Microphone technique
How to Mic a Choir
Quick answer
A choir needs one hanging cardioid microphone per 15 to 20 singers, hung about 3 feet in front of the front row and 2 to 3 feet above the back row heads. Twenty voices make 80 to 90 dBA at 3 feet, so choir channels run the highest gain in the building and ring first.
Choir microphones are the highest gain channels in a church and therefore the first thing that rings, the first thing that picks up the band, and the first thing a frustrated volunteer mutes. The fix is geometry, not gear. Three numbers decide whether a choir sounds like a choir: how many microphones, how far in front of the first row they hang, and how far above the back row heads.
The answers are one microphone per 15 to 20 singers, about 3 feet in front, and 2 to 3 feet above the back row head height. A 24 voice choir in three rows therefore needs two microphones, not four and not one. Before you buy, be honest about whether the choir needs reinforcement at all: twenty voices produce 80 to 90 dBA at 3 feet according to the source level table, and in a traditional room running at 78 to 85 dBA the choir may already be louder than the system. The SPL by instrument chart has the full list and the service level targets have what the room should actually run at.
On this page
How many microphones for how many singers
The count comes from coverage, not from voice count directly, but voice count is a reliable proxy because choirs stand at a predictable density of roughly one singer per 2 feet of riser width.
One hanging cardioid covers 15 to 20 singers across about 12 feet of riser width, so a 40 voice choir in three rows needs three microphones spaced roughly 8 to 10 feet apart.
| Choir size | Rows | Microphones | Spacing between mics | Height above back row heads |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 to 15 voices | 1 to 2 | 1 | Centred | 2 feet |
| 16 to 24 voices | 2 | 2 | About 8 feet | 2 to 2.5 feet |
| 25 to 40 voices | 2 to 3 | 3 | About 8 to 10 feet | 2.5 to 3 feet |
| 41 to 60 voices | 3 | 4 | About 10 feet | 3 feet |
| 61 to 90 voices | 3 to 4 | 5 to 6 | About 10 to 12 feet | 3 to 3.5 feet |
| Over 90 voices | 4 plus | 6 plus, consider a second row of microphones | About 12 feet | 3.5 feet |
Spacing assumes hanging cardioid condensers with a nominal 130 degree usable pickup angle at 2 kHz. Wider pattern microphones can be spaced further apart but pick up more of the band behind the choir, which is almost always the wrong trade in a church.
The 3 to 1 rule and why comb filtering ruins choirs
Whenever two microphones pick up the same source, their outputs arrive at slightly different times and the sum has peaks and notches spaced across the frequency range. This is comb filtering, and on a choir it makes the sound hollow and phasey and unfixable at the console. The defence is the 3 to 1 rule: the distance between any two microphones should be at least three times the distance from each microphone to the source it is covering.
Work it through. If a hanging microphone is 4 feet from the nearest singers, then the next microphone must be at least 12 feet away. That is the arithmetic behind the spacing column in the table, and it is why a church that hangs six microphones over a 24 voice choir in the hope of better coverage gets a worse result than the church that hangs two. Three times the distance means the second microphone picks up any given singer at least 9.5 dB quieter than the first, which is enough that the comb filtering is inaudible.
The rule also explains why choir microphones and the worship band cannot be treated separately. A drum kit 15 feet behind a choir microphone hung 4 feet from the singers violates nothing, but the kit at 105 to 120 dBA at 3 feet is still arriving at that capsule at a level comparable with the choir, because the choir at 80 to 90 dBA has already given away most of its advantage. That is the real reason choir microphones sound like drum microphones on a contemporary Sunday, and the answer is reducing stage volume rather than more equalisation.
How to hang and set up choir microphones
- Count the singers and the riser width. Divide the number of singers by about 16 and round up, then check the answer against riser width at one microphone per 10 to 12 feet. If the two numbers disagree, take the larger. A 30 voice choir standing in a wide shallow arc needs three microphones even though the voice count suggests two.
- Set the height from the back row, not the ceiling. The capsule wants to be 2 to 3 feet above the heads of the back row, which in a tiered riser arrangement means measuring from the top riser. Hanging from a fixed ceiling height without checking this is how churches end up with microphones 9 feet above a choir and 20 dB of unusable gain.
- Position 2 to 3 feet in front of the front row. In front, not overhead. A microphone directly above the front row favours those singers by 6 dB or more and loses the back row entirely. Two to three feet forward of the first row puts the front and back rows at a more even distance, which is the whole reason for hanging rather than standing microphones.
- Aim down the middle of the choir depth. Angle the capsule down at about 30 to 45 degrees so the on axis response points at the middle row rather than at the feet of the front row. On an adjustable hanger this is a five second adjustment that is worth 3 to 4 dB of even coverage.
- Dress the cable so it cannot swing or hum. Hanging microphones on a long unsupported cable swing in an HVAC draught and produce handling noise. Use the supplied hanger, secure the cable to a rigid point within a foot of the capsule, and keep the run at least a foot away from any lighting circuit or dimmer feed. Braided cable near a dimmer pack is the classic source of choir channel buzz.
- Set the preamp at 50 to 60 dB and expect it to be the highest in the room. A hanging condenser 4 feet from the singers needs more gain than anything else on the console. Set it so the choir averages -18 dBFS during a full verse, not during a warm up, and accept that this is the channel that will find every fault in your feedback margin.
