Feeds:
Færslur
Athugasemdir

Posts Tagged ‘Gust’

In the fog at Arnarvatnsheiði

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 19.7.2022| Leave a Comment »

IMG_2200

This recording is actually recorded in a „natural silence“, far away from traffic in open landscape, which can be said to be my area of interest. But the weather, as so often before, was no way to work with me. Windy and wet which means I was not able to record the „depth in the field“ that can often be heard through good recordings, recorded in calm, dry weather.
There is no doubt when I say that 95% of all the recordings I record in Icelandic nature sounds like this. Therefore, it is also wrong not to report it with examples.
Here is one. The location is the highland at Arnarvatnsheiði, northwest Iceland near a place called Hæðarsporður
I had to find a sheltered place close to the ground to protect the microphones as much as possible from wind and rain. Close to the ground isn’t a good position for microphones, but often only way to record something for a days or a weeks
While Rode NT1 is a cardioid I couldn’t find an ideal location, so it is not a good balance between right and left channels. Right channel has noise from the Norðlingafljót river just over a km away, as well as there is less bird life on the left side
The result is as it is.
This is a part of a ten hours long overnight recording. During the night the windshield gets very wet, so one of the reasons why this recording sounds a bit „dull“.
The soundscape was quiet as usual on the Icelandic highland. It was almost impossible to hear anything except wind noise. The recorder was at +50 db gain on SD788. In post the gain was increased by about +25db (up to -7db). RX noise reduction was not used. Wind noise was decreased below 100Hz with EQ, also NT1´s white noise was lowered above 10Khz about -3db,  and -6db at 15khz.  Normally it does not harm the recording while bird songs which have the highest frequency range in Icelandic nature are mostly below 7Khz.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low volume
If the media player doesn’t start to play, please reload this individual blog in a new tab or frame.

  (mp3 256kbps / 55,8Mb)

Recorder: Sound Devices 788
Mics: Rode NT1 (NOS 90°/30cm)
Pix: Canon EOS-R

Weather: Windy up to 8m/sec, drizzle rain, foggy & 5°C
Location: 64.854845, -20.545331

Read Full Post »

The Gust Symphony, Larghissimo to Prestissimo

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , on 20.11.2021| 1 Comment »

IMG_2200

The natural acoustic in Iceland for 8 months a year is little more than silence or noise created by the wind. It is obvious that my recording collection contains a large amount of this sound of silence. These are usually 6-10 hour long recordings. I usually do not listen to these recordings, but I run them all through a spectrogram to look for something interesting. Sometimes something interesting happens near the microphone, but it is rare. It is usually just different weather and of course the traffic that interrupts almost all recordings except for two to three hours overnight.
It was recently that the musician Hazal Elif Yalvaç contacted me and asked me about all kinds of „wind sounds“. So I searched through the collection, which made me find an interesting recording like this below.
It contains all kinds of wind sounds, both near the microphones and far away. The whole recording sounds like you are in the middle of a huge symphony orchestra. When it is calm and silent you can hear when the frost bites with a tiny „pop sound“. Straws and branches rub together in the wind and the ice breaks in the soil. Literally everything between falling snowflakes to strong winds blowing through tall trees in the distance.
This is a high gain recording (+50dB at rec.+ 20db in post) with microcosmic sound which was recorded in west Iceland 15th of February 2021.
This Gust symphony starts in Larghissimo, so be patient. The tempo will increase within a few minutes.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at mid level
If the media player doesn’t start to play, please reload this individual blog in a new tab or frame.

(mp3 256kbps / 62Mb)

Recorder: Sound devices 788 
Mics: Lewitt LCT540s  (IRT cross setup, mixed to stereo)
Pix: Canon EOS R

Location:  64.673367, -21.628704
Weather:  partly cloudy, slightly snowing, around -7 to -12°C

Read Full Post »

Gust in Stafholtstungur.

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 20.6.2019| 2 Comments »

