Indeed, but for the rest of us mere mortals who can’t afford kevlar lined cars, at least we will know what we are missing out on. 
So I’ve also been wondering about something else. How much does the guitar affect all of this?
The guitar I’m using is a Takamine EG334 SBC. It has a Spruce top and Ovangkol back and sides. I also have a Takamine GB7C that has a Cedar top and a rosewood back and sides. I could use that one, but I don’t like to play that one often…I want to keep that one in as good a shape as possible. I could play it if necessary, since I’m only doing so at home for this project.
What do you think?
I did promise that I would make some recordings when the wind picked up.
Today had the opportunity, and the weatherman says the wind in my area is around 10Km/h with gusts up to 22Km/h,
making it a gentle to moderate breeze.
The inside car recording, at about 7.5 seconds, I rattled my keys as a level comparison.
A car is actually not a bad place to record, especially when parked inside a garage or a quiet suburban road.
I agree completely. One of the production people used to arrive with good, quiet, clear voice tracks and I wondered how he was doing that with the three dogs. He said: “My Toyota.”
What do you think?
I think our goal is to make a recording that sounds like your guitar which ever one it is. If your recording space is tight, you’re going to run into proximity effects. Directional microphones just sound different when you get close. One of the tricks to sound like a Broadcast Professional is oblique placement of a directional microphone (B) and get close.
If you have no low-pitched tones in your voice, this isn’t going to help
Koz
A wild idea, for those that absolutely have no other place to record other than their car.
The biggest contributor to reverb must surely be the windscreens and side windows.
So, why not get several sound absorption panels (a.k.a acoustic wall panels) and “stick” them on the glass with suction pads?
Thinking, one each for the side windows, then maybe 3 for the front and another 3 for the back windscreens.
Wonder if that would make any appreciable difference?
Suction cups are ultra cheap and panels are available for as low as $26 for 12 from Amazon.
The absorption factor would probably be poor at the low end, but since I don’t see anyone playing drums in their car, not a problem.
The panels don’t need to cover the glass completely and can be trimmed and shaped.
Hey, everyone. Sorry for the delay of getting the sound tests to you all. It’s been raining here off and on the past few days, and I haven’t had a good opportunity to get out in the garage and make the recordings. They’re attached (I think that’s how you do it) in WAV format. I did one with the SM58, one with my P170, and one with my MK319 with the pop filter. They’re unaltered. I simply recorded them and then exported the recording as WAV files. If these don’t have enough silence, let me know. I still have the original files, I can cut them differently. All microphones are pointed away from my big garage door (my external one). For each test I was 8-10 inches from the microphone.
The Audacity microphone volume was 0.75 dB for all recordings.
Shure SM58:
Monitor did not register below 54 dB
Gain on Focusrite 2i2 was approximately 75%
Air button was engaged.
P170:
Monitor did not register below 54 dB
Gain on Focusrite 2i2 was approximately 50%
Air button engaged.
MK318:
Same settings as P170.
So as it relates to this thread, let me know what you all think about the noise, etc. in these. There’s no singing, just speaking. Do the levels sound OK, given the mics used? How does the “background noise” sound (ambient noise/rumble/whatever you want to call it)?