> The on-board mics pick up too much ambient noise to give me the
> "specific rustle" of wind noise in the leaves at ground level,
> without the "general roar" of wind coming from everywhere around me.
I've been recording gusting wind recently and from the tops of the
trees it sounds like hiss of varying types at that distance, not
rustle. If you want more of the sound of leaves flapping about, go for
shrubbery nearer the ground.
You need to distinguish wind roar on the mic itself from the sound of
the wind in branches, and whatever mic you use, you will need a good
blimp of some sort. Experiment with making an ad-hoc windshield - what
you need is a thin cloth that sound passes through like muslin or fine
open weave nylon or go for fake fur like the Rycote windjammers. Test
types of cloth by putting them over your head. The trick is to have no
sharp edges to cause wind turbulence and roar and I am trying out
hemispherical wire type hanging baskets with various materials wrapped
around them. Hugh Pyle recently mentioned using an Ikea folding
laundry basket.
Built-in mics are particularly prone to wind noise because they are
small and attached to irregular surfaces. Before you fork our zeroes
for a mic, try shielding the mics you have.
To answer your question parabola or gun, what else are you going to
use the mic for? The parabola has better "fetch" for birdsong but has
to be accurately aimed while a gun mic has more tolerance but less
fetch. And check out the price of a good blimp for the gunmic which
you will need in wind. Any directional mic is very prone to wind
noise. On the other hand using a parabola with an omni, you can often
get away with a simple wrap over the front.
Finally with wind noise, use the maximum bass cut you have to minimise
bass overload which is ruinous. With digital recording, you can
equalise the bass back in again with no audible loss. I use Audacity
for this sort of editing.
David
David Brinicombe
North Devon, UK
Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum - Ambrose Bierce
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