Right mic to use?

I know this isn't specifically an FCP question, but I also know there's more expertise here than just about anywhere, so here goes. Last night I recorded a barbershop chorus in a room with a lot of hard surfaces. I used an Audio-technica AT4073a shotgun mic aimed at the center of the chorus from about 15 feet away. I recorded through a mix-pre (my field pre-amp) to tone down the volume, but the results were poor. The center of the chorus, where the lead singers stand, was too dominant.

I have my trusty old Shure SM58 and an wondering if that will give me a better response and more balanced sound.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Where possible, in situations like these I would have wanted to record with a secondary mike, an ambient mike that you can mix in. Were you using a camera, or just an audio recorder? Obviously the more sources you had the better, and recording to separate channels for maximum mixing versatility. I really think that microphone choice is less relevant here than positioning; the closer singers will still dominate unless you have recording positions that aren't so much closer to them. For example, it's not like a Shure SM58 would be able to pick up a singing bass player on a stage as much as the lead singer who's in front of it.


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