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Tomorrow I'll be going out to a stretch of highway and coasting a pickup truck down a hill with the engine off and placing things with holes (plywood, old fridges, big empty bottles and containers, etc. etc. etc., anything that whistles when wind passes them) and I wanted to see in this last minute if any of you have done this sort of thing or recorded in high high high wind scenarios and have a golden tip I might be overlooking.

I've got my W5Ds and baskets and rycotes for my stereo pair of omni MK5s, and I'm bringing a stereo pair of Senn 421s and of course, the good ol' SM58s.

Is there anything you encountered that caused a face-palm moment for you on the day? Something ridiculous like "Bring a piece of plexiglass to put in front of your mic stands and mic to deflect some of the air because going 60 miles an hour or more makes your mic fall over", or "bring a miniature sandbag to keep your hat on", or "look out for cops because putting your truck into neutral with the engine off coasting down a hill is extremely illegal".

Thanks, Ryan

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4 Answers

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Looks like a big fun ;-) I think omni microphones with long hair wind jammers (Rycote) are the best for this case.
Wish you good luck, don't forget to share the recording ;-)

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Thanks for the wishes and the tip - I'm combing my windjammers as I type!!! Big day tomorrow. – Utopia Feb 3 2012 at 7:38
@Utopia Definitely need to buy a comb just to comb my windjammers. – Dominic Feb 3 2012 at 16:48
@Dominic Wonder if someone could make a living as a windjammer hairdresser ;) – Utopia Feb 4 2012 at 1:25
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I hope this is not something you find out the hard way:

With the engine off, you have no or diminished brake pressure, and no power steering. So be careful to have some space down the hill to decrease your speed without relying on the brakes too much.

(this is probably why such tricks are frowned upon by the cops)

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Just got back and yes thanks for that. The friend driving worked it all out - I thought we were going to turn the car off but when the car is coasting it's not very noticeable anyway with the high SPL of wind coming at the mics! – Utopia Feb 4 2012 at 1:24
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When recording a motorcycle last summer i placed a pair Dpa4061 in their own rycote furs. This wasnt enough when going fast, so I placed the mica inside the rycotes, and placed these inside a pair of small rycote softies. Just saying, that your mics might get exposed to too much wind, if not protected properly. Looking forward to hearing about how it all went.

Best wishes,

Mikkel

SonicSalute Sfx

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Thanks! I'll try to post something up tonight to show and tell – Utopia Feb 4 2012 at 1:24
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You may be able to leave the engine running if you can enough isolation with your mics. This will work to your benefit since you'll be able to increase or decrease your speed at will, or coast in neutral. Plus it will be a lot safer.

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Thanks J - The driver had it all under control. Can't wait to show you all the results. – Utopia Feb 4 2012 at 1:25
I'm keen to hear the results! – reon Feb 5 2012 at 14:02

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