Topic: Recording night sounds - how to protect gear from wet?

[TimSmith]

After getting myself recording equipment for taping shows (that's ca14, ca9200 and sony m10) I started to enjoy making ambient recordings. You know, it's like photos, but in sound :-) In summer I live in a country house with a garden in front of it. Now I place mics under the roof on the porch, recorder with preamp - inside, and leave it for a night. But I want to place it deeper into the garden to capture more direct bird singing. In that case I am worried about two things.

1. How would you protect mics from unexpected rain? How harmful is water to the mics? I think I can use one-two umbrellas or build something quickly with few sheets of tin.

2. Second problem is early morning dew, it gets really wet sometimes. Even if I put recorder/preamp into a plastic bottle, it may not protect them. Possibly I should hang them higher (on a tree maybe), cos dew mostly condenses on the grass? Or maybe it will be good to wrap them into some kind of a blanket and put the blanket inside a plastic box? I can't decide...

Hope someone has experience with such things... I would appreciate any help.

[flipp]

wrt #1 I suggest something other than tin unless you want to hear what is essentailly drumbeats. A piece of plywood slightly angled - 5 degrees or so - would suffice and also take care of the dew problem. I have a small portable telescope that needs some time outside to come to ambient temp. I used to do a little viewing early in the evening and would often leave trhe scope outside for some pre-dawn viewing. To prevent dew from forming on the scope I would lay a sheet of plywood across the bed of my pickup, use it for a platform for the evening viewing session then place the scope under the plywood when finished for the evening. In the morning the plywood would be damp/wet (depending on humidity level) but the scope would be dry. Pull out the scope and place on the wet/damp plywood and view until dawn. As long as the recording rig is under something (a piece of wood, roof overhang, in a gazebo, etc.) you don't have to worry about dew condensing on it unless it is much colder than the outside temp when you first bring it out of the house.

An umbrella lined with foam would "cover" both of your concerns and help deaden the sound of any raindrops that might fall.

[TimSmith]

Thank you for helpful reply! I will try it in a few days. :-)

By the way, now i remember how one day i went for a walk late evening (with photocamera) and there was dew with a lot of fog. Grass and my feet were very wet, my jacket a little bit too, but the camera was safe and dry in the bag. So yeah, everything must be allright if i just cover the rig.

[John Willett]

After getting myself recording equipment for taping shows (that's ca14, ca9200 and sony m10) I started to enjoy making ambient recordings. You know, it's like photos, but in sound :-) In summer I live in a country house with a garden in front of it. Now I place mics under the roof on the porch, recorder with preamp - inside, and leave it for a night. But I want to place it deeper into the garden to capture more direct bird singing. In that case I am worried about two things.

1. How would you protect mics from unexpected rain? How harmful is water to the mics? I think I can use one-two umbrellas or build something quickly with few sheets of tin.

2. Second problem is early morning dew, it gets really wet sometimes. Even if I put recorder/preamp into a plastic bottle, it may not protect them. Possibly I should hang them higher (on a tree maybe), cos dew mostly condenses on the grass? Or maybe it will be good to wrap them into some kind of a blanket and put the blanket inside a plastic box? I can't decide...

Hope someone has experience with such things... I would appreciate any help.

The best mics for this sort of use are the Sennheiser MKH range, as they are RF condenser mics and pretty immune to the effects of the damp and wet.

To protect microphones form the rain it is best to put them in a Rycote basket windshield and cover it with a Rycote "Duck".

The "Duck" protects the microphons from the rain silently - it is made from open-cell foam with a waterproof fabric at the bottom - this enables the rain to hit the foam silently and then run down through the foam to then drip silently off the sides.  This way you don't get all the horrible noises that the rain makes when hitting things like an umbrella.



The picture shows a "Duck" over a Rycote windshield with windjammer.

