This works for choir recording too. I did a similar technique a few months ago to create a bigger choir.
Tom: Sure….this works for just about any section you intend to overdub for doubling (or more) up. How did it work out for you?
Interesting. I wonder what happen if (practical difficulties aside hehe!) you do the three takes in three different days? Or morning, noon, night? Or day one morning,day 2 noon, day 3 night?
Kidding aside, Ulf, I guess I should have elaborated on the lack of “sameness” comment a bit. Besides the subtle differences that will arise from each take, there are the differences in each recording’s time alignment to consider. It becomes more obvious as you stack the takes.
If you were to set up for 8 players and simply OD them without moving the players or mics, stacking the recordings almost always results in a “phase-y” quality. Panning the takes (which can be done in a myriad of configurations) still presents this quality somewhat and will become more pronounced the minute you hit the mono button.
Moving the players reduces the “phase-y-ness” quite a bit.
If you have the studio space, mics, music stands (they do make a sonic contribution) and the board inputs to handle it, I’d suggest trying this out. I think you’ll be surprised with the results after you drop one take over the other without shifting the panning.