What to use for recording sounds of nature?

M

Mongoo

New member
What would you use to record things like the wind blowing, a waterfall, cricket cherps, and other ambeint sounds? Just imagine your in the woods and you want to get those sounds onto tape.

What mics would you recommend using or investing in?

Thanks

Mongoo
 
I think it depend on how accurate of a recording you want (scientific studies?)... maybe some Earthworks. Is it going to be used in a song about irritating frogs and crickets that keep you up all night... maybe something like an AKG C1000S... lol.
 
this interests me, too. what budget are you looking at? i would say i'm looking at a mic for under $500 for this purpose.
 
uh...

Over all I am looking at spending $2,000 on microphones for my studio. The Key here is to find a mic that captures natures sounds really well but then can be brought back into the studio and be of good use there.

The mics I'm thinking about for recording guitar (electric & accustic), bass, drums, vocals, & miscelaneous are...

2 SM57 (~$200)
1 SM 58 ($100)
2 MD421 (~$600)
1 Rode NT1A ($200)
2 Matched Condenser mics (Rode NT5 or MXL 603's, something else maybe too) ($300 - $500???)
1 bass drum/bass guitar mic (AKG D112, Electro voice $200, ???)

What do you think of my picks for the studio? Kind of bare bones and safe from what I've learned so far. I think thats a little under $2,000. So you can do a swich if you think its good or more versitile. Any of these work for nature sounds? or would you replace something?

I would also like to get 1 really good mic. Like best under $1,000 but thats not for now just yet.

Thanks
 
for field recording and making outdoors samples i used a sony dat walkman and an audiotechnica 822 stereo mic in the past. i think marantz has a few portable recorders using memory cards.
 
Mongoo said:
Over all I am looking at spending $2,000 on microphones for my studio. The Key here is to find a mic that captures natures sounds really well but then can be brought back into the studio and be of good use there.

The mics I'm thinking about for recording guitar (electric & accustic), bass, drums, vocals, & miscelaneous are...

2 SM57 (~$200)
1 SM 58 ($100)
2 MD421 (~$600)
1 Rode NT1A ($200)
2 Matched Condenser mics (Rode NT5 or MXL 603's, something else maybe too) ($300 - $500???)
1 bass drum/bass guitar mic (AKG D112, Electro voice $200, ???)

What do you think of my picks for the studio? Kind of bare bones and safe from what I've learned so far. I think thats a little under $2,000. So you can do a swich if you think its good or more versitile. Any of these work for nature sounds? or would you replace something?

I would also like to get 1 really good mic. Like best under $1,000 but thats not for now just yet.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm going to comment on your overall mic list. If you're getting 2 MD421s, skip the 57s and 58. The 421 kills those mics. Take the money you save, add to the Rode NT1A money, and buy a KSM44 instead. Add the D112 and a pair of condensers of your choice (my choice for $500 would be a nice used pair of SM81s).

Use the KSM44 on omni setting for outdoors.
 
you might consider a decent shotgun mic if you are wanting to get good bird sounds, chirps and stuff like that. Also, think of potentially using a mic with an omni pic-up pattern.
 
I would be really concerned about wind noise.

What would probably work well would be the type of mics used by news reporters when they're out and about covering hurricanes and car wrecks, etc. Electrovoice 635A would be a good option.

Mixmkr's suggestion of the shotgun mic is excellent if you want to zero in on any particular sounds.
 
I would get a very nice stereo microphone. They seem to work best for this type of recording. While using stereo mics you can hear depth in your reecording like a distant bird to the left, a cricket to the near right and a breeze blowing direct. Most of the mics mentioned won't give you that realistic feel. Try the AT835-ST by Audio Technica it cost around $900 but it features 3 different stereo modes and sounds great for remote recording.
 
chessrock said:
I would be really concerned about wind noise.
Click to expand...
You really need to record sounds of nature on un-windy days... unless of coruse it's something like the wind itself you're trying to record... lol.
 
Cute. The problem, obviously, is the plosives caused by wind whipping around the mic's diaphragm. You just need to get a real good pop shield, or use something like the EV 635A I mentioned, which is already naturally resistant to that sort of thing by it's design.
 
About the bass drum mic

How does the AKG D112 compare to the Electro Voice ND868? Is there anything special about the these types of mics that would make them work well to pick up wind sounds? any other uses other than kick drums?
 
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