Microphones for field recordings

elektro80 · Posted: Mon May 24, 2004 5:10 pm Post subject: Microphones for field recordings

I am trying to find some decent and hopefully inexpensive microphones for field recordings.

I am mainly looking for microhines for recording outdoor ambiences.. and machine noises and such from a distance. I am also looking for some contact microphones or whatever which I can use for recoding structural noises in bridges and buildings etc.

aquanaut · Posted: Mon May 24, 2004 10:27 pm Post subject:

a few month ago i was thinking about buying an MD for the same purpose. the mic i would have bought was a stereo "in ear binaural microphone" by soundprofessionals.com. i've never heard how the mic sound thought

jkn · Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA

Check out the phonography.org site - there's a gear page with recommendations for beginning .

http://www.phonography.org/gear.htm

I have a pair of binaurals from soundprofessionals.com. They work good for my needs. I usually attach them to a ruler so I can move them around and get closer to certain sounds. I have some amazing recordings of the factory I work at which I'll get around to doing something with someday!

The main thing I'm lacking is I still haven't gotten around to buying a battery preamp for it - this would give me a bit more headroom on the recordings and allow me to bypass my sony minidiscs amazingly annoying auto level adjustments...

John

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 5:26 am Post subject:

Phonography.org is great! THX for the link.

BTW: Any of you guys been testing out those Marantz and Fostex solidstate recorders?

jkn · Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA

If you haven't seen them yet - Sony's new minidisc recorders record to 1 gb discs and can record about 90 minutes in an uncompressed PCM format or 8 hours in 256kbps compressed - and backward compatible with the older media. Looks nifty.

http://www.sony.net/Products/Hi-MD/

- I haven't tested the new Fostex/Marantz recorders - heck I rarely test out any new gear... Wink

mosc · Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 7:22 am Post subject:

mosc · Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 7:34 am Post subject:

I believe, David, AKA A100User, has these: http://www.soundman.de/

I'm not sure though.

a100user · Joined: Oct 28, 2003 Posts: 158 Location: UK

Howard dropped me a little note re: this question.

For field recording I use a nice, inexpensive mic pair with by mini disk recorder.

Although designed as in-ear binaural mics, they are equally as good taped to a an old wire coat hanger (the type dry cleaners use) that's been cut in the middle of the lower section, then each half straighted and the hook straightened out and taped up with gaffa tape as a handle. You should end up with a V shape.

The mics are from a company called Soundman, OKM mics.

http://www.soundman.de/

If you use them as in-ear mics you get a nice binaural effect when listened back via headphones, can be a little creepy which is not a bad thing (especially if you drop it into a normal piece of music, it can be a little unsettling).

Hope that helps

david

jkn · Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA

Cool - thanks for the link.

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 8:32 am Post subject:

Interesting! I have only used some early models MD recorders and I was not that impressed even though the actual sound quality of the MD recorder was not that bad. But those micophone inputs weren´t that good. Line input worked OK though.

I was just looking at the Fostex FR 2 : http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/fr2.shtml

I have reprocessed some old hydrophone recordings I did on the Uher like 17 years ago. I will post another version of a piece where these recordings stand more out in the mix. Hmm.. I borrowed a hydrophone back then.. I think I had been built from a kit. Hmm.. I will google hydrophones.. I love those underwater sounds.

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 8:35 am Post subject:

http://www.telinga.com/

Parabolic microphones.. and even a stereo setup... hmm..

astroid power-up! · Joined: Mar 23, 2004 Posts: 334 G2 patch files: 15

i did some field recordings once with a minidisc and an AKG c1000s (about $200). and i was never happier. I didn't know shit about recording then, though.

i got a bee once, by dangling the mic over it's furry little head.

ooh, structural noises. that's another great idea.