Microphone For Beach Recording
September 17, 2011 9:22 PM Subscribe
I plan to go to the beach with my laptop and record the sound of the waves for an hour. What microphone type/ brand (not crazy expensive) would I need to do this?
Yes, I know I could buy a recording already, but my goal is to create a serious of mnemonic recordings. My favorite beach, the crickets outside my house etc.
Any tips on how to deal with wind issues on the beach would be awesome too.
Yes, I know I could buy a recording already, but my goal is to create a serious of mnemonic recordings. My favorite beach, the crickets outside my house etc.
Any tips on how to deal with wind issues on the beach would be awesome too.
b1tr0t has it. A digital recorder will be much easier to deal with than your laptop, and it'll probably provide better results. They're pretty inexpensive.
If you want to improve on the sound from there, you could get a starter microphone and a battery box (see b1tr0t's links for more on that -- you shouldn't need to spend much more than $100 total on these your first time out).
One major advantage: if you buy a decent cardioid or binaural stealth mic you could easily start getting into recording gigs and the like, if you have any interest in that.
posted by vorfeed at 10:19 PM on September 17, 2011
If you want to improve on the sound from there, you could get a starter microphone and a battery box (see b1tr0t's links for more on that -- you shouldn't need to spend much more than $100 total on these your first time out).
One major advantage: if you buy a decent cardioid or binaural stealth mic you could easily start getting into recording gigs and the like, if you have any interest in that.
posted by vorfeed at 10:19 PM on September 17, 2011
Build it yourself. You buy Panasonic WM-61A mic capsules for $1 a piece. Then you can build something really simple:
Super simple recipe at DIYAudio.com
Or do the "Linkwitz mod" to the capsules which increases sound quality:
– MonkeyPhones - simple and concise overview and explanation
– Here's the verbose and technical original at revered audio engineer Sigfried Linkwitz's site
– Nice and concise recipe
Cheap, educational, sounds awesome. Sounds as good or better than the portable recorders. (Check the sample mp3s at the MonkeyPhones site.) The readymade portable recorders use the same type of capsule. The capsules in the Linkwitz mic are considered one of the best capsules, and have a very good design around them by Mr. Linkwitz.
posted by krilli at 5:59 AM on September 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
Super simple recipe at DIYAudio.com
Or do the "Linkwitz mod" to the capsules which increases sound quality:
– MonkeyPhones - simple and concise overview and explanation
– Here's the verbose and technical original at revered audio engineer Sigfried Linkwitz's site
– Nice and concise recipe
Cheap, educational, sounds awesome. Sounds as good or better than the portable recorders. (Check the sample mp3s at the MonkeyPhones site.) The readymade portable recorders use the same type of capsule. The capsules in the Linkwitz mic are considered one of the best capsules, and have a very good design around them by Mr. Linkwitz.
posted by krilli at 5:59 AM on September 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
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If you want stereo, I'd look at a portable digital recorder, like a Zoom H2, or better, a H4N. Or you could just use two mono USB mics in a stereo array...
posted by two lights above the sea at 10:10 PM on September 17, 2011