The Trials & Tribulations of Field Recording – A Beginner’s Guide Part II

In this Part II of the guide we cover the single topic of recording in the rain, a search term often used and asked about by novice recordists.

Rain
Some of the best field recordings can be captured whilst out in the rain, especially those incredible atmospheric sounds of nature – the thunderstorm, but it should be understood that rain, similar to wind does not produce any sound by itself; it requires some other object to interact with, for sound to be produced. There’s nothing more satisfying than recording out in the rain – if there was an ultimate field recording challenge, then it would be to satisfactorily record from outside, a fully blown thunderstorm with wind and torrential rain!

Even the lightest of rain produces a unique ambience, dependant upon the type of surface it strikes. However, if not treated with the greatest of respect, it can prove costly, resulting in damage being caused to any unprotected electronic equipment, especially microphones.

With the exception of hydrophones; microphones and water just do not mix, so it’s essential that adequate protection is provided, not only from rain falling directly onto the microphone, but also indirectly from splash-back and air-borne moisture. The first indication of water or damp damage to the microphone is that feared ‘plopping’ sound to be heard in the recordings. This can be faintly heard in the following recording as a repetitive plop, more like a dripping tap!. This fault may in its early stages be obscured whilst recording in noisier environments and may even be confused with handling noise or vibration of the tripod when recording in quiet locations. I have amplified and filtered the audio so that the defect can be more easily heard.

 The best way to avoid this damage, apart from seeking shelter underneath a non-drip cover (avoid sheltering under trees especially whilst Field Recording Thunderstorms) is to provide suitable protection – available in many forms, depending upon the size of the microphone array and how you wish the raindrops to sound in the recording.

Here are a couple of examples demonstrating how the recorded sound can be affected by different forms of protection and its proximity to the microphone.

The closer the protective cover is to the microphone, the lower the tone and more pronounced are the sounds of the raindrops. In the first recording below, the rain was falling directly onto the showerproof basket-blimp cotton cover without the umbrella being deployed as shown in the photo below.

 

  

The next recording was made with the umbrella deployed as shown above, thereby keeping the raindrops further away from the microphones, producing a much more pleasant sound.

There are times when even the gentle ‘pitter-patter’ of rain falling on a ‘hard’ protective cover is far too obtrusive for the level of ambience being recorded. In those situations a ‘soft’ cover may be used, either directly on the umbrella or by suspending it well above the microphone array. This is demonstrated by fellow field recordist Yasuo Hijikata in his photograph shown below. Apparently he always carries a large towel around with him whilst out recording in the Japanese rainforests. The advantage is that it is easily carried and capable of being rigged up within 5 mins, if required.

 

Yasuo Hijikata’s Towel

Looking at Yasuo Hijikata’s rather bedraggled wombat-covered blimps reminds me how essential it is to thoroughly dry out all equipment as soon as possible after recording. It’s best to remove any microphones from within blimps and place them as soon as possible in a non-humid, dry atmosphere so that any build-up of moisture has a chance to evaporate away. This of course also applies to recorders, preamps, carry bags and cases; they all tend to become moisture laden in damp/wet recording locations. Often overlooked are the cables, especially those long XLR lengths (10m+) as these are the most exposed, tending to become soaking wet, coated in mud, wet grass etc. Although this does not necessarily harm the cable itself; the cable ends, connectors and solder joints tend to suffer from corrosion through water ingress – so remember wipe and dry them out. 

I have included a short mix below to give you an idea of just a few of the many sounds that rain can produce by hitting different surfaces at varying distances from the microphone.

…………………..

Some of the information contained within this guide has previously been discussed as separate posts within the Blog. You may find this useful:

Audio Recording in the Rain
Field Recording Thunderstorms

 

Beginner’s Guide Part I

Beginner’s Guide Part III

Advertisement