Recording car exhaust sound while driving (without wind noise)?

[dryicerx]

I'm attempting to make some car/driving videos, but having problems trying to capture the exhaust sounds. I specifically want to record the sound from the rear of the vehicle to get the deep throaty sound (which is not heard in the cabin/front).

The problem I am having is wind noise.

I have a Zoom H1 recorder. I have tried placing deadcats/fur around it, used rubber suction cups to mount it... all is well, but wind noise is always there. The only thing I haven't done is using pipes/fishing pole to move the mic to the draft position of the car...

Other than moving the camera to the draft position, are there any other tricks/methods I can use to remove wind noise from being recorded?

[Daniel W.]

The motion "sounds" like the problem. If you have a friend with a dyno, that'd be best bet. I did a piece on lead sleds a few year back and we just had the drive rev in neutral/park a bit. Do be careful as they can get quite loud and you don't want to damage/deform the capsule. I've had guys come back from shooting drag races and the capsule / element of their beloved Schoeps had to be replaced due to excessive dB.

[dryicerx]

Originally Posted by Daniel W.

The motion "sounds" like the problem. If you have a friend with a dyno, that'd be best bet. I did a piece on lead sleds a few year back and we just had the drive rev in neutral/park a bit. Do be careful as they can get quite loud and you don't want to damage/deform the capsule. I've had guys come back from shooting drag races and the capsule / element of their beloved Schoeps had to be replaced due to excessive dB.

Yeah, a dyno would do the trick... unfortunately the video is driving in the twisty mountains (and the exhaust sounds I want are while the drive is taking place sync'd with the video).

Trying to do a follow up video for this... this time with the car sounds: http://vimeo.com/16579840

[prncfarquad]

It would probably be more of a pain than it is worth but see if this makes sense..

Go video your drive.
Go back to the dyno, hook up, then playback the video and drive on the dyno to sync the exhaust with the video.

just thinking out loud, like I said may be to much of a pain to do that

[dryicerx]

Originally Posted by prncfarquad

It would probably be more of a pain than it is worth but see if this makes sense..

Go video your drive.
Go back to the dyno, hook up, then playback the video and drive on the dyno to sync the exhaust with the video.

just thinking out loud, like I said may be to much of a pain to do that

Yeah, this would be one option, but I'm only interested in capturing the true sounds along with the video. Even if I were to use a dyno setup, it's close to impossible to capture the exhaust notes of rev-matched down shifts, sound of burning rubber, or the exhaust popping/cracking sounds.

[ldelacruz]

Extend the tail pipe to a quiter spot.

[Flores]

have you tried mounting under the rear bumper. or up under the rear of the car? you will also get some nice tire squeal to go with the performance as well :)

don't know what kind of ride your trying to rig here, but there are usually a few spots you can bolt/tie wrap to that are far enough away from the exhaust that you won't get too hot, out of the wind, and close enough to really do a good job picking up all he vroom vroom sounds. :D

i did this with a cheap condenser mic and a long pig tail to an archos recorder years and years ago. literly used 200MPH 'racers' tape to tape the line to the outside of the car, and shoved the mic up under the bumper as far as I could reach, and taped it down.

[dryicerx]

Originally Posted by Flores

have you tried mounting under the rear bumper. or up under the rear of the car? you will also get some nice tire squeal to go with the performance as well :)

don't know what kind of ride your trying to rig here, but there are usually a few spots you can bolt/tie wrap to that are far enough away from the exhaust that you won't get too hot, out of the wind, and close enough to really do a good job picking up all he vroom vroom sounds. :D

i did this with a cheap condenser mic and a long pig tail to an archos recorder years and years ago. literly used 200MPH 'racers' tape to tape the line to the outside of the car, and shoved the mic up under the bumper as far as I could reach, and taped it down.

Yeah, tried under the car/bumper/diffuser, but I guess I can try mounting the mic inside the bumper area like you mentioned, and makes sense because there won't be wind there... maybe go a bit deeper than before. I'll give it a try this weekend and see how it goes. I have a good feeling about this now.

This has a picture of the rear of the car I'm trying to do this (but want to figure out a good solution that works on all/any car). Photo of rear of car

[tukaniray]

What about the trunk? If you gaff tape it in the trunk closest to the exhaust that may do that trick.

I think the idea inside the rear bumper might work pretty well as well.

-Ray-

[thehatguy]

Put it in the trunk.

It will work there.

John

[dryicerx]

Originally Posted by tukaniray

What about the trunk? If you gaff tape it in the trunk closest to the exhaust that may do that trick.
I think the idea inside the rear bumper might work pretty well as well.
-Ray-

That's the first thing I tried... ductaped the recorder and mic to various locations in the back/top/below the trunk... lots of wind noise.

Originally Posted by thehatguy

Put it in the trunk.
It will work there.
John

Hmm.. I wonder how much sound loss there will be since it's an enclosed space, but I'll give that a try. Hopefully it's not as quiet as the interior (which is why I want to have the microphone outside externally).

[dryicerx]

As per Raymond and John, I tried recording from the inside of the trunk. It's definitely an improvement over having the mic's externally with wind noise... but the trunk's openness makes it boomy and spacey sounding which makes for quite an unnatural recording, and the throaty sound of the exhaust is unfortunately lost (which is what I really want to be capturing). I'm going to fill the trunk with some stuff to remove the empty space and try again, but I have my doubts still.

Off to experimenting more.

[KenH]

Originally Posted by dryicerx

I'm attempting to make some car/driving videos, but having problems trying to capture the exhaust sounds. I specifically want to record the sound from the rear of the vehicle to get the deep throaty sound (which is not heard in the cabin/front).

The problem I am having is wind noise.


Other than moving the camera to the draft position, are there any other tricks/methods I can use to remove wind noise from being recorded?

Are you driving a drop-top? I also like to record videos of driving in my Miata, and have the same issues. I don't have a remote mic, and it's difficult to block the wind noise from the little mic on the camera if it's in a good position to see the ride. I have had some luck wrapping the camera with dense foam rubber to cover the mic area, it muffles the wind noise some but doesn't really seem to affect the exhaust sound. I've installed a performance exhaust, which is notably louder than the stock one, but haven't had the opportunity to record anything since installing it.

If you have a remote mic, can you fix it to the tag area? Is this the "draft position" you're talking about? Route the cord through the trunk and fasten the mic to the rear panel with duct tape, or make a Velcro mount. I'd be interested to hear the results.

Can we post video links here, or is there a special place on the forum for those?

[PWhite214]

Try covering the mic with foam pads, isolating the equipment from the space in the trunk.

Just a thought.

Phil

[PWhite214]

Double post, sorry