microphones to check out. cheap or expensive..

Do you want to capture the ambience of the room ? Because you will need different mic placement for that one.

I assume water is somewhat a sound barrier

Actually is the other way around.

[Le Berger]

I am interested, stereo technique and all.

It is mostly about capturing the resonance and reverberation of that specific room, its characteristics and get the same feeling as if you were standing around in different spots.

I could go the usual route and record a bunch of impulse responses in the room from different angles and then apply it towards the recorded choirs, less fuss. but at the same time, I really want the people performing to feel the room as they do it...

we'll see