How to record decent ride audio/video on the cheap.

[CivilRock]

I think my bike with the RS38 carbs and V&H exhaust sounds incredible. There's a cacophony of noise that comes from the bike, and I want to somehow share that noise. Or at least document it.

I've made a freshman effort to capture that sound with video and it sounds awful. I'm looking to improve that effort, and I know that audio is so important to a good video. Crappy audio kills even the best video.

I'm also not willing to go spend $500 on a GoPro and another $400 on a quality stereo digital sound recording device. I want to use what I have, or cheap eBay parts to get there. I want to use my brain instead of my wallet.

Test 1:
This first effort is my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 jammed in between my face and the inside of my helmet with the rear facing camera pointing out of the visor. I used the rear facing camera (facetime) so my lips and nose wouldn't press buttons on the phone while I was filming. (which shut off the filming of the first 3/4 of this awesome street in Portland)

Test 1 youtube link: http://youtu.be/fMqjqJC2KYM

Problems:
1. portrait mode sucks. Should be landscape. Although portrait mode offers a better opportunity to see the road and the gauges.
2. It would be more fun if the view was of down the road.
3. sound is awful and it gets worse when I put down my visor. I thought it would be better.

Proposed Test 2:
I ordered some super cheap lapel mics from eBay. I got two of them for $2.88 shipped. I also found a little TRRS extension in my desk and I'm going to solder one of the mics into the proper configuration for modern smartphones.

TRRS stands for the 4 contact sections of the plug. Apple changed the whole standard and patented it so they could make money on any aftermarket suppliers. But most have assimilated part of the standard, including Samsung:
Tip: left audio
Ring: right audio
Ring: ground
Sleeve: mic

My plan is to duct tape my phone to the front of my jacket in landscape orientation, and put the mic down closer to the intake of the carbs and the exhaust.

I expect the audio to still be terrible. Too much wind noise, and expect too much gain from the mic. That is, it will sound overdriven, crackly, and surely not clear.

Proposed Test 3:
I plan on covering the mic with more foam and possibly latex. Also run an app on the phone where I can turn down the gain on the audio.

That's my plan. My wife thinks all this tinkering is such a waste of time. Hopefully this audience enjoys it?

-Kevin

 

[Rob S.]

Tell the wifey I, for one, am looking (listening?) forward to your results. Of course that might be because I also ride an '82 1100e with pods and V&H.

I love the way mine sounds. Sometimes at lights, I'll lean back and to the right to better hear the exhaust.

But mine isn't modified like yours. Do you have a start up and walk around video (with a few blips thrown in)?

 

[CivilRock]

For you Rob, I will make that video.

The clacking, sucking, gurgling noise that the RS38 carbs make adds a whole other level to the noise. I should get me seat back today, and I'll be able to ride it. (it's been 20 days)

-Kevin

 

[Rob S.]

20 days! It's been raining for three or four days here and I'm already jonesing bad. And I thought I got over that when I was 19.

 

[gearhead13]

I have a few of these and they do ok video and are cheap. I found out that they have to be mounted well or the video is affected by vibration and wind buffeting. Not an issue if you mount it on your person, like your helmet. $7 each plus the SD card.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/160579430865?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

[Griffyn]

I have a few of these and they do ok video and are cheap. I found out that they have to be mounted well or the video is affected by vibration and wind buffeting. Not an issue if you mount it on your person, like your helmet. $7 each plus the SD card.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/160579430865?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I just picked up two of these (for when the first one breaks) for $15, delivery in 8-15 days. I figured for that cheap it was worth a shot, a fail for the bike could be a win for a Halloween prank.

 

[CivilRock]

That is crazy cheap. Wow, at that price you could buy several of them and put them all over the bike.

What I'm thinking now is that I use one of my old phones to record the audio. I can't seem to find a video app that allows gain control. I found several for only audio recording, but none that do both.

