Home Made Microphone Windshield
A microphone windscreen or “zeppelin” is a encasing for microphones used in windy conditions. The windscreen creates “dead air” around the microphone reducing unwanted wind buffeting sounds. A good professional system can cost from around £300. Although cheaper systems can be found for as little as £100 often they are of poor quality. I recently bought a SUPERLUX E523/D (A relatively good cheap one point stero microphone and similar to the Audio Technica AT 825) from solidstatesound for £50 and wondered if I could make an adequate zepplin system for it for no more than the cost of the microphone: £100 for both mic and zepplin. All of the materials I used were found at the local DIY shops, craft shops and market.
Casing
Microphone Zeppelin Casing
The mount and main body of the case is made from a short section of drainpipe approximately one and a half time the length of the Superlux microphone. The drainpipe is cut into using a Dremel Mini-Drill with a cutting disc attachment to make a “Keel”, a hole is cut into the keel to allow cable access and to locate a handle. Four rings are also cut, two of which will be used to rig the suspension mounts to (note the slots on the two middle rings) and the remaining two will be used to fix the front and rear caps of the windscreen.
The ends of the windscreen are made from drainpipe leaf guards, the kind that are used at the top of guttering down pipes. Again these are cut into with the Dremel Mini-Drill to remove excess material.
Insulation
Microphone Zeppelin
The drainpipe body is covered with two fabrics and strengthed with a plastic mesh. The first layer is bedding fabric used for keeping flowerbeds tidy. You can buy various weaves – I choose the finer lighter type which is fairly transparent and cost £5 from wilkinsons. The second layer is a garden mesh which I used here to create a cage and give some structure. I opted for the 100% plastic type rather than the metal core type to cut down on handling noise (the metal core plastic mesh is very rigid) on top of that goes a third layer of find netting. Ballet Netting/Voile will do fine and you can get it as cheap as a £1 a metre from most good fabric shops.
Microphone Suspension Mount
Microphone Suspension Mount
The suspension mount is made by cutting slots into the two inner rings of the windscreen body which hold four thick hair band. The microphone then slides inetween the bands, the cable is passed through the hole in the “keel” and through the handle which is made from conduit/interior plumbing pipe and fixed into a bracket tha is glued to the casing with contact adhesive the handle has two small foam inserts (made from a bath sponge) to aid with insulation, See photo below. I had considered painting latex onto the hair bands to help grip the microphone but decided against it in case any slippage made a noise.
Foam cable insert
Deadcat – Windgag
As well as creating dead air around the microphone a windgag or “Deadcar” can cut down on more severe wind buffeting noise. Professional gags are made from fur with both long and medium length hairs that disrupt the air around the microphone reducing the noise. As well as having long and medium hairs it’s essential the fur also has an open weave backing (to allow sound through). Unfortunately I’ve not yet found the perfect fur and have so far had to settle for a short hair material with an open weave back. All of the longer hair fabrics I’ve found have been backed with fake suede, not much use!
Construction of the windgag is fairly simple, cut into a rectangle with rounded corners sewn at both ends and strips of velcro sewn to the underside to fasten the gag around the windscreen.
Conclusion
Microphone Zeppelin/Windshield
The total price of the materials came in at around £40 so it’s certainly a more affordable option than even the cheapest commercially avalible systems and of course given that the mic I made it for cost £50 I met my target of a microphone and windscreeng/blimp system for £100!. I also have a shed load of bedding fabric, plastic mesh, conduit and drainpipe left over. The conduit may get used up as a boom pole at some point, especially as the bracket I fixed to the casing allows me to change over the handles easily. And the remaining drainpipe may get used for an more blimps for other mics. The finished system works well in light to moderate wind conditions but without a better windgag it doesn’t hold up so well in strong winds – though of course once I find the right fake fur I can change that!
Very good! I’ve been meaning to upgrade from a carved-out car sponge for a while!
If it works it works!
There is an Indian company that sells reasonable blimps on ebay Cinecity or something!
Yes, think I’ve seen those. The blimp works out at around £145 iirc.
Bought a Rode one for £180 recently. I’d like to say it was money well spent, but . . . hmm.
Build quality is sort of average for, well manufactured things in general. It doesn’t seem much better or worse put together than a £50 camera tripod from Jessops.
After walking around all day with it in a sports bag for most of the time, the front mic support screw came out, so the mic slumped forward inside. Probably fixable with a bit of superglue to hold the screw in place, but not very encouraging. Other than that it works.
But it’s not good value at £180. The makers will claim economies of scale, but it’s probably more to do with what they can get away with.
I should have had a go at making one first, following your how-to instructions.
Shame about the Rode blimp… I think you are right that they would claim economy of scale.
That said this “Home Made Microphone Windshield/Blimp” is the most visited and searched for page on my site, I’ve had plenty of emails about it too and if you read around forums etc people are always asking where they can get cheap Blimps from – I can’t but wonder if one plucky manufacturer took the plunge whether others would follow. The Rycote Blimps are supposed to be very good but I can’t justify the price.
My contraption does the job – though I really do need to source some better fur. It may not be pretty but It’s affordable and I still have enough material to knock up a few more!