Recording a Tbolt at extremely close range...Suggestions?

[ver tum]

I must be missing something really obvious. How do you plan to put a mic inside the Thunderbolt horn unless a battery powered recorder goes in there too? Does this Thunderbolt not rotate? Help me out with the visual here!

I think it is an intriguing idea, but I was just looking across the room at one of my SM57s and I'm thinking that I wouldn't be all that keen on duct taping it inside a thunderbolt horn.

If the mic would have went inside the horn, it would have been on a small stand, and the recorder would have went in too, or I would have put a wireless 58 in there. However, since according to Jeb, there's a lot of wind coming out of the horn, it would be pointless sticking a mic in there, because I'd probably get a lot of wind noise, even with a wind screen. I may have to set up the other mic quite a fiew feet from the horn, because of the wind.

[woodyrr]

Well, very best of luck.

Please think everything through carefully. Once that Thunderbolt starts, if something goes wrong (which it always does for me), your options are going to be limited.

[Charlie Davidson]

Just an idea.. I've stood 30ft away from my Thunderbolt mounted 25ft off the ground a few times while I had it running.. let's just say that I'm surprised that I can still hear and that my eyeballs are still in their sockets and the concrete probably has a couple more cracks in it. I'd be VERY careful being close range to one of those things.. it's not the sound level that I'd be worried about (hearing protection used, of course) but the way it rattles every bone in your body to the point that it could really start to mess with you. Sound can do some crazy things.. if you do use your mics at close range I'd be VERY careful with mounting them on/near the siren. You could probably mount one on the back of the chopper and hold it on there with some duck tape, and mount your recorder on the horn's supports so that it doesn't snag a wire when it's rotating. Also.. the more recorders running at the same time, the better

[CDV777-1]

it's not the sound level that I'd be worried about (hearing protection used, of course) but the way it rattles every bone in your body to the point that it could really start to mess with you.

That's the very thing I was thinking about Charlie. I ran my model 5 for a few seconds a couple of times in my garage and the thing I remember most about it was feeling everything inside kind of moving around and feeling kind of weird when it was over. My ears had no problem since I was wearing my good protectors. I can't imagine how standing in front of a thunderbolt running would make you feel for a full minute or so.

[weasel2htm]

If I were to record a siren, the mic I would go for would be a Shure SM/Beta 57, They are basically designed to mic an instrument and are supposed to be able to take the output from a 100 watt Marshall stack

We have some singers in my church who can distort a Beta 58, give them a 57 and the problem goes away.

If you choose to put a mic inside the horn, I would point the mic backwards, with the cable pointed into the horn, that would cut any wind noise as well as cut the sound level down so the mic can better pick it up without distorting.

If you are crazy enough to do this, I'm looking forward to the result.

[loukycheckinin]

Josh. I don't think this is sounding like a good idea man! Like others have said, not only is it a threat to our health (ears, body), but the recording won't sound too great either.

According to McKinney, that Thunderbolt was completely restored when the Reynolds building was tore down and rebuilt. Frankly, I am shocked they put it back up there. But it was repainted true CD Yellow and looks great from what I can tell. I highly doubt there is no screen in it today.

Unfortunately, on the roof is really the only place to record this thing. The only other place it is visible is next to a very busy road, where the sound would be washed out. Since it is our only 8RPM Thunderbolt, I would love to record it, but I just can't justify potentially wasting a test day on a siren that won't give me a good recording. Perhaps this siren will be included in our ambiance recording we have planned.

I need to call the people about going up there...not even sure if we can get up there at all, and I highly doubt they would let us up there on test day. I can see me being all excited then that thing goes off 7 feet away from me and I run to the door to find it locked!

[CDV777-1]

If I were to record a siren, the mic I would go for would be a Shure SM/Beta 57, They are basically designed to mic an instrument and are supposed to be able to take the output from a 100 watt Marshall stack

Simply recording a siren and putting the mic inside a Thunderbolt horn are two completely different things. A 100 watt Marshall is miniscule compared to a Thunderbolt siren. Just doing a b.s. horsepower conversion with 10 hp (chopper/blower motor hp of Thunderbolt) using a conversion hp/watts calculator online 10hp is about 7500 watts. I know that's not a direct conversion but still. I guess if you could cram 70 Marshall stacks into a Thunderbolt horn that would be similar comparison. I don't see how a microphone wouldn't completely fail if exposed to the sound level in a Thunderbolt horn running with a blower.

[NeoThunderBolt85]

70 Marshall stacks would be...insanity. Sign me up! I too cant see stuffing a mic down the horn and expecting it to survive. Standing ten feet from a T-Bolt pole was enough for me...I think Im still braindead from the SPL that day.

[holler]

When I still had my thunderbolt I stood underneath the horn one time and did a short blast. When it started to winddown things got a little crazy. My vision started to blur and my earmuffs felt like they were hopping up and down on my head.

Let's just say I'm not going to do that again. I never stood in front of the horn with it running full blast, although you could feel it thumping your chest pretty hard when we stuck the leafblower on it for an experiment. With the blower it was ungodly loud, about as intense as the P-15 in Milan.

[weasel2htm]

If I were to record a siren, the mic I would go for would be a Shure SM/Beta 57, They are basically designed to mic an instrument and are supposed to be able to take the output from a 100 watt Marshall stack

Simply recording a siren and putting the mic inside a Thunderbolt horn are two completely different things. A 100 watt Marshall is miniscule compared to a Thunderbolt siren. Just doing a b.s. horsepower conversion with 10 hp (chopper/blower motor hp of Thunderbolt) using a conversion hp/watts calculator online 10hp is about 7500 watts. I know that's not a direct conversion but still. I guess if you could cram 70 Marshall stacks into a Thunderbolt horn that would be similar comparison. I don't see how a microphone wouldn't completely fail if exposed to the sound level in a Thunderbolt horn running with a blower.

I will agree a 100watt Marshall stack is a drop in the bucket compared to large siren.
Though it would be interesting to set up 70 marshall stacks together and play a Thunderbolt recording through them at top volume and see how far it carries

The point of my post is, If any mic can take the SPL of a T-bolt while still providing good sound quality, it would be a SM/Beta 57.


I'm not sure of there is a good way to do a close up recording, the best way would be to experiment with different distances from the horn, but this is a one shot deal, and I sadly don't think Josh is going to make it out to holler's or kx250rider's anytime soon to experiment.


I would like to experience a 1000T/1003 in person sometime, but preferably from a distance (though we all have that fantasy of "Riding the T-bolt" *Koff* Ian *Koff*)