If I'm going to record the audio separately, I'd love to find a $7 digital stereo recorder that I could sync with the video post production.

Thanks for the link. Amazing.

-kevin

 

[posplayr]

That is crazy cheap. Wow, at that price you could buy several of them and put them all over the bike.

What I'm thinking now is that I use one of my old phones to record the audio. I can't seem to find a video app that allows gain control. I found several for only audio recording, but none that do both.

If I'm going to record the audio separately, I'd love to find a $7 digital stereo recorder that I could sync with the video post production.

Thanks for the link. Amazing.

-kevin

There are plenty of examples of riding videos using that type of camera.

I have even used some free image stabilization software to make a curvy road ride less vomit ting to watch.

This is from a handlebar mounted camera that was then stabilized. As I recall it was probably my old SD-630 Cannon camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DijP8JvYsRc

This is the same camera but hand held (you can see the reflection in the mirror). Apparently the handlebar mount is much more protected from wind noise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgKIaV9l7bs

Old spy camera thread

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=176956&highlight=spy+camera

 

[gearhead13]

They record sound too, in fact they can be set for sound/voice activation. The instructions that come with it are a bit hard to figure out at first.

 

[eil]

The best bang for my buck was a Contour Roam camera (on Amazon for a bit less than $200 now, but I paid around $120 a year ago) which I then promptly voided the warranty on by cracking it open and swapping out the built-in mic for a custom connector that sticks through the case.

The microphone is jammed into the left cheekpad in my helmet. I use one of the cheapies shown above. If you care about audio quality, don't use these. They usually work fine, but quality is mediocre at best. If you want good quality audio there are powered lav mics with a pre-amp. I don't know how much they cost, but it's way more than $1.44 a piece.

It's really hard to capture the true sound of an engine without seriously professional gear, though. Their beautiful noises cover the entire spectrum of human hearing from the deep rumbly exhaust note to the clicks of the valves and other mechanisms. (And then when you do capture it, only those with a decent sound system will be able to play it back with any semblance of fidelity...)

 

[Gorminrider]

I do a similar thing. An old Powershot A550 ....replace mic with a jack and then plug in that mic on a long wire that goes to my lower back inside the jacket .....This is the best sound and movie quality of several trials (Only with the cheapest non-risk doofunnies,of course)

 

[Gorminrider]

[QUOTE
.....
Proposed Test 3:
I plan on covering the mic with more foam and possibly latex. Also run an app on the phone where I can turn down the gain on the audio.

....

-Kevin[/QUOTE]

Actually, my experience tells me that long hairy stuff is way better than foam, wherever wind is involved, however at 50-60 knots, only a sheltered location will work.

The other issue might be any long wire to a mic picking up static from the electrical system of the bike itself....

Gain on the audio is probably best done on the pc with a good audio editor. You can also do a lot of filtering with these.

I am a bit behind per software, but I still prefer to work with "vdub" (freeware!) and avi files where it's easy to split off the wav file , edit it and put it back.

 

[CivilRock]

It's really hard to capture the true sound of an engine without seriously professional gear, though. Their beautiful noises cover the entire spectrum of human hearing from the deep rumbly exhaust note to the clicks of the valves and other mechanisms. (And then when you do capture it, only those with a decent sound system will be able to play it back with any semblance of fidelity...)

This is my real fear. I think you are more than right. I guess my goal is to do the best I can with what I have. If I can get 85% of the way there with what I have, I'll be happy.

I spent some time last night trying to find tricks for recording motorcycles, and I found a great blog from the head sound guy for the movie "World's Fastest Indian" (one of my all-time favorite movies).

http://www.musicofsound.co.nz/blog/worlds-fastest-indian

Of course I'm lost when they're talking tech about $5,000 mics, but some of the techniques of placement, wind shielding, etc. can be applied to my little cheapo test. One of the best parts of the blog is that he has the mp3 files right there on the site for your listening pleasure. My favorite is the "Indian start and drive away". I put on my smartphone headphones and listened to all of them, and they sound great. Maybe it's my $10 headphones, or maybe capturing 100% fidelity is just impossible, but I don't think you still can hear every element of the Indian's sound.

