Topic: Baffled by wind... should I duplicate channels before sharing?

[adrianf74]

So I'm a little baffled (pun intended) as to what I should do with a recording I just made in an open field.  I only had my CAFS omni mics available and no windscreens for these (my CA-14's are still on order and I already have the dead rats for "future use" in these situations).  Knowing that it could've been windy with no structures to block wind, I would have used the OMNI over the CARD (even with the dead rats) because the winds were around 25-35 km/h.

The recording turned out great except that this recording was done at a free concert near the lake and suffers some nasty cross-wind noise (sometimes lasting as long as 15 seconds for one shot).  Luckily, my head was acting as a baffle for the recording so the LEFT channel is "safe" - well, there is some very light "rustling" which can be heard here and there when it got really bad on the RIGHT channel.

So far, I've listened to 60 of 70 minutes of the show and there are over 50 hits so far - and I know the last song was SEVERELY affected and made a note in my BlackBerry to this affect (some as short as 2 or 3 "hits" during a song, others as long as two or three songs long - i.e., 10-12 hits of varying duration).  If there had been about 20-30 points, I would've just duplicated the LEFT channel to the RIGHT channel for the affected points.  However, with the number of hits that took place, and this is my question, would I be better off duplicating the lesser affected channel (the LEFT) for the ENTIRE show at this point?  Then, is there anything I can do in Audition to "open up"/"fake stereo" just to get away from straight mono or should I just leave it as is?

Thanks!

[jibooer]

that would work and would be easier...you can try a HPF or compression on the low frequencies as well...do a search for more specifics as there are plenty of posts here

[rhinowing]

you can always just make two edits of the recording, one with just the left channel and the other with some HPF or whatever applied

[adrianf74]

Thanks jibooer and rhinowing.

I ended up doing the "quick and dirty" method of copying the LEFT channel to the RIGHT.  I didn't want to, however, it made for a "better" sounding recording (IMHO) without all the wind noise.   As mentioned, in a perfect world, I would've had my CA-14's and would've thrown on the DEAD RATS, however, the CA-14's are still on order (should see them in two or so weeks time).

I actually archived the EQ'd version as well as the ORIGINAL recording before duplicating the minimally affected channel.   I figured this was the "safest" route. 

Hopefully I'll get to see the band in a smaller environment in the coming months and it'll be indoors so I can pick my poison then - as to whether I want to use the cards or the omnis (venue dependant).

[Seth01]

I absolutely hate the wind...it has ruined (or at least affected) so many of my outdoor recordings.  I recently was at a couple of festivals and used Chris's dead rats and can tell you they helped enormously so you'll certainly find them effective.

[adrianf74]

I absolutely hate the wind...it has ruined (or at least affected) so many of my outdoor recordings.  I recently was at a couple of festivals and used Chris's dead rats and can tell you they helped enormously so you'll certainly find them effective.

I have the dead rats for my CA-14's (which helped me Saturday in Port Colborne at an outdoor show)... the bad news was that this show in question, I didn't have the CA-14's yet and only had the CAFS available without windscreen (to which I don't know what can be used as a suitable windscreen).  Any help with that would be great.

Thanks.