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From: George's Pro Sound Co. on 12 Mar 2010 12:20 I found this on line The two microphones for the podium were provided to the U.S. Army Signal Corps prior to the event to allow them to check them over carefully prior to their placement on the presidential podium. After attaching them, I covered each microphone with the largest prophylactic I could buy and then covered each mic with a normal foam windscreen - Washington DC is very windy in January. it seems a rubber was put over the mic, possibly for waterproofing, which I have done but I never paid attention if it was also a add level of wind noise filtering anyone doing this? I will probably just try it at my next outdoor gig(in may) but just asking if this is a trick I have missed all these years george
From: Joe Kotroczo on 12 Mar 2010 12:58 On 12/03/2010 17:20, in article jbudnaNPWJ126gfWnZ2dnUVZ_tqdnZ2d(a)earthlink.com, "George's Pro Sound Co." <bmoas(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > I found this on line > > The two microphones for the podium were provided to the U.S. Army Signal > Corps prior to the event to allow them to check them over carefully prior to > their placement on the presidential podium. After attaching them, I covered > each microphone with the largest prophylactic I could buy and then covered > each mic with a normal foam windscreen - Washington DC is very windy in > January. > > it seems a rubber was put over the mic, possibly for waterproofing, which I > have done but I never paid attention if it was also a add level of wind > noise filtering > anyone doing this? I will probably just try it at my next outdoor gig(in > may) but just asking if this is a trick I have missed all these years > george I've only ever heard of unlubricated condoms for waterproofing, but it never hurts to experiment. Try it and see what it does. -- Joe Kotroczo kotroczo(a)mac.com
From: Denny Strauser on 12 Mar 2010 13:42 George's Pro Sound Co. wrote: > I found this on line > > The two microphones for the podium were provided to the U.S. Army Signal > Corps prior to the event to allow them to check them over carefully prior to > their placement on the presidential podium. After attaching them, I covered > each microphone with the largest prophylactic I could buy and then covered > each mic with a normal foam windscreen - Washington DC is very windy in > January. > > it seems a rubber was put over the mic, possibly for waterproofing, which I > have done but I never paid attention if it was also a add level of wind > noise filtering > anyone doing this? I will probably just try it at my next outdoor gig(in > may) but just asking if this is a trick I have missed all these years > george I've done it for rain protection and it killed the lows, so I wouldn't even try it for wind. .... unless you don't care about lows ... - Denny
From: bob on 12 Mar 2010 15:32 George's Pro Sound Co. wrote: > I found this on line > > The two microphones for the podium were provided to the U.S. Army Signal > Corps prior to the event to allow them to check them over carefully prior to > their placement on the presidential podium. After attaching them, I covered > each microphone with the largest prophylactic I could buy and then covered > each mic with a normal foam windscreen - Washington DC is very windy in > January. > > it seems a rubber was put over the mic, possibly for waterproofing, which I > have done but I never paid attention if it was also a add level of wind > noise filtering > anyone doing this? I will probably just try it at my next outdoor gig(in > may) but just asking if this is a trick I have missed all these years > george > > Well, if you were doing this on a small diaphragm goose neck electrit, a finger cot would be the weapon of choice. I once put rubbers on a SM11, weighted it, and sealed it with silicon so my eccentric boss of the time could listen to the fishes under the water.... I tested it in the toilet with a flush as my prototype test.. ;) bob
From: Bob Howes on 12 Mar 2010 22:15
"George's Pro Sound Co." <bmoas(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:jbudnaNPWJ126gfWnZ2dnUVZ_tqdnZ2d(a)earthlink.com... >I found this on line > > The two microphones for the podium were provided to the U.S. Army Signal > Corps prior to the event to allow them to check them over carefully prior > to their placement on the presidential podium. After attaching them, I > covered each microphone with the largest prophylactic I could buy and then > covered each mic with a normal foam windscreen - Washington DC is very > windy in January. > > it seems a rubber was put over the mic, possibly for waterproofing, which > I have done but I never paid attention if it was also a add level of wind > noise filtering > anyone doing this? I will probably just try it at my next outdoor gig(in > may) but just asking if this is a trick I have missed all these years > george > I've used the condom on the mic trick quite a few times in my old film/TV sound career. There were several applications. Yes, used under a normal windgag it can provide an extra level of protection in really bad conditions. It also makes the mic pretty much waterproof in rainy/wet conditions--I once did a series about sailing and my mics wore condoms for most of that! Finally, I'm old enough to remember when a "lav" was a mic about the size of your middle finger that hung round the neck on a string--if you had to hide one of those monsters under clothing for a drama or something, a condom was essential to cut out clothing rustle. In all cases we used the unlubricated variety. It was the job of the most junior sound guy to go to the local pharmacy every Friday to buy 50 or so, usually trying to embarrass the girl behind the counter with a "well that should last me a few days...see you next week". The joke was on us...said junior sound guy ended up marrying the girl at the pharmacy. As has been said, wrapping your mic in a condom does horrible things to low frequency response--EQ can help but it's never perfect. However, the wind/rain/clothing rustle alternatives are generally even worse sounding so it was always a last ditch "at least we'll get something" sort of trick. Aside for George: don't know about the army signal guys but the white house radio people who I've worked with on a presidential gig were, er, a bit cloth eared and using gear of an age and quality that would have been in my "spares" box years ago. However, they had way of working that kept their jobs safe and were not prone to changing. Bob |