Hello Curt,
Ive found that very close produces a tonal change to the noise which=
sounds like a swooshing as the wave approaches. I have over 2 hours of mat=
erial, some of it is a walk towards the shore and away. Plus close and *rea=
lly* close as the head fell in the sea - which only lasts for 10 seconds un=
til I realized and quickly picked it up, good job the capsules were water r=
esistant. Gave a whole new meaning to close micing. I actually liked the so=
und when the head was perhaps 1 ft above the waves, walking the shoreline a=
nd altering its position from close to around 6ft above the waves gave a ni=
ce effect. Also turning it as the wave passes by / tracking the wave - a we=
t feet affair but well worth it. From around 50 ft the sound is wider with =
less sploshing bass from the waves, the capsules Im using do not seem to p=
ickup the roar associated with some recordings ive heard, but this is most =
likely related to different environments. I also used a prototype hydrophon=
e to capture the same waves (at different times) for the "under" part of my=
project (Algarve under and above)
I suspect one issue causing the hollow sound is due to my diy wind protecto=
rs, those tend to cause a peak around 6khz since they act like leaky Helmho=
ltz resonators. When Im back home I'll EQ the recordings. I have some mater=
ial without the ear muffs in place but sadly not very much due to the windy=
conditions. After a week on the beach the cycle seems to go from inland wi=
nd to wind from the land back to the sea, theres perhaps half an hour betwe=
en the change over or temperature inversion thats going on (=3Dstill air) b=
efore the city heat heads out to sea or perhaps its the wind simply changin=
g direction - in either case that window is easy to miss, but good to look =
out for if faced with similar conditions.
Its my last day here, I'd be very interested if you find out what is the ma=
in cause of the hollow or noise tonality change. For the linked recording I=
actually changed from over the ear to in-ear headphones trying to judge th=
e correct head position but after some time it seems my ears became accusto=
med to the sound.
The recording wasnt actually EQ'ed the pinna response may also be one reaso=
n for the sound?
I still suspect something based on Rob's sphere rigs(TM) would of done a fa=
r better job, if you have something similar or can borrow a bowling ball co=
mplete with a mic thread ready to mount on a tripod :) it would be nice to =
hear the lake recorded with a sphere setup.
A curved perspex head shape with a large acoustic foam baffle behind will b=
e my next rig in the array a day department.
Kind Regards,
Mike.
--- In Curt Olson <> wrote:
>
> Thanks for posting this, Mike.
>
> Very nice tonal balance. Sweet in many ways, but... I hear a certain
> "hollow" quality to it that's almost identical to my own recent
> recordings on Lake Superior. I can't put my finger on exactly what's
> going on. It might be as simple as being to close to the waves, but I =
> don't know for sure. I'm going back up to Lake Superior tomorrow with =
> several different mic rigs to see if I can get an insight into the
> problem.
>
> Curt Olson
>
> Mike wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> > Heres a sample recorded with a dummy head placed close to the waves.
> > Recorded on Monte Gordo Beach Portugal / Algarve at 10 PM.
> > This is cropped from a longer recording and has not been equalized
> > or post processed besides the compression.
> >
> > http://urlme.net/audio/twominutesinthealgarve.ogg
> >
> > Apologies for the ogg format, no mp3 encoder here.
> > Audacity or vlc (videolan.org) should be capable of playing the clip.
> >
> > BR,
> > Mike.
>
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