50 WEATHER FOCUS Audio
Words by Neal Romanek Is it possible to capture high-quality audio in the middle of extreme weather events? LISTENING TO THE ELEMENTS
’m here at the scene of…[white noise]…where I can see…[white noise]…officials say…[white noise]… emergency…[white noise]…
wind – windscreens, blimps and the like – but the protection needs to be acoustically transparent or it starts to change the frequency response of the microphone. “If you have a microphone that’s low on high-frequency information to begin with and you add a big, thick piece of fur to it, then you’re losing a lot of high frequency. Losing that, you’re losing a lot of speech intelligibility,” explains Bo Brinck, global sales support manager at DPA Microphones. “Be sure you have wind protection and water protection that is as transparent as possible. If you buy cheap gear with cheap materials, you’re going to lose speech intelligibility.” Getting the sound right requires some finesse and expertise, and relying on the nearest microphone at hand probably isn’t going to cut it when you’re out in suboptimal weather conditions. Recording in harrowing weather conditions also requires gear that is just plain rugged. “Any sound is better than no sound at all,” points out Brinck. “If you go out with fragile or cheap equipment and you come home with no recording, it makes the whole thing a waste of time. Going out with microphones that have been shielded well and that have suspended
residents should immediately [white noise].” Live reporting from the scene of a major weather disaster can quickly go to pieces if you have bad sound recording. A little wind and water can go a long way in destroying what could be one-of-a-kind commentary. If quality is your goal, there really is no one- size-fits-all microphone for recording in high wind or challenging weather conditions. If there is unwanted sound flying in from multiple angles, the choice should be a directional microphone, which can isolate the voice of the presenter or guest from the polluting noise. The problem is a directional microphone is much more sensitive to wind and handling noise. This means most outdoor interviews are done with an omnidirectional microphone, which has a much greater tolerance for the noise of wind, rain and handling. However, by its very nature, it picks up unwanted sound coming from different directions. Omnidirectional microphones are also better at resisting humidity. Because of their limitations, directional mics need substantial protection from the
SNOW SOUND LIKE THE WIND Two DPA d:dicate 4006 Omnidirectional Microphones being used to record katabatic blizzards in Antarctica
diaphragms is going to pay off. With cheap microphones, the journalists really know what they’re getting.” DPA Microphones is known for its meticulous attention to detail, and Brinck is proud of how the microphones have performed in extreme conditions. “Our microphones have been used in extreme weather situations – outside clothing on a ship in Greenland, for instance, and in the Arctic. We know they can handle extremely wet weather – both salty ocean weather and humid weather in the jungle – whereas we have seen other microphones have problems when the humidity rises. They start crackling.” In the Greenland case, the microphones had to operate flawlessly for many days, given the ship was far from land. The omnidirectional microphones were
IF YOU GO OUT WITH FRAGILE OR CHEAP EQUIPMENT AND YOU COME HOME WITH NO RECORDING, IT MAKES THEWHOLE THING AWASTE OF TIME
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