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

[digifish_music]

Interesting to see the condom and fingercot. I have in the past used simple cling-wrap plastic film stretched tight over the capsule and secured by rubber bands, no noticeable effect...but no objective data to prove it. Something to test out 

digifish

[Myco]

I've used one layer of tightly wrapped cling-wrap in the past with no ill effects. I would think that the goal is to have the thinnest water barrier possible and this would beat a condom.

[rhinowing]

you could try the extra-sensitivity kind...never thought they were that effective at their intended use anyways...

[DisturbedPyro]

I've used one layer of tightly wrapped cling-wrap in the past with no ill effects. I would think that the goal is to have the thinnest water barrier possible and this would beat a condom.

hmm, yeah some plastic wrap would be thinner and therefore better than a finger cot/condom. next time

[dallman]

At 10klf, It rained briefly during Mickey Hart. It was strange as the sun was out, just one cloud right above my mics. I had about a yard square of ripstop nylon in my bag, as I wanted to experiment with it terms of building a little tarp over the rig.

Well I just draped the stuff over the mics and put a velcro tie around it at the bottom so it would not flap. It was only on for about half a song, but for the life of me I cannot figure out when I did it, I have yet to hear anything on the recording that sounds like all the movement that was going on. I have to do some more experimenting at some point.

Granted I have not really done any critical listening, but there seems to be no sign of the process and no loss of sound.

Here is a link to the show...
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=517592

[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

FWIW, the condoms were put over the windscreens, not on the caps directly.... I would not recommend this procedure, sounds like dog sh*t

[su6oxone]

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

FWIW, the condoms were put over the windscreens, not on the caps directly.... I would not recommend this procedure, sounds like dog sh*t

Great thread, should help a lot of out there who haven't taped in rainy situations before!  +Ts all around. 

[digifish_music]

At 10klf, It rained briefly during Mickey Hart. It was strange as the sun was out, just one cloud right above my mics. I had about a yard square of ripstop nylon in my bag, as I wanted to experiment with it terms of building a little tarp over the rig.

Well I just draped the stuff over the mics and put a velcro tie around it at the bottom so it would not flap. It was only on for about half a song, but for the life of me I cannot figure out when I did it, I have yet to hear anything on the recording that sounds like all the movement that was going on. I have to do some more experimenting at some point.

Granted I have not really done any critical listening, but there seems to be no sign of the process and no loss of sound.

Here is a link to the show...
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=517592

Not surprised it was good. Nylon tents don't block sound at all AFAIKS

[Gutbucket]

At 10klf, It rained briefly during Mickey Hart. It was strange as the sun was out, just one cloud right above my mics. I had about a yard square of ripstop nylon in my bag, as I wanted to experiment with it terms of building a little tarp over the rig.

Well I just draped the stuff over the mics and put a velcro tie around it at the bottom so it would not flap. It was only on for about half a song, but for the life of me I cannot figure out when I did it, I have yet to hear anything on the recording that sounds like all the movement that was going on. I have to do some more experimenting at some point.

Granted I have not really done any critical listening, but there seems to be no sign of the process and no loss of sound.

Here is a link to the show...
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=517592

Not surprised it was good. Nylon tents don't block sound at all AFAIKS

How 'bout one of those miniature display tents that are about GI Joe size.. on stilts.

[-Q-]

check out the last song from this show  thought my gear was a going to get wet for sure.
http://www.archive.org/details/montbleau2008-07-27.flac16

[Taper1]

waterproof mics?

[digifish_music]

waterproof mics?

And so we have reduced to the final solution, a pair of hydrophones