Cutting out the wind noise from microphone mounted on car roof

[872156]

I am video taping with my camcorder mounted on my car roof. I have an external stereo mic - Tascam TM-ST1 - also mounted on the roof wrapped in a sock. When my car isn't moving the sound is great, but during driving the wind noise is very bad which is what I expected during my first test.

Any way to cut the wind noise and still get the traffic sound even on a freeway at 60mph? Thanks

[Cornucopia]

Take a few lessons from the pros:

1. Make your mounting more solid.
2. Make sure there is vibration damping between the mount and the mike (rubber,sand, water, springs). Be mindful of any vibration that could travel down the cable as well.
3. Make sure you have a cage around the mike (w/ ~2" clearance all around).
4. Put a fur coat on the outside of the cage (LITERALLY). Get fur ~1" long. Make sure it's a snug fit around the cage.

You could also try putting the mike in the LEE of the wind. (Some kind of solid barrier immediately in front).

Scott

[872156]

Thanks Cornucopia ...... It will take me a week or so to do the next test and I will add some of your ideas to the mic housing. If all goes well I will post the 2nd test clip on YouTube and see what other adjustments will have to be made.

[netmask56]

All of the above from Cornucopia and if you can find a omni directional mic, they are less prone to wind noise. If the mic has a bass cut or tilt switch use it. I worked as a professional sound recordist on a auto racing show years ago and tried many combos of mic's mounted in a Rycote windgag with the fur sock. Basically the really older dynamic mic's worked best rather than top of the line Sennheiser's or AKG's. It all depends on what you want from the sound and what's happening to the total soundtrack in post. A great mic for this type of work and for jumping out of planes (with shute <g>) is a 30 year old RCA lavalier mic that rolled off naturally below 150Hz I think it was a BK12 from memory - you can still pick them up second hand.. worth having in your kit.

[minidv2dvd]

did you try mounting it inside with the windows open?

[Cornucopia]

Well, the better Sennheisers and AKGs that netmask56 talks about are unidirectional/shotgun, and of course that would make them more sensitive to the direction they're pointed at (which is usually directly ahead (IOW, directly into the wind!!).

I agree, you should roll-off both low end and high end (<120-180Hz, >6-8kHz)

I wouldn't go with lavs just because their wires aren't as solid, they have much worse self-noise, their EQ response is much less even and they wouldn't be as easy to create a standard solid mount, but otherwise I completely agree with the above.

Scott

[Soopafresh]

Kill the audio and add your own car/road sound effects from a pre recorded sound archive