- MICROPHONES -

[online prowler]

HEI FOLKS!


I am looking into microphones that is water resistant. I intend to use it to record in the sea. Any pointers to brands and online dealers?

Here you have a good company re mics for fieldrecording + contacts based in Norway: http://www.luhd-mics.com/

[Cementimental]

Hydrophone is the word you want to be googling

They're easy to build and probably very expensive to buy

[online prowler]

Hydrophone is the word you want to be googling

They're easy to build and probably very expensive to buy

Thanx for the pointer Cementimental! Found some to an acceptable price. Will continue the research.

http://www.aquarianaudio.com/hydrophones.html

[tiny_tove]

I use this: http://cranksturgeon.com/PIEZOCRANK.html
immersion sturgeon

[Cementimental]

They're easyyyy and really cheap to build:
http://soundandmusic.org/resources/artists-toolkit/how-tos/how-to-build-a-hydrophone
http://www.dosits.org/resources/all/classroom/buildhydrophone/

I made one just by epoxy gluing a piezo and a bunch of coins for weight into a film canister. Works fine but I've yet to actually use it properly, I should go down to the nearby canal and have a go.

Like any Piezo mic you probably want to get/make a preamp to fix the impedence if you want a hi-fi recording (i've yet to get round to this but will soon, interested to hear how or if it will affect/improve standard dumb piezo straight into distortion pedals noise approach I and everyone else normally uses  :) )
http://leafcutterjohn.com/?p=894
http://www.zachpoff.com/diy-resources/alex-rice-piezo-preamplifier/

[online prowler]

Thanx for the suggestion Cementimental. This could be interesting as an experiment.

Been conversing with Anders of LUHD posted above. He told me that they are now developing hydrophone mics w an engineer in the field. Earliest release date is end 2013.

EDIT: Forgot to say that it will be possible to get customized hydro mics of own choosing.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Like any Piezo mic you probably want to get/make a preamp to fix the impedence if you want a hi-fi recording (i've yet to get round to this but will soon, interested to hear how or if it will affect/improve standard dumb piezo straight into distortion pedals noise approach I and everyone else normally uses  :) )

When you get it done, please report! Very curious. I have kind of love/hate relationship with piezzo. While I like it a lot, I dislike specific qualities what makes it so easy to recognize.

Best underwater microphone action I have seen has been SMALL CRUEL PARTY live gigs.

[Duncan]

Like any Piezo mic you probably want to get/make a preamp to fix the impedence if you want a hi-fi recording (i've yet to get round to this but will soon, interested to hear how or if it will affect/improve standard dumb piezo straight into distortion pedals noise approach I and everyone else normally uses  :) )

When you get it done, please report! Very curious.

Andie Brown of These Feathers Have Plumes has had a preamp made for her rather extensive use of piezo mics.  She goes for a very clear and detailed sound amplifying huge glasses filled with water, and from what I've seen live it all worked amazingly well with the preamp.  I'd need to ask again but I think it fixed a lot of feedback issues as well as impedance etc.

[Human Larvae]

Like any Piezo mic you probably want to get/make a preamp to fix the impedence if you want a hi-fi recording (i've yet to get round to this but will soon, interested to hear how or if it will affect/improve standard dumb piezo straight into distortion pedals noise approach I and everyone else normally uses  :) )

When you get it done, please report! Very curious. I have kind of love/hate relationship with piezzo. While I like it a lot, I dislike specific qualities what makes it so easy to recognize.

Best underwater microphone action I have seen has been SMALL CRUEL PARTY live gigs.

don't you guys ever just plug a contact mic into your mixer input and turn up the gain on the channel? Same thing

[online prowler]

Thanx Tiny Tove!

Pre amp is vital when recording underwater, especially at great depths. Need some extra boost to get a proper recording.

As for piezo mics, I haven't used them much, but from what Anders told me I understood that using a conventional mic or a contact mic under water will pretty much generate the same result since recording below surface is mostly based on "contact energy", and conventional sound as we experience it in our land surroundings does not exist there. Our ears are tuned to air pressure, this is not to be found in the sea. This is why what we he hear under water is perceived as alien to some extent.

[Cementimental]

don't you guys ever just plug a contact mic into your mixer input and turn up the gain on the channel? Same thing

I never use the things uneffected... I could actually do it this way now you mention it since I do have inserts in my current mixer... still I think a standalone preamp would be better/more versatile. Also lot of the DIY contact mic/hydrophone projects have all or the sensitive parts of the preamp circuit built into/close to the mic part to minimise interference.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Also - contact mics for field recordings. It's not like I'd carry mixers and electricity source around.

[Dan J]

Picked up a used one cheap and no regrets. Opened up a lot for outdoor recordings with contact mics (and other mic's as well). Alot of depth, texture and clarity to be gained.

[online prowler]

Also - contact mics for field recordings. It's not like I'd carry mixers and electricity source around.

You say something there! Mixer angle is waaay to impractical. Would work in a daily out door recording session at all. In these cases - or at least for hydrophone mics it is possible to purchase for instance this small size buffer/preamp that is integrated in the wire:

http://www.aquarianaudio.com/pa2.html

In theory it might just work on land as well.

[Cementimental]

I might just get a cheap acoustic guitar preamp kit and build it into a small box with added 1/4" input :)