A Jersey Wind

Last weekend, the Missus and I were out in Jersey visiting family and, boy, was it windy! Throughout the weekend, gusts of 35 mph wind were knocking trees and power lines down.  When I heard the sound they made passing through the trees, I was really glad I had brought a kit out to Jersey with me.  For ease of travel, I went with my more compact set up, which consists of DPA 4060s, a Sound Devices MP-2 Mixer and a Sony PCM-M10.

I set up the DPAs on either side of a large oak tree in the neighbors’ yard; after just a few minutes, the tree seemed to be shakin’ it’s thang in the wind.  The diameter of the trunk was substantially wider than a human head, so you really can’t call this a binaural recording, but it is not super spaced out either. In the absence of a cool name for this stereo technique, I’ll call it “spaced trunk pair.”

[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/sepulchra/a-jersey-wind” params=”show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=ff7700″ width=”100%” height=”81″ ]

In December, I managed to capture some nice wind sounds on the west coast of Florida, but I think I am little more fond of this recording.  This wind just seems to have a bit more grit . . .   maybe that’s because it is from Jersey.

Recording Geek Note:  Rig consists of a pair of DPA 4060s mounted stealthily on either side of a big tree.  It was all tracked to a Sony PCM-M10, with Sound Devices MP-2 as a front end.

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  2. The Florida wind recording is one of my favourites; I used it as inspiration for the processing when I tried to turn ‘buzzing saws’ into ‘swaying palms’ for my version of Alvin Lucier’s Gentle Fire.

    I regularly listen to Florida Wind; it’s a gift to be able to hear the power of the wind in such great detail without any wind damage on the recording.

    I am trying out a Rycote windshield this weekend, with a condenser mic, and I am hopeful I may be able to capture some wind in trees from Oxfordshire.

    Thanks for this, Felix

    Reply

  7. How did you baffle/protect the microphones to make this recording?
    I am using a Reinhardt windshield and though it’s good for low-levels, anything more than a gust creates a lot of interference.

    Grateful for any tips you have on baffling…

    Reply
Michael Raphael May 12, 2010
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