Topic: Wind noise on recording... ways to lessen it?

[su6oxone]

The first outdoor recording I did (Taste of Chicago in 2001) I didn't know that I should use the windscreens (doh) and have significant wind noise on an otherwise good recording.  Any suggestions on how to remaster this using Sound Forge to help lessen the wind effect, like maybe dropping the lower frequencies in EQ or something? 

edit: also, how effective are windscreen foam covers at eliminating/preventing wind noise on recordings?  The more foam the better?

[boojum]

Large foam covers, the size of large baking potatoes, work pretty well.  Dead rats, too, if they are big enough.

I have found I can reduce but not entirely eliminate the wind noise with a high pass/low cut filter.  Play with it until you have cut as much as you can without ruining the music.  I have not been able to fix it entirely.  Other folks may not notice, but I do.   

[DSatz]

su6oxone, wind noise is usually concentrated more at the lowest frequencies, but may extend well up into the musical midrange. Thus it isn't always possible to filter such noise out of an existing recording without killing the sound quality. Some kinds of deficiencies in a recording can't always be "fixed in the mix"--especially fundamental problems with microphones and their use--a fact which I guess you realize by now.

Omnidirectional (pressure) microphones are considerably less vulnerable in general to wind noise than directional (pressure gradient) microphones are. The difference in susceptibility might be, say, 20 dB--in many cases, enough so that with just simple foam windscreens on a pair of spaced omnis, you're OK. But many people don't have omnidirectional microphones, and many folks simply prefer to use (or need to use) directional microphones for particular recording applications. In that case, more serious windscreens may well be necessary. Then again, there are gradations among the directional patterns in microphones: a wide cardioid is less susceptible to wind than a cardioid, all other things being equal, while figure-8s are more susceptible than cardioids.

Windscreens are generally made for specific shapes, sizes and types of microphones, since one size does not fit all. Nor is any one type of construction optimal for all transducer types, in terms of the tradeoff between effectiveness and maintaining sound quality. The most effective windscreens for directional microphones are hollow, and trap a layer of air around both the front and rear sound inlets of the microphone. (Directional microphones always have a front and a rear sound inlet, while omnidirectional microphones of the pressure variety don't; thus this more complex approach isn't particularly helpful for most omnis.)

One interesting and informative Web site is Rycote.com--they make advanced windscreens for film and video sound recordists, people who record nature sounds, etc. and they have models for many different brands and types of microphone. But the manufacturer of your particular microphones may also offer good choices, depending.

--best regards

P.S. added later: Another problem with wind is that the membrane excursions that it causes can be so extreme that the microphone's circuitry is overloaded in trying to make a signal out of them, or if not, the input of the preamp or recorder can be drastically overdriven (clipped). If that has already happened in a recording, it can be difficult or impossible to conceal the effect with subsequent processing. Again, that's a reason to protect your microphones before making an outdoor recording if there's any risk of wind.

[su6oxone]

Thanks for the suggestions/info!  That really helped.  I guess I'll try fiddling around with the EQ to see if I can lessen the wind rumbling in the recordings I already made, and hope for better luck with some decent wind screens for future recordings.  I'll have to check out those ones with a layer of air in between the cover and mic, that sounds promising. 

[balou2]

Just turn on a fan when you listen to it. 

[boojum]

^^^^ That's it!  That's it!

[cleantone]

ditto on the above. You might want to cut  out low frequencies up to 50hz, 80hz, maybe 120hz, maybe 160hz depending on how they sound. I say this because if you do not the playback of that massive low end can really push your woofers and possibly damage your speakers.

[su6oxone]

ditto on the above. You might want to cut  out low frequencies up to 50hz, 80hz, maybe 120hz, maybe 160hz depending on how they sound. I say this because if you do not the playback of that massive low end can really push your woofers and possibly damage your speakers.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.  I'm planning to buy some windscreens from sound pros for my cardioids and maybe use the low cut on my R-09 as well, and then try Izotope Rx for residual noise.