[TimSmith]

Very cool thing! But I dont want to order something like this right now (unless I'll take this hobby more seriosly). The idea is superb though... Maybe I'll build it myself. Thanks for advise!

[John Willett]

Very cool thing! But I dont want to order something like this right now (unless I'll take this hobby more seriosly). The idea is superb though... Maybe I'll build it myself. Thanks for advise!

Then get a very large circle of open-cell foam and cut and stick it so it fits over an umbrella.

The umbrella will stop the rain and the foam will act like the "Duck" and stop the rain making a noise on the umbrella.

[TimSmith]

Yeah, that's what I thought of too.

BTW, I tried my new setup last night with success. Plywood works nice as a roof, but raindrops are really annoing, when the rain is strong. So i'm looking forward to make some sort of a "duck".

[splumer]

What about condoms over the mics? And are you too far from the house to run the cables inside?

I once shot some night-vision video of some critters in my backyard, and I was surprised at how much noise they made. For a variation, you might want to try putting at the mics at or near ground level and seeing what you pick up.

[F.O.Bean]

You could also just use the umbrella+towel trick. The umbrella wont stop dew but WILL stop rain, and the towel prevents any sound/noise from getting on your tape from the rain hitting the umbrella

[it-goes-to-eleven]

The big question is how to keep the slugs from sliming everything.  They crawl everywhere after dark!

[TimSmith]

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splumer:
 What about condoms over the mics? And are you too far from the house to run the cables inside?
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How should i use them? (i mean on my mics ) Just as they are? But would not it muffle the sound? I've got completely no experience with such taping technique. :-)

No, it is too far (about 30 meters for the best spot). And i have one short cable, only enough for the porch.

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I once shot some night-vision video of some critters in my backyard, and I was surprised at how much noise they made. For a variation, you might want to try putting at the mics at or near ground level and seeing what you pick up.
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This is what i did last time actually. Both mics were a foot from the ground. Recorded some mice or maybe someone else working hard and birds as well. Lower = easier, but i need to try other variants too.
 
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F.O.Bean:
 You could also just use the umbrella+towel trick. The umbrella wont stop dew but WILL stop rain, and the towel prevents any sound/noise from getting on your tape from the rain hitting the umbrella
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Oh, i didnt thought of towels. Great idea! I have plenty old ones.

Btw, that's what i like about taping: you always have to use your imagination and various useless (at first look) stuff. Helps a lot when going s****th.

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it-goes-to-eleven:
 The big question is how to keep the slugs from sliming everything.  They crawl everywhere after dark!
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I hope slugs wont be a problem for me. I think it depends on the area you live in. Haven't seen many.


Thanks for replies, guys! :-)

[F.O.Bean]

No problem. Let us know how it turns out

[TimSmith]

Two days ago i recorded thunderstorm. Used plywood with towels as a roof. I liked the result, much better, than without towels. But i feel there is a room for improvement - possibly i'll get some foam or more furry towels. ;-)

I want to post photos of my setup, but will be able to do that only in august...
Btw, is there any proper thread for that?

I can imagine, how people see my construction from the street and think: 'what the hell is that?!'

[flipp]

Two days ago i recorded thunderstorm. Used plywood with towels as a roof. I liked the result, much better, than without towels. But i feel there is a room for improvement - possibly i'll get some foam or more furry towels. ;-)

I want to post photos of my setup, but will be able to do that only in august...
Btw, is there any proper thread for that?

I can imagine, how people see my construction from the street and think: 'what the hell is that?!'

Since it is a recording rig even though it is recording something different  than a lot of us do those pics should go in "Rig Pics" - http://taperssection.com/index.php?board=20.0

[SmokinJoe]

The condom trick... I haven't done it personally, but the idea is to use unlubricated (dry) condoms to slip over mics.  It will keep them dry in a pouring rain.  I have no idea how it effects the sound.

My guess is that it would reduce sensitivity a bit, and while not entirely disappointing, the user can't help but think how much better it would be without them.