Will a gun blast rupture a mic

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tjohnston

tjohnston

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I want to record some target practice with a camcorder; its got a tiny stereo mic. I am worried that the gun blast will destroy the mic. The camera will be directly behind the shooter looking over the shoulder on a tripod. The gun puts out about 150 decibels.

Any ideas

Thanks
 
The AGC of the camcorder might not cope, but I'd doubt you'll ruin said mic. Unless you're using the mic for target practice. Or you're micing from in front of and near the business end of the gun. High SPL shouldn't hurt the mic(s). A strong burst of air, or something with a little more momentum than air could hurt the mics. That high SPL level will likely not get recorded well. But there's ways to attenuate that depending on the mic(s).
 
Try putting foam round the mic - otherwise it'll sound rubbish when the camera distorts. Or use a separate device to record sound from a respectable distance...
 
I doubt it will damage the mic. I'll have to tell you a funny story about recording a shotgun blast for a tune someday.
 
Probably not, but you really have to watch out for that bullet. It can make a colossal mess of the diaphragm.
 
Sennheiser useta have an ad that showed a 421 mic next to smoking gun, an oscilloscope picture showing a single clean burst, and the ad simply read "160 dB!"
 
It all depends on the size of the weapon that you are using!

Most of the shots that I have recorded only sounds like a little crack.
Those are from 22s and slightly bigger .... if your getting into shotguns and cannons that's a different story!
 
Camcorder mic wills be fine as long as you're more than a foot away. I've done it indoors with .357 mag and outdoors with 30-06' and .308 so it'll be fine.

References - recording for 8 years, NRA life member.
 
Oh and i would use the foam too because the volume is too much for the little mic so it'll distort really bad without.
 
aaronmcoleman said:
Camcorder mic wills be fine as long as you're more than a foot away. I've done it indoors with .357 mag and outdoors with 30-06' and .308 so it'll be fine.

References - recording for 8 years, NRA life member.
Click to expand...

Automatic! Is the way to go. ;)
 
Turn off the automatic gain control on the camera, then turn the volume right down
 
Good thought TimX3 ... I meant automatic weapon exchange. :)
 
It depends on the venue too. A 21 gun salute is a tad louder than some hunter in the woods from a distance. Or using actual artillery (even with blanks) while a band plays the 1812 overture on the 4th of July.
 
This is the microphone that you need from Heil ...........

The PR 40 is the cannon of dynamic microphones, with a frequency range of 28 Hz. to 18 kHz., it's the absolute best mic for kick drums and horns. With a great articulate mid range rise at 5K (instead of the usual nasal sounding 2 or 3k) the PR 40 is well suited for vocals and instruments. Hollywood has even discovered the PR 40 for capturing the sound of cannons and guns. Outperforming the age old thousands of dollar condensers, the PR 40 reproduces it's wide frequency range with unbelievable clarity.
 
*All* of the statements above are B.S. I figured, "What the hell? I never liked that EV 957 anyway." I stood more than a foot away, just like Moresound said, and gave it an ounce and a quarter (sorry-2 3/4" chamber)
of #4 buckshot, and "ruptured" doesn't even do justice to it! I did find some aluminum and a little bit of mylar, though. I don't advise testing a U47 this way. I'm just sayin'- Did I miss something?-Richie
 
moresound said:
This is the microphone that you need from Heil ...........

The PR 40 is the cannon of dynamic microphones, with a frequency range of 28 Hz. to 18 kHz., it's the absolute best mic for kick drums and horns. With a great articulate mid range rise at 5K (instead of the usual nasal sounding 2 or 3k) the PR 40 is well suited for vocals and instruments. Hollywood has even discovered the PR 40 for capturing the sound of cannons and guns. Outperforming the age old thousands of dollar condensers, the PR 40 reproduces it's wide frequency range with unbelievable clarity.
Click to expand...


Exactly what I was going to recommend...
 
richard monroe said:
*all* of the statements above are b.s. I figured, "what the hell? I never liked that ev 957 anyway." i stood more than a foot away, just like moresound said, and gave it an ounce and a quarter (sorry-2 3/4" chamber)
of #4 buckshot, and "ruptured" doesn't even do justice to it! I did find some aluminum and a little bit of mylar, though. I don't advise testing a u47 this way. I'm just sayin'- did i miss something?-richie
Click to expand...



ha ha ---- ouch!!
 
Richard Monroe said:
*All* of the statements above are B.S. I figured, "What the hell? I never liked that EV 957 anyway." I stood more than a foot away, just like Moresound said, and gave it an ounce and a quarter (sorry-2 3/4" chamber)
of #4 buckshot, and "ruptured" doesn't even do justice to it! I did find some aluminum and a little bit of mylar, though. I don't advise testing a U47 this way. I'm just sayin'- Did I miss something?-Richie
Click to expand...

I assumed he was going to use a camcorder mic, which may be a little more robust (I have no idea about mic design), but I've used a camcorder to record shooting from just next to the shooter's head and never blown out the mic. So, I've done EXACTLY what the poster is questioning and NEVER had a problem except for distortion. And, like I said before, I've used everything up to a 30-06', indoor and outdoor. Maybe a mic designed for a studio will blow up, but one in the camcorder is probably designed to be a little stronger. But don't sue me if you wreck it.

haha, but thanks for the experiment, I'll never take anything from the studio to the range!
 
aaronmcoleman said:
I assumed he was going to use a camcorder mic, which may be a little more robust (I have no idea about mic design), but I've used a camcorder to record shooting from just next to the shooter's head and never blown out the mic. So, I've done EXACTLY what the poster is questioning and NEVER had a problem except for distortion. And, like I said before, I've used everything up to a 30-06', indoor and outdoor. Maybe a mic designed for a studio will blow up, but one in the camcorder is probably designed to be a little stronger. But don't sue me if you wreck it.

haha, but thanks for the experiment, I'll never take anything from the studio to the range!
Click to expand...

It's not about where you point the mic, it's about where you point the gun. And I can tell you that that 30-06 is a peashooter compared to the 6-pounder I *really* have recorded, or even my 4 gauge flintlock elephant gun. I can't even imagine the blast from the 44 pounders the HMS Victory carried. The worst of course, is in the enclosed space of an ironclad. Even with earplugs, the guns aboard the Merrimac ruptured crewmen's eardrums in its battle with the Monitor. Now *those* are he-man spl's.-Richie
 
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