OffsetGuitars.com

so yeah, i stay on a busy street, there is a hospital, police station and fire fighters all on this street. i've noticed in some of my recordings, even when close mic'ing that you can still hear the sirens of the emergency vehicles, anyone got any tips on how to mic but maybe not have the sound of police chasing down jack the jakey?

Is this when you record vocals? I’ve recorded my best vocals in my car actually.

Trout

Trout wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:41 am

Is this when you record vocals? I’ve recorded my best vocals in my car actually.

Trout

vocals.... ha. nope. no singing for me. nah, its from guitar.

I guess we can drop the car idea then

Use the least sensitive Mic you can get away with, have the source as loud as you can get away with so you can keep the preamp volume low.

Line6 has the answer.

UlricvonCatalyst wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 07, 2018 11:15 am

Line6 has the answer.

I’d say Two Notes or Universal Audio have the answer.

turn up the amp

put material in between amp and sound source? which is from all directions probably if your windows are closed...I have recorded with a duvet over the amp and mic before (watch out for overheating) it won't be the best acoustics but if the other option is a bedroom it may in fact be better than that.

You'd probably still get low rumble, like motorbikes speeding past etc. but that could be minimised with a high-pass filter. You could potentially automate such a filter or use multiband compression somehow (i'd probably do automation since it won't be occuring all the time) and dial it in a bit more extreme that way if its just momentary...worth a try anyway.

Trout wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 07, 2018 10:35 am

I guess we can drop the car idea then

depends if you have a nice soundproof rumble proof car. Mine is crap and actually i'm sure there are a few holes in it somewhere.
But it seems like an interesting place to record, i always practice in there and it would be an interesting mood.
I think Thom Yorke recorded some of the Kid A sessions vocals in a car not sure if he was actually driving at the time.

I have both a 7- seat Ford and a small Skoda. The Skoda is by far the best vocal booth

thanks for the tips.

I record dialog for a living, and a motorcycle, plane, sirens, and big trucks are almost always sound problems. But FAR less so with less sensitive mics like the SM57.

Building a low budget baffles to put in front of the windows can make a big difference with mid and high freqs, but they have to be thick (at least 6” of thick foam between 1” pieces of plywood) and SNUG to the wall to help with low freqs. Even then you’ll hear most anything under 80Hz or so.

Given your situation, you could baffle your windows, use a 57 facing directly away from the noise, and turn the amp up loud.

Last thing would be something you’ve surely thought of, which is waiting to record until the quietest hours...