Outdoor recording with Zoom H1 portable mic

[sunjamr]

I’ve been trying to get better at outdoor recording, and right away I learned that I can’t be very far away from my iPhone camera, or the volume is miniscule. I want to be able to sit on a distant hillside and have my drone fly towards me while I’m playing in perfect sync with the drone’s video as it circles around me. Maybe that’s too ambitious, but I’m working on it. So here’s the Zoom H1 in action on a moderately windy day. I put on the dead cat wind muff, and that reduced the wind noise quite a lot. It’s still there if you listen closely. But it looks like the ultimate best way to avoid wind noise is to place the mic as close to myself as possible, but in a sheltered location. Or just choose a calm day, but we only get 3 of those per year in New Zealand.

Sunjamr Steve

[JoLa]

So much better, Steve! I think it sounds pretty good, and perhaps you could isolate the breeze more but then you don’t want the outdoor playing sound like a studio recording so a little bit of ambient noise is actually more natural. Nice playing, too 🙂

🎸JoLa

[Jean-Michel G]

I completely agree with JoLa. What’s the point of recording outdoors if it sounds like a studio recording with hall reverb and everything?
This sounds very good to me!

Yes, the mic has to be close. Remember your Physics 101? Sound propagates following an inverse square law, so it gets thin pretty fast.

As for the post-sync, an audio and visual clue (like a big hand clap) is very useful. But I guess you know this.

[Richard G]

Sounded pretty good to me Steve. If you listen carefully you can just hear the outdoor ambience but I think that added to the whole experience of outdoor recording.

Richard

[charjo]

My feeling exactly, a little wind noise makes the recording more authentic. At that camera distance it doesn’t seem like your sync has to be too tight. Sounds pretty good, Steve, and nice playing.
John

[JoeD1]

I thought it sounded and looked great. Is that your backyard?!

Joe

The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge

[John H]

Sounds good Steve. Nice playing too. You are doing all the work figuring out which Mic works best. Like to know more about the mic and your set up

John

[San Luis Rey]

Sounds good to me too Steve. How do you think it compares to your mv88 which I like as well.

Mike

[Author]

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