1455

Curious to hear what folks EQ when editing field recordings. I try and remove wind noise and/or undesired rumble where appropriate, add a few db’s level to the complete recording when I can, but otherwise leave the recordings untouched.

Does anyone approach EQ for field recordings as if it were a piece of music? I guess it depends very much on context and presentation, your goals for the recording, etc.

I tried to search the thread for comments related to EQ, but “EQ” is too short a term to search for…

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1456

I don’t use any EQ for mine; I prefer to rely on lo-cut while recording if needs be. I do, however, use limiters a lot more than is expected, I reckon.

1457

I usually prefer a small touch of RX or Acoustica algos than traditional EQ for cleaning my field recs.

1458

for me, the only thing I ever touch is low rumble from traffic if necessary. I’ll use RX or Fabfilter ProQ

1459

Piling on…RX is preferred due to surgical capabilities beyond lo/hi cuts. Ditto the FabFilter ProQ shoutout. RX is pricey but the even the lowest model is mega-useful.

1460

RX seems to be a defacto tool. I must say I’ve never used it. RX Elements looks to be in budget though, maybe I’ll have a peep.

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1461

I always use a low pass filter after recording in the editing and naming stage. I usually speak near the microphone what where and when I recording. So I’ll cut that part of. And a bit at the end usually. And sometimes bits in the middle of they are in some way disturbed. LP frequency depends on the recording. Sometimes it’s just below 40hz other times 80 100 or 120. Some recordings even benefit from LP as high as 300hz.
I use EQ on the recordings if I use them in a project together with other sounds or music.

1462

I just got RX8 Elements since they have a whole bundle sale for $49, and it seems like a nifty tool to have. Having the spectral selection and playback available is kind of worth the price of admission by itself, perhaps even to excise bits of a recording for creative use.

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1463

I recently got a wind jammer and a foam cover for the x-y mics on my recorder but thought I would ask for advice. So am I understanding this right ? For very slight gust’s of wind the foam is probably ok and then for anything above use the fluffy wind jammer ?

I made a recording near the canal not long ago and the wind jammer only failed once in the recording. I’m wondering if theres anything that could go under the wind jammer for more protection if it’s very windy?

1464

I dont tend to EQ my field recordings as I believe it presupposes the final use for the sound. Even if it is only recording for my own use, I can’t see into the future to know how or why I will use the sounds.

RX is often a necessity but I consider it bad/inefficient use of time, and if I know an issue exists while recording I will aim to record more (takes/duration) to try to avoid needing RX, removing issues by editing rather than in spectral realm. Even a 15 minute extra take (if clean) will be faster than spending time in RX trying to fix a short recording with issues.

@Glitcher Rycote do make a high wind cover, basically another fleece layer that fits between the cage & the fluffy… I have them for my MKH70 long shot gun mics as being so big they are a large target for wind, but I try to avoid using them as they inevitably reduce high frequencies… I’ve never needed high wind cover for any of my other mics - if wind is that bad it will be blowing my mic stands over, and the better solution is to then find a sheltered spot to hide the mics from wind…

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1465

This is such a good idea!

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1466

Thanks! Yeah it’s so simple it had also cost me many years to find this out :smiley:

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1467

I’ve kinda shifted towards doing all of my nature field recording at 24/96 with the intent of subsequently doing a lot of processing to it (pitching, making morphagene reels, heavy EQ), which I suppose means that at the moment I’m not currently doing canonical field recording but rather foley-style or sound design-style work. The clippys, when you have all those foamy and fuzzy thingies on them, really don’t capture anything above 20khz, tho, so the higher sample rates aren’t doing much in practice except relaxing the nyquist band.

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1468

We are having some excellent thunderstorms recently and last night we had a long, loud, and rainless thunderstorm. I’m still figuring out settings for my DR-40x, and set the input level too high for the first half hour I was recording. I realized after a test listen so I dropped the levels and what I captured after sounded great! I didn’t get nearly as much thunder as the storm had moved on though…

As a novice, I was impressed that turning down input volume filtered out the audible insect drones I could hear in the first recording.

I’m also sharing that after a long day of research and getting denied on a pair of small condenser mics, I settled on the Røde M5 matched pair. I also got the stereo bar so I can space them properly and easily. I’m actually really excited about them because they were so inexpensive and they honestly should work for 95% of what I want to mic (field stuff, piano, acoustic guitar). Even though I did buy mics, I decided I don’t actually need a ribbon mic or a large diaphragm condenser at this time and that’s a good feeling. :slightly_smiling_face:

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1469

Just got an H1N and tried it out during a thunderstorm here…how do folks typically go about setting gain for something with a really high dynamic range like thunderstorms? Make some loud noises nearby (stomp, slam doors, etc.) and adjust the gain down based on those? In this case we had some that struck so close that I probably would have had some clipping in any event, but most of the thunderclaps on this recording went waay into the red (which I’m assuming I can’t really do anything about at this point). Still sounds cool but would like to try and avoid it next time.

1470

With just the in built xy mics on the h1n I usually keep the gain very low for something like a thunderstorm. The h1 still has a fairly high self noise floor compared to higher end recorders, but nothing any where near as noisy as tape hiss. Things like rain can really hide all manner of sins, so you can get away with a ton of makeup gain in post.

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1471

Welcome! I’m brand new and I’ve honestly made time to check levels manually through trial and error. I hang out outside to capture then go inside and listen back before making adjustments. It’s taken some time, but I’m getting to know my recorder through the process. :slightly_smiling_face:

My goal is to develop a good enough understanding of levels to set and forget for an entire storm then listen back and edit down.

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1472

I usually (over)rely on the limiters.

The second post on the making of the Thunderstorm 3 library has some good information too.

“ How Loud Can it Get?
Loud… Extremely loud with massive amounts of low end frequencies being produced that can overwhelm the microphone element or recording device preamp. This has happened to me quite a few times. A thunder clap will begin at nice, medium volume and then suddenly the trailing echo gets very loud and boomy as it ripples back off the distant mountain ranges. I tend to be a little cautious with my input levels and set them a slightly lower than normal. I have never figured out what part of the recording chain is getting overloaded, the microphone or the Sound Devices recorder preamps. It sounds like clicks but has a subtle distortion also. The limiters on the recorders engage but the level never gets close to 0dB on the meters. Strange. Maybe it’s the frequency response of the Sennheiser MKH-8040 which is very wide and can go as low as 10Hz. This low frequency energy may be responsible.”

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1473

Izotope or Adobe audition de-clip might fix it. Worth a try.

I could try it for you if you’ve not got either.

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1474

I picked up a Manfrotto Nanopole earlier this year, which has a nice bonus in that you can pop the middle out and use as a boom pole if required. The carbon model is more expensive, but really light.

Also added a Konig & Meyer 23800 to mount the recorder (I use a Sony PCM D50), and a Konig & Meyer 23510 adjustable microphone bar for the lyre mounts I use with Usi mics. The LOM lyres are great.

All of this is lovely of course, but in practice, everything @dirch-blewn said is totally on the money, and he’s made way more recordings :joy:

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