Topic: rain at an outdoor show

[DisturbedPyro]

im stealth taping an outside show today, and ive heard of a chance of thunderstorms. nothing severe, but possibly a lot of rain. im going to have windscreens obviously, but can/will the rain damage my mics? any advice?

[TNJazz]

im stealth taping an outside show today, and ive heard of a chance of thunderstorms. nothing severe, but possibly a lot of rain. im going to have windscreens obviously, but can/will the rain damage my mics? any advice?

can?  yes

will?  not necessarily

As far as advice goes, I'd say you should weigh your investment in your mics against getting a recording of this particular show and decide from there.  I've taped in the rain and I never had any problems (never stealth though).  I've known a few others who had their mics destroyed by taping in the rain though, so you never know.

[DisturbedPyro]

is there anything i can use to cover the mics to protect them without distorting the sound? becasue this is a pretty important show...like, the band that i got into collecting shows for in the first place, and one of the two bands that i decided to get into taping for. so yeah, this is what its all about for me

[MattD]

Use unlubed condoms. If you've got shorter bodies, look for finger cots.

[swillysampson]

At your local dollar store they should probably sell miniature umbrellas (to cover  your head only, or your mics). They are cheap and if it rains no one is going to think its out of place. YMMV.
-Dave.

[DisturbedPyro]

Use unlubed condoms. If you've got shorter bodies, look for finger cots.

i like the finger cot idea...wont it distort the sound though having to go through the latex?

[page]

In some ways, stealth taping in the rain is easier then it is in the open. You just have to be creative with your fashion statement. The biggest factor in deciding your protection method would be whether you could run a small stand at head height and get away, or if you are going to be wearing the mics.

I know for open taping, that I've seen people use garbage bags (white in my case, but black would work)  and have the mics and shockmounts inside the bag. If you get the bag taut enough you don't seem to create extra wind noise from the moving plastic.

[DisturbedPyro]

so if i have the finger cots tight against the mics, it wont distort the sound?

[MattD]

Anything will affect the sound - but having them tight will minimize the effect. I prefer that to umbrellas because if it's raining steadily, you can hear that noise. Just my $0.02.

[DisturbedPyro]

alright, thankfully i had some finger cots here at home so i put them on tight and secured them with a rubber band, then put the screens over the "condomed" mics. obviously i dont know for sure if its going to rain, but id rather have them covered just in case so ill be good to go for whatever happens. thanks for the speedy input guys, ill let you all know how it comes out! 

[DisturbedPyro]

well, it poured hard for a good couple hours, but luckily it let up a lot for the first band i taped, so it was only sprinkling. then it stopped altogether during that same bands set and then the sun came out (there was much rejoicing, even the singer acknowledged it.) then it was clear skies for the rest of the evening/night. so im glad i used the finger cots just in case, as i was in the rain a little bit. couldnt notice anything from the recording so thats good. all-in-all, it went well. thanks for the tips about how to deal with rain at outdoor events. im now prepared for yet another taping hazard

[T.J.]

for next time:

[baustin]

chocolate rain?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA

[DisturbedPyro]

for next time:

lmao!

[gmm6797]

FWIW, used the condoms mid way thru a set on Sunday, and the sound quality went down hill, and you can hear it ratehr significantly change, as they were added during a song when the rain started