- High pass at 100 to 120 Hz and gate the channel. A choir has almost nothing useful below 120 Hz and a hanging microphone catches every footfall on a wooden riser and every HVAC rumble. High pass firmly. Then gate the channels so they are only open when the choir sings, because two open choir microphones during a sermon cost about 3 dB of system gain for no benefit at all.
- Ring out the choir channels separately and last. Open the choir channels alone, raise the master until they ring, place up to four narrow cuts, and back off 6 dB. Expect the first ring around 6.3 kHz where the loudspeaker horn output reaches the hanging capsules. These channels set the ceiling for the whole system, so tune them with the same care as the pulpit.
Which microphones actually work
A hanging choir microphone is a small cardioid condenser on a purpose built hanger with a long attached cable. The Audio-Technica U853R Cardioid Condenser Hanging Microphone 250 Ohms, Low Profile Design at $229.00 is the common church answer and is available in cardioid and hypercardioid versions, the hypercardioid being the right pick when the band is close behind. The Audio-Technica PRO 45W ProPoint Cardioid Condenser Hanging Microphone at $109.00 is the budget version and is genuinely adequate for a small choir in a quiet traditional service. The Shure MX202 Overhead Microphone - Black, Cardioid Condenser Mic with 3 Pin XLR Connector, Preamp Included (MX202B/C) is the step up, with interchangeable cartridges so a single installation can be re-aimed for a different pattern later.
What does not work is a row of handheld dynamics on tall stands in front of the choir. A Shure SM58 Pro XLR Dynamic Vocal Microphone is a fine microphone that happens to be entirely wrong here: it needs a source within a few inches, it is aimed at the front row only, and it gives you a forest of stands in the sight line of the congregation and the camera. The full comparison is in hanging choir microphones versus handheld, and the shopping list is in best choir microphones.
Phantom power matters here. Every hanging condenser in this category needs 48 volts, so if the choir runs into an old analogue desk with phantom on a global switch, check that nothing else on that desk objects. The phantom power chart covers which sources are damaged by it and which simply ignore it.
When not to mic the choir at all
Say the useful thing: in a traditional sanctuary with a reverberation time of 1.6 to 2.4 seconds, a 40 voice choir producing 80 to 90 dBA at 3 feet does not need reinforcement to be heard in the back row, and adding it usually makes the result worse rather than better. What the congregation gains is a slightly clearer diction and what it loses is the natural blend the room was built to produce.
The honest test is simple. Stand in the back row during a rehearsal with the choir microphones muted. If you can hear the words, the choir does not need the system, and you should be spending that money and that console channel somewhere it matters. If you cannot, find out whether the problem is the choir level or the room, because a room with too much absorption in the wrong place is a different fix entirely, covered in acoustic treatment for a sanctuary and sized by the acoustic treatment calculator.
Where choir reinforcement always earns its place is the recording and the stream, where there is no room to help and the microphones are the only path. Many churches settle on choir channels muted in the house and open in the broadcast bus, which is a perfectly respectable answer and costs nothing but a matrix send.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
How many microphones does a 30 voice choir need?
Three hanging cardioid condensers, spaced about 8 to 10 feet apart, hung roughly 3 feet in front of the front row and 2.5 to 3 feet above the back row heads. That is one microphone per 15 to 20 singers, and it also satisfies the 3 to 1 rule against comb filtering given a typical 4 foot distance from capsule to nearest singer.
How high should choir microphones hang?
Two to three feet above the heads of the back row, measured from the top riser rather than from the floor or the ceiling. Higher than that and the gain required rises quickly, because the inverse square law costs 6 dB for every doubling of distance, and the extra gain is spent picking up the band and the room rather than the choir.
What is the 3 to 1 rule for choir microphones?
Any two microphones should be at least three times as far from each other as each is from the source it covers. With capsules 4 feet from the nearest singers, the microphones must be at least 12 feet apart. Three times the distance means a given singer arrives at the second microphone about 9.5 dB quieter, which keeps comb filtering inaudible.
Why do my choir microphones pick up the drums?
Because a drum kit produces 105 to 120 dBA at 3 feet while a choir produces 80 to 90 dBA, so the kit starts with a 25 dB advantage that distance alone rarely erases. Hypercardioid hanging microphones and a physical barrier help a little. The real answer is lowering stage volume, or shielding the kit, or accepting that choir and full band do not share a platform comfortably.
Can I use handheld microphones on stands for a choir?
Not successfully. A handheld dynamic is designed for a source within a few inches and drops 6 dB for every doubling of distance beyond that, so on a stand 3 feet from the front row it covers the front row only and needs so much gain that it rings. It also puts a row of stands between the choir and both the congregation and the camera.
Do choir microphones need phantom power?
Yes. Every hanging choir microphone in common church use is a condenser and requires 48 volt phantom power from the console or from an inline supply. Dynamic microphones do not need it and are not damaged by it, but ribbon microphones can be, so check what else is on a shared phantom bus before switching it on across an older analogue desk.
Researched, not professional advice. This page is compiled from published manufacturer specifications, operator manuals, FCC rules, published standards and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Sound system design, rigging loudspeakers overhead, and any electrical work are jobs for a qualified professional: have flown loudspeakers and their attachment points signed off by a structural engineer or a certified rigger, and have all wiring done by a licensed electrician to your local code. Wireless microphone rules change, so confirm the current FCC position before buying. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.