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dewdrop_world

Joined: Aug 28, 2006 Posts: 858 Location: Guangzhou, China
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:36 am Post subject:
I fear wind noise (moderately urgent question) Subject description: Outdoor performance with mic |
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I was just fiddling around with my mic (Shure SM57, I'm a cheap bastard) and discovered that its windscreen does a good job of blocking an airstream directed at the tip... ok. But wind coming in at the sides goes right through. That's going to pollute the audio stream pretty badly when I play outside (on Saturday - yikes!).
There must be a way to get somewhat better audio insulation. If I cup my hands around the sides of the windscreen, noise drops dramatically. So would it work, perhaps, to jerry-rig a cylinder out of some soft paper, like toilet paper maybe, and tape it around the outside? Damn ugly but it's the sound that matters.
Or is there something better I could get from guitar center?
Thanks. _________________ ddw online: http://www.dewdrop-world.net
sc3 online: http://supercollider.sourceforge.net |
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mosc
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Joined: Jan 31, 2003 Posts: 18138 Location: Durham, NC
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:52 am Post subject:
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The SM57 is a great mic. You can run over it with a car and it'll still work.
Most guys that are really into field recording end up making their own wind baffles. I think you can come up with something by experimentation. _________________ --Howard
my music and other stuff |
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Blue Hell
Site Admin

Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 24005 Location: The Netherlands, Enschede
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:00 am Post subject:
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I did have some reasonable results once with loosely packed cotton wool held together with galvanized wire, but it's a bit of an art I guess to get it right.
edit: hiding a mic in some vegetation helps as well, like long grass or dense bushes. _________________ Jan
also .. could someone please turn down the thermostat a bit.
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dewdrop_world

Joined: Aug 28, 2006 Posts: 858 Location: Guangzhou, China
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Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 11:26 am Post subject:
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mosc wrote: | The SM57 is a great mic. You can run over it with a car and it'll still work. |
I don't think I'll try that one today or tomorrow.
When I went to the first SC symposium in Birmingham, they didn't have a mic-stand clip that fits the SM57. So the organizer said, "How would you like to use a £500 condenser mic?" "Well, if I must..."
mosc wrote: | Most guys that are really into field recording end up making their own wind baffles. I think you can come up with something by experimentation. |
Well, not much time to experiment at the moment, but I'll keep it mind for the future.
Thanks!
James _________________ ddw online: http://www.dewdrop-world.net
sc3 online: http://supercollider.sourceforge.net |
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Mohoyoho

Joined: Dec 03, 2003 Posts: 1633 Location: Tennessee
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EdisonRex
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Joined: Mar 07, 2007 Posts: 4579 Location: London, UK
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Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 4:16 pm Post subject:
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Cheap wind screens:
Get a needlepoint hoop. You can get them at sewing stores. They're like these big double wicker hoop things. Get something about 8" max.
Then go get some ladies nylons. I think drugstores sell them but I always had my wife buy them...
You cut a nice double thick row and suspend them in the hoop(s). put the hoop in the direction of the wind (this also makes a dandy cheap pop filter for close miking).
I know a lot of folks who swear by cotton stuffed in a nylon (again, women's undergarments) stocking and shoved around your mic's head.
Not pretty, but effective. _________________ Garret: It's so retro.
EGM: What does retro mean to you?
Parker: Like, old and outdated.
Home,My Studio,and another view |
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Uncle Krunkus
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Joined: Jul 11, 2005 Posts: 4761 Location: Sydney, Australia
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 5:53 am Post subject:
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I've always had a problem with trying to mask wind noise.
In the end I decided to just blame it on the dog.  _________________ What makes a space ours, is what we put there, and what we do there. |
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jksuperstar

Joined: Aug 20, 2004 Posts: 2503 Location: Denver
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 8:43 am Post subject:
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Some of my mics came with the standard sponge wind noise block. Works fine for low-velocity wind. Your SM57 has a sponge in the front of it to prevent wind puffs such as from a human, or drum head, or horn. The external ones just slip onto the mic, and it's what you typically see on reporters' mics whenever they are outside interviewing someone (sometimes big & orange, or black). |
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mosc
Site Admin

Joined: Jan 31, 2003 Posts: 18138 Location: Durham, NC
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 8:54 am Post subject:
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Too late for James, he's probably at his gig right now. I suppose he'll fill us in on what he finally came up with. _________________ --Howard
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seraph
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Joined: Jun 21, 2003 Posts: 12381 Location: Firenze, Italy
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:28 pm Post subject:
Re: I fear wind noise (moderately urgent question) Subject description: Outdoor performance with mic |
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dewdrop_world wrote: |
There must be a way to get somewhat better audio insulation. |
not if you play in front of the White House where black helicopters fly all around you  _________________ homepage - blog - forum - youtube
Quote: | Don't die with your music still in you - Wayne Dyer |
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dewdrop_world

Joined: Aug 28, 2006 Posts: 858 Location: Guangzhou, China
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Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:51 pm Post subject:
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OK, correction, it's not right in front of the White House. Jackbooted-thug fantasies are not quite warranted.
Nice thought on the big fuzzy windscreen - for the moment, my main concern was that the SM57's smaller windscreen isn't airtight at the back, where it connects to the mic body. In some pre-show testing I got really nasty wind noise through that. So I rubber-banded some TP around that area and the sides of the foam (leaving the front open for my signal). It worked well enough in that setting - in the recording I don't detect the noise floor jump to a ruinous level when the mic input gets routed to the main outs.
Thanks for the suggestions - learning all the time!
James
PS The gig went pretty well. Haven't posted any clips yet. _________________ ddw online: http://www.dewdrop-world.net
sc3 online: http://supercollider.sourceforge.net |
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