Field recordings, the problem with the wind

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I want to record some nice high fidelity field recordings but the wind always interfere with my recording sessions. Is there any tricks to at least attenuate the noise it ad to my recordings? Otherwise I'll have to check the meteo everymorning just to be sure my recordings will be clean!

thanks! :D

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blimp+fur > blimp > fur > foam > nothing
my other modular synth is a bugbrand

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whyterabbyt wrote:blimp+fur > blimp > fur > foam > nothing
Amen to that, Rabbyt!

On my R09 I have an oversized foam windscreen and on top of that, a Rycote fur.

The only drawback is that kids tend to come up, wanting to cuddle the pet… ;-)

/Joachim
If it were easy, anybody could do it!

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Unless it's important, maybe recording with low-cut on would help?

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GeckoYamori wrote:Unless it's important, maybe recording with low-cut on would help?
well you can easily low cut later, but the higher pitched noise still stays

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I see, but does it really works? Even if I have a blimp or a windscreen I guess there must be a limit to what it can do... In any case, I'll check for the prices and if it's not too expensive then I'll try it.

thanks! :)

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SampleScience wrote:I see, but does it really works? Even if I have a blimp or a windscreen I guess there must be a limit to what it can do...
Indeed there is, but it'll be a blimp and dead-(mouse/rat/kitten/cat/wombat/walrus) type combo on stuff wildlife recorders use in the artic circle etc...

(cue pics of Chris Watson... :hail: :hail: )


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my other modular synth is a bugbrand

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I'll see if I can convert an old winter hat... I'm on a budget! :lol:

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Note that there are MASSIVE differences in the various blimps. Some are pretty good, many are almost useless. We ended up building our own (big enough to support a surround decca tree kind of thing.. or dual shotguns.. heck, even an ORTF + M/S. :D

Don't be discouraged by the high frequency loss of massive damping. I've found that you can EQ back most of it but if you end up with wind noise, it's much harder to fix.

Cheers!
bManic
"Wisdom is wisdom, regardless of the idiot who said it." -an idiot

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Thanks! I have a couple of very high quality field recordings that are messed with wind noise, I'll try to fix them but for me a good recording is a matter of good recording technique on the spot than after editing/tweakin which often sounds not as good as I wanted it to be!

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Just wondering about recordings where the damage is allready done: can something like Meldaproductions MFreeformEqualizer be of any use here? Perhaps especially if there's some passage where there's mainly the unwanted wind disruptions, I was thinking you could have a look at them in the built in analyzer and perhaps practically draw away those bothersome frequencies with a little effort? It goes down to minus 64 db.. Though possibly not ideal it might be as good of a solution as you're likely to find to try and salvage such recordings...

There's also a supposedly more analog version, but this ones cheaper - and I don't see the need for a more analog sounding solution here.. With 40 % off these days and all it sets you back 18 Euro or 23 USD, well worth it if you can salvage invaluable recordings I'd say :wink:

Or would other solutions be better for this, dynamic equalizing or one of those noise reduction systems in various audioeditors perhaps?

Halfway thinking out loud here, but hopefully this can give you some ideas that may be of use - can't hurt to download a demo and try stuff out, right..? :-)

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Indeed! :) It's just that I plan to sell those recording to professional sound editors for TV, films, etc. It really have to be perfect. I guess that at some point I'll have to tweak things a bit anyway, but I'm very cautious for my pristine "hifi" recordings. :wink:

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SampleScience wrote:Indeed! :) It's just that I plan to sell those recording to professional sound editors for TV, films, etc. It really have to be perfect. I guess that at some point I'll have to tweak things a bit anyway, but I'm very cautious for my pristine "hifi" recordings. :wink:
Professional type wind gear (even if homemade) is the only way to go, then.

I've worked, mostly as a cameraman and director of photography, on countless TV documentary and drama productions and later also as a sound recordist. There is no satisfactory way to 'fix up' recordings disturbed by wind to yield the pristine results you're looking for.

Blimp and fur is the way to go - the blimp to create space between the screen and the mic and the fur screen to break up the air stream.

Good luck!

/Joachim
If it were easy, anybody could do it!

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Spitfire31 wrote:
SampleScience wrote:Indeed! :) It's just that I plan to sell those recording to professional sound editors for TV, films, etc. It really have to be perfect. I guess that at some point I'll have to tweak things a bit anyway, but I'm very cautious for my pristine "hifi" recordings. :wink:
Professional type wind gear (even if homemade) is the only way to go, then.

I've worked, mostly as a cameraman and director of photography, on countless TV documentary and drama productions and later also as a sound recordist. There is no satisfactory way to 'fix up' recordings disturbed by wind to yield the pristine results you're looking for.

Blimp and fur is the way to go - the blimp to create space between the screen and the mic and the fur screen to break up the air stream.

Good luck!

/Joachim
This is what I thought. I'll try to build one as I don't think I have enough money to buy one soon.

One thing I'm wondering is if I record a river for instance, how long should my recording be to make it usable to professional sound editors? Does it have to be more than 2-3 min?

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