Here's the link to the mp3 file if you don't want to read the blog:
http://www.substation.co.nz/zstashedbits/01INDIANstartaway.mp3

I found this youtube video early on, but this guy goes over his techniques to capture sound, although he's got the mic placed so we can hear primarily his voice over the bike/wind.
http://youtu.be/RNHu0Io4mFI

-Kevin

 

[CivilRock]

Gorminrider,
The fanny pack or backpack located mics were used on many of the sites I visited when talking about motorcycle sound recordings, including the blog mentioned above.

I'm definitely going to try that.

I also have a Cannon Powershot something that records in stereo, but doesn't have aux inputs for mics. I never use it anymore, and I might break it open to see if I can tap the mics for a jack. Or shoot, maybe I'll just put the whole camera in a backpack and sync the audio in post.

All good ideas.

-Kevin

 

[Gorminrider]

yes, I used to lust for a DAT recorder. Sony Minidisc comes to mind, but it' was a real po to discover Sony wouldn't let you get the DA off it. I have never bought Sony since. But nowadays just about everything is a form of DA.

...the other thing is the camera mount. I haven't found a better one than my own body, which mutes most vibration.

 

[Gorminrider]

Gorminrider,
The fanny pack or backpack located mics were used on many of the sites I visited when talking about motorcycle sound recordings, including the blog mentioned above.

I'm definitely going to try that.

I also have a Cannon Powershot something that records in stereo, but doesn't have aux inputs for mics. I never use it anymore, and I might break it open to see if I can tap the mics for a jack. Or shoot, maybe I'll just put the whole camera in a backpack and sync the audio in post.

All good ideas.

-Kevin

Yes it's too bad most cheapos have nothing like a mic jack....now THAT is a useful idea there, with the audio from the backpack...or anywhere really- you could try all sorts of places- under a sidecover or in the airbox comes to mind....

 

[CivilRock]

So my neighbor is into video. He's got a quad copter with a Hero 3 camera all set up with a remote viewer, etc, and does tons of photography and video. I brought up the subject to him and he's got an old GoPro, a quality mic, and a dead cat that will work perfect. So he says. He's out of town, so next week I'll try his rig. I had to google "Dead Cat" to figure out what exactly that was, but I think I saw those all over the Indian for recording.

Until he gets back, I'll be playing around with what I have, and see how it compares.

Stay tuned....

-kevin

 

[Turtleface]

Wait, he's into quad copters and dead cats? Is he Dutch?

http://youtu.be/5hrGAcKPE20

 

[Rob S.]

One of the best parts of the blog is that he has the mp3 files right there on the site for your listening pleasure.
-Kevin

Very nice. I closed my eyes and it's a warm spring day in 1976...walking near my grandfather's farm in south Jersey...middle of nowhere, two-lane road. My license is revoked for speeding, and my CB350 is waiting for me in NYC. Two bikes approach and then recede, sharing their side of the road. After their sound fades, total silence again.

So beautiful.

 

[CivilRock]

Wait, he's into quad copters and dead cats? Is he Dutch?

http://youtu.be/5hrGAcKPE20

Forwarded. And BTW, that was slightly disturbing.

Rob S. As requested, your walk around/start up video. Now the camera I'm using is about 5-6 years old was the last version of this camera before they started making HD and 16:9 the norm. The reason I used it was for the stereo microphones, and I found a setting in the menu where I can manually turn down the gain on the mics. I turned it down to about 10% and I think it really helps capture the music of the bike. I should try it on Auto too. Next time.

http://youtu.be/dwfs1dsxN10

I suggest using headphones to listen to the video, and change the quality to 480p as soon as it opens.

-Kevin