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I am new to audio recording. I need a natural sounding waterfall flowing throughout a gorge for this picture >>> https://hajes.org/hajes_org/i-expo/2019-02-16_scotland/mark.htm

After recording session - with binaural rig with two Primo omni-directional condenser electret mics - waterfall sounds more like noise rather than what I have heard.

So far I didn't find anything on Internet.

So far I have tried following:

  • A-weighting
  • EQ similar to low-pass cut-off

A-weighting results in pure noise

EQ low-pass cut off from 1000Hz and down works "best"...still it doesn't sound like what I have heard in field. it is just a rumble with some "details" in flowing water.

Do I have wrong mics?

Is there any field or SW trick/technique?

Any suggestions, please?

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Natural waterfalls are exactly as you describe - just band limited noise, but if you were to sound design a waterfall for a soundscape, or to describe a picture, you might consider introducing some of the detail of the action you are witnessing, for instance, bubbling of water across rocks etc. It depends entirely on how close the perspective of the scene actually is. You should attempt to record and design a sound that reflects the image that the sound is associated with.

Also, you should consider using a higher-quality microphone and recording solution. The 'primo' mics are not particularly high quality and are not going to be useful for ambience recordings as they are likely to be very noisy. If you are looking at binaural recording, consider some lavalier mics that are XLR terminated into a stereo portable recorder.

You also need to consider wind-protection when using mics in this way. If you ever use directional mics, you will definitely need wind protection.

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  • it is not for games...it was poorly described. I need and background "feeling" for this picture hajes.org/hajes_org/i-expo/2019-02-16_scotland/mark.htm audio-visual show...that's all
    – David Hajes
    May 7, 2019 at 10:51
  • Have you considered setting your camera up to record this as a moving picture? i.e. a looped video? Personally, I think that might work very well with a constant sound such as a waterfall. You might also want to hear some of the wind through the trees that are in the background. I think a little bit of the detail of the water through the rocks might work - not much though as this might indicate a closer perspective than actually exists in the photo. You can layer sounds in a DAW like Reaper and mix to taste.
    – Mark
    May 7, 2019 at 11:00
  • so if I understand it correctly, there is no audio system capable to record waterfalls properly and it must be recorded separately because rumbling water basically kills any "details" of waterfall? I have to record gorge echoes...use shotgun to record some romantic sounds of water flowing around rocks. then mix it all together?
    – David Hajes
    May 7, 2019 at 14:33
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    No, this is not the case at all. There is a process known as sound design where you literally build the sound that you expect to hear. It's rather like collecting the right ingredients and then mixing up the sound so that it has the right 'taste'. Often this will differ from the natural sound that you might record by simply recording in one position through a pair of mics. Of course there is audio equipment that will record sound, but you have to be creative about how you do it to get the right result.
    – Mark
    May 8, 2019 at 0:11

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