IMG_2200

There are two things which are always possible to record almost everywhere, any time and all year around. That is traffic noise and all kinds of wind.
Traffic noise is easy to record, but wind noise is more difficult. Wind is like an instrument or a symphony orchestra. But what makes it even more difficult is that you can´t place the microphone everywhere you like. A „pure and clean“ wind recording may not include a mechanical wind noise from the windshield, cable or the tripod. So location of the microphone rig plays normally a big role. But when the microphone is placed close to ground or a wall it will affect the frequency spectrum, mainly of sound reflection and therefore a phase issue.
It is possible this happened to me in December when I recorded gust over night in the country side, west Iceland. But I am still not sure, because when all the straws on the ground were rubbing each other, they made a sound or a constant noise which was limited to specific frequency range.
There is no other recording I have made which sounds as differently between different headphones and speakers as this one. I have not EQ this recording much, just pulled down the subsonic at 20Hz and slightly lifted 250Hz (+/-100Hz) The microphone was about 30-50cm from the ground. It was very bumpy and because of that I think I was probably not struggling with a phase issue, only the noise from the rubbing straws.
This recording starts very calm, with an „intro“. But suddenly the wind starts to blow and and gets stronger in the third part of this beautiful winter song..
I am used to record exactly on this location almost every time I visit this place so it is interesting to listen how this place sounds six months later, in July. Listen here.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low or medium level.

(mp3 256kbps / 49Mb)
If the media player doesn’t start to play, please reload this individual blog in new tab or frame

Recorder. Sound devices MixPre6
Mics: Lewwitt LCT540s (NOS)
Pix: Canon EOS M
Location:64.673500, -21.629361
Weather: Calm to breez, around -8°C

Read Full Post »

Gust at Hvítingshæðum

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , on 14.1.2018| 4 Comments »

IMG_2200

For me nothing is as pleasant as laying in the grass on a warm summer day in good distance from human activity, looking at the sky and listen to the wind wipe the grass until I fall a sleep.
This is something I did the 30th of July 2017 when I decided to visit places I remembered as a child, almost 50 years ago. It was at my grandparents´ farmland, Efri-Brú, which they owned most of the last century.
About 2 km northeast of the farm is a place named Hvítingshæðir. There is an old ruin of sheep shield, surrounded in grass field and remnants of old fence. This sheep shield in Hvítingshæðir was one of three or four sheep houses in distance from the main farm buildings. These sheep shields were usually built in places where it was easy to mow and keep hey for sheep during the winter months.
There is not much going on in this recording. Many decades have passed since farming was in the area and most birds are quiet this time of the day. So gust is playing the main role in the recording.
This was one the first recording I did with my parallel MKH8020/8040 AB setup in Rycote windshield. It was recorded on four channels with 50dB gain and HPF at 80Hz.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low to mid level, or in speakers at low level.

(mp3 256kbps / 48Mb)

Recorder: Sound devices MixPre6
Mics: Parallel Sennheiser MKH8020/8040 AB setup
Pix: Canon EOS-M
Location: 64.111163, -20.972373
Weather: Dry, sunny, light clouds, 3-5 m/sec

Read Full Post »

Cyclone in gust

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , on 9.10.2016| 4 Comments »

IMG_2200

Wind is very often the recordist´s enemy. Especially if the rumbling noise of „hammering membrane“ is not acceptable.
Some recordists may say this rumbling noise is just normal. Everyone will hear similar rumbling noise when they stay in wind.
For me it sounds like „clipping distortion“.
Wind protection is one of the most important thing for nature recordings, especially in the country where wind below 3m/sec. is almost unique.
I have tried several wind protections. My own, Rode Blimp and Rycote Softie and Modular series. All of them sounds similar. So it was welcomed when Rycote introduced the Cyclone windshield. Cyclone have Floating Basket Suspension, which is very nice. Until now, it has been only be used in the overpriced Cinela products.
Rode NT1a is one of the best cardioid microphones available today for nature recording. But sadly it is not build for outdoor use, so it has some poor futures like handling noise.
So when I choose it on the field, it has been important to keep it in Rycote modular windshield, place it close to the ground (sadly very often too close) and pray for completely calm weather. Then pray again for nice outcome.
I per-order a pair of Cyclone mini windshield last summer and got it in mid September. My plan was to fix them with parallel MKH20/40. But I also gave my modified NT1a a try when I saw it was almost „plug and play“ to fix it .
Without fur Cyclone was not far from to be equal to Rycote modular series with fur. But when Cyclone was dressed in fur the rumbling noise almost disappeared in wind around 5-7 m/s. That was a huge success.
Following recording is a short part of overnight recording from Stafholtstungur, in the west of Iceland. The gust goes up to ca. 7m/sec. and the recorder HPF was set at 80Hz. The rig is about 1 meter above the ground.
Some rumble noise is audible in this recording, but some of it could as well be a vibration from the tripod. Keep it in mind this is NT1a which is particularly sensitive for handling noise.
I will spend more time to test this setup but it looks like I need to order another pair for my MKH20/40 rig.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low to mid level.

(265kbps / 36Mb)

Recorder: Sound devices 744
Mics: Rode Nt1a NOS setup
Pic: Canon EOS-M

Read Full Post »