I'm supposed to run sound for about 50-60 high school students putting on a dress rehearsal performance of their drama skits, solos, duets, quartets, and choir pieces before they go off to compete at the regional competition.
This goes on all day and well into the evening before they all get done.
It's also the last real chance to catch and correct any mistakes before they go to competition.
Most of the skits, solos, duets and quartets take place on the stage, and I'm probably just going to do a recording off the sound board. With all the coming and going all day in this space, I'm limited where I can put mic stands and cables and not trip someone.
One problem I could use some help with. The choir director puts all the students in a single line that stretches from the floor on one side, up on the stage, and then down back on the floor on the other side. Space is tight. They will be in the walkways for this part of the performance. A mic stand in the middle may not capture the ends of the choir very well. There's isn't room for mic stands on either side on the floor without going into the seats, and I'd rather not block the views with mic stands.
What kind of results do you suppose I could get clamping some mics onto the seats on either side and maybe a set in the middle of the choir? Or do you think I should just put a set of cardoids with omni flankers in the middle on a stand and just record what I get? My concern with clamping mics to seats is the inevitable noise of audience bumps and knocks, plus having mic cables someone might trip over. If I just record from the center, I think I'll get less crowd induced noise.