Recording the Bike


It was about two years ago that I started to think about how to record the bike. From time to time, I ride a Commencal Premier HD4 myself and was pretty interested in the interaction between the bike, the different ground surfaces and the speed from a first person view perspective.


During this time, I looked for convenient places and times to record so once “rolling” I would get less noise interference (i.e: traffic, other cyclist, noisy groups of people etc…). As I was aiming for a good amount of variation in the recording, I thought La Casa de Campo in Madrid was a pretty good match. It is a large park not far from home that has a good range of different surfaces like sand, grit, pavement and cycle lanes. It also has quite an irregular terrain, so I would get recordings both in flat roads and slopes. However, being one of the most popular parks in Madrid among families, runners and cyclists I would have to consider what would be the times with less affluence. After discarding nights and winter, I went for an unbearable summer time with temperatures close to 40ºC. That would definitely give me some wanted quiet space.


While scouting, and having pretty clear that I needed gear mounted on board to better capture the first person view, I investigated on suitable ways to have the microphones in place. Having in mind techniques to mic on different types of vehicles I identified some of the factors that would impact the recording such as the amount of weight supported, wind and microphones location. Besides, I began on looking ways to attach the microphones to the bike in a safe way, something reliable enough that I wouldn’t regret on using with some of my beloved mikes and that wouldn’t pose a risk to other cyclists in that particular order. That’s where a combination of a Manfrotto Superclamp 035 and a Manfrotto 026 adaptor came just handy.


I planned for a first recording day with the purpose of exposing anything that I could have overlooked. For security reasons, one of the first things I decided was about leaving the headphones at home. Then, to ensure the recorder would not clip and due to the impossibility of monitoring levels at real time while riding, I set the gain and sensitivity to low. I mounted a Sony PCM-M10 handheld wearing a windjammer, connected through a Rycote extension handle into the seatpost and pointing out to the back wheel; then started riding… and the Manfrotto adaptor slid down shortly afterwards. I stopped to fix it up and went on happily riding… On high speeds the battery lid from the M10 would open and rattle. Other than that, everything felt great!.


bike_m10_back_wheel


A few kilometers after, I changed the microphone’s location into the head tube pointing out to the front wheel. I angled the mic so that it would face the wind backwards, which proved to be the right thing with wind resistance hitting the microphone capsules at high speeds.


bike_m10_front_wheel


Later, once in post I came with some learnings for further improvements:

1. Even if you set the gain at a low setting, you’ll need to watch out depending on where you place the microphone. I was getting a pretty high level so any bumps or transients would still clip. In next recordings I would need to put the microphone farther from the wheels.

2. Remember to remove any noisy objects you have in the bike. I had a couple of keys in the saddle bag and they were constantly hitting each other. That bled into the recordings. A shotgun microphone, thanks to the off-axis rejection would help on damping other unwanted noises.

3. The suspension for the M10 was not enough to prevent the worst of bumps etc depending on the ground type. I would need to place a better suspension system.


Once finished, and aiming for the next week I started planning for a second recording session. This time around I was ready to set a Sennheiser MKH60 within a Rycote windshield and windjammer. As the setup was going to be a bit bulkier I tested and mounted everything at home before going out. I tightened the XLR with cable ties placed along the frame into a rucksack where I fit a Sound Devices 702. In this occasion, besides the extension handle from Rycote, I screwed the pistol grip into the Manfrotto adaptor to make up for more distance between the microphone and the wheels.


bike_MKH60_front_wheel


In the field I checked out different positions and angles pointing out the MKH60 to the cassette, brakes and the crankset. Then, once biking I captured both pedaling and freewheeling in all ways possible and all ground surfaces available.


Things that I plan on working out some time in the future include other perspectives like stereo recordings of pass bys either in M/S or ORTF. Furthermore, there is still some to get recorded even at closer perspectives on the crankset and brakes along with the brake levers and changing gears. I am still thinking about using a couple of DPA4061s or wait some months for the release of the Instamic Pro.


What other factors do you consider when recording bikes?

  1 comment for “Recording the Bike

  1. May 3, 2017 at 11:38 pm

    I think this is a real great article.Thanks Again. Want more.

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