Topic: Homemade mic windscreen questions

[bigu2fan]

Folks:

I am trying to make a windscreen for my croakies mounted sp cmc 2 mics. How thick should I go with the windscreen material over the mics to reduce slight to moderate wind without sacrificing recording clarity? Also, should the windscreen material actually be touching the mics or should there be some dead space between the mics and windscreen? I can rig up something to fit over the mics and allow the glasses frames to pass through (they would fit kind of like one of those old pencil erasers that fit on wooden pencils).

I should add that the croakies mounted mics already are completely encapsulated in the croakies fabric. Still, I have gotten some bad wind noise at an oudoor show I recorded recently. I have another outdoor show this month and want to get rid of the wind noise. Any ideas?

[guysonic]

Wearing a thick wig (real hair is best) fully covering the mics.   

More useful tips and info at: www.sonicstudios.com/tips.htm

[bigu2fan]

Wearing a big wig is not an really an option. I will check out the link you supplied. Any thoughts, however, on a standard foam type windscreen over my croakies mounted mics?

[stevetoney]

First off, homemade screens do work.  Second, if you haven't thought about it yet, use an electric knife to 'carve' your screens.  It works great.  Finally, err on the side of thick rather than thin.  Thinner screens might still let the wind through and well, in my opinion, any wind noise is a ruined recording so it's almost the same as having nothing at all.  Finally, since they're homemade you can do some testing.  Make a small one and try it out by hitting 'record' and then holding a room fan set on high up to the screens.  If all you hear is the fan motor, you're golden!  If you hear the dreaded gusty wind noise, then make another one a little bit bigger.  Once you get one to the right size, make a second one the same size!

Hint, you need at least 1/2 inch of foam as your starting point and I'd bet you'll end up with probably an inch or more.  These tiny screens that fit over mics are pretty useless in the wind. 

Regarding your question about leaving an air space around the mic...yeah, I guess the best designed pro quality screens do that, but for something homemade, I wouldn't worry about it.

[John Willett]

Regarding your question about leaving an air space around the mic...yeah, I guess the best designed pro quality screens do that, but for something homemade, I wouldn't worry about it.

Er - it's the airspace that is doing the wind protection.

The whole concept of wind protection is to trap a volume of still air around the microphone - it's what a basket windshield does, it's what a foam windshield does, it's what a popperstopper does.

The hairy covers used are there to help take some of the energy out of the wind before it gets to the windshield itself.

[stevetoney]

Regarding your question about leaving an air space around the mic...yeah, I guess the best designed pro quality screens do that, but for something homemade, I wouldn't worry about it.

Er - it's the airspace that is doing the wind protection.

The whole concept of wind protection is to trap a volume of still air around the microphone - it's what a basket windshield does, it's what a foam windshield does, it's what a popperstopper does.

The hairy covers used are there to help take some of the energy out of the wind before it gets to the windshield itself.

Your point is well taken, but I'd counter that foam dampens wind movement on the inside of a screen too, just as the air gap does. 

A homemade screen probably won't have the luxury of being designed with structural support on the inside (for an internal basket that grips the mic body and is also unintrusive to the sound) to keep a screen from flopping around in the breeze as the wind kicks up. 

Finally, getting really nit-picky...there's still an airgap on the inside of a mic capsule.

[bigu2fan]

First off, homemade screens do work.  Second, if you haven't thought about it yet, use an electric knife to 'carve' your screens.  It works great.  Finally, err on the side of thick rather than thin.  Thinner screens might still let the wind through and well, in my opinion, any wind noise is a ruined recording so it's almost the same as having nothing at all.  Finally, since they're homemade you can do some testing.  Make a small one and try it out by hitting 'record' and then holding a room fan set on high up to the screens.  If all you hear is the fan motor, you're golden!  If you hear the dreaded gusty wind noise, then make another one a little bit bigger.  Once you get one to the right size, make a second one the same size!

Hint, you need at least 1/2 inch of foam as your starting point and I'd bet you'll end up with probably an inch or more.  These tiny screens that fit over mics are pretty useless in the wind. 

Regarding your question about leaving an air space around the mic...yeah, I guess the best designed pro quality screens do that, but for something homemade, I wouldn't worry about it.

Thank you very much for the advice!! I will try your suggestions and see what happens. Again, I very much appreciate the advice.