Electret microphones and a parabolic reflector

One final – well, maybe not final, we’ll see how it goes! – type of microphone I wanted to try while out field recording was a parabolic dish or reflector.  I planned to use electret microphones in the way described in the series of articles beginning here.

Strictly speaking, the three-dimensional shape of the parabolic reflector is called a paraboloid, and the adjective is paraboloidal. A parabola is the two-dimensional shape and the distinction between this and a parabaloid is like that between a sphere and a circle, according to the Wikipedia.  However, in informal language, the word parabola and its associated adjective parabolic are usually used in place of paraboloid and paraboloidal.

So, this is the shape of the dish.  Note that there is a point marked ‘focus’.

Diagram by Melikamp – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28181019

So, now we know exactly what we’re talking about!

*

As with some of my other recent experiments, it’s not so much the microphone itself as the way it’s mounted that’s significant; and the significance of the particular shape of the parabolic dish is that all the sound captured within it is reflected back and focused on a single point a few centimetres from the centre of the dish. The effect of this is to naturally amplify the sound captured – and amplify it by quite a lot.

This diagram illustrated how the sounds coming into the dish are all focused on the same spot – the spot where the microphone is placed, facing back into the dish.

Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3222214

In addition to this, the captured sound is from a restricted area, directly in front of the dish, so what it allows you to do is pick out an individual sound source – a person, bird or animal, machine or natural feature – some distance away and record it without having to get too close, which may cause disturbance, or resort to extreme amplification, which may cause noise or instability.

This is basically the audio equivalent of using a telescope – and, indeed, astronomical telescopes – not just optical, but also radio – use parabolic reflectors to focus light or electromagnetic waves, as do satellite TV dishes.

This photograph from the Wikipedia, showing the receiver from the MERLIN array at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory, Cambridgeshire, is essentially a giant version of the parabolic reflector microphone, and illustrates the reflector’s features: the shape of the dish and the focus point – usually in the centre (although typically on the edge of a TV satellite dish).

Photograph y Cmglee – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33433585

The idea of using a parabolic reflector to gather sound from a distance has been going for a long time – since classical antiquity, in fact, as the Wikipedia points out, when the mathematician Diocles described them in his book On Burning Mirrors, and it has been claimed (although probably wrongly) that Archimedes used parabolic reflectors to set the Roman fleet alight during the Siege of Syracuse in 213–212 BCE.

In the UK, as far back as the First World War, giant concrete ‘sound mirrors’ were erected on the south and east coasts. Before the invention of radar, using these structures to listen for the sound of their engines was the most effective way of detecting the approach of enemy aircraft.

The caption to the above photograph – also from the Wikipedia – says: ‘On the pipe in front of the acoustic mirror was a trumpet-shaped ‘collector head’, a microphone which could pick up the reflected engine sound of Zeppelins approaching from the sea. Wires passed down the pipe to a listener seated in a trench nearby with a stethoscope headset, who would try to determine the distance and bearing of any enemy airships.’

[Photograph by Paul Glazzard, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1667862 – ‘WW1 Acoustic Mirror, Kilnsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Rare 4.5 metre high concrete structure near Kilnsea Grange, northwest of Godwin Battery, a relic of the First World War.’]

This photograph from the same source shows 3 ‘Listening Ears’ together, near Greatstone-on-Sea, Kent.

[RAF Denge photograph by Paul Russon, CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1511357]

A great collection of photographs of a whole range of these sound mirrors from Selsey to Sunderland by Joe Pettet-Smith is featured on this page from the BBC website.

*

Normally, commercial parabolic microphones are extremely expensive, although excellent ones are available from companies such as Telinga and Wildtronics.

As usual, I tried to do things on a budget, but finding a suitable parabolic dish proved difficult – bearing in mind that the parabolic shape itself is the important thing, as explained above, and a plastic bowl of some other type wouldn’t work as well.

Other factors included size and weight. The reason for the large size of the coastal ‘sound mirrors’ was not just the aim of collecting sound over a large distance; the size of the dish also determines how easy it is to detect low-frequency sounds. In the case of the sound mirrors, the low frequencies of aircraft and airship engines were a priority. This also has to be borne in mind with the portable reflector, which will inevitably be more suited to higher frequency sounds.  This partly explains its popularity amongst those who go out to record birdsong.

As far as weight is concerned, you have to take into account that the dish might have to be carried for quite a while in the field. Wildtronics, in particular, make a point of stating the weights of their dishes, to the extent of naming their thinnest variety Feather Light, and emphasising that it can be folded or even rolled for transportation. There’s heaps of information online about satellite TV dishes – and you’d think a second hand one of these would be a good bet, cost-wise – but nothing about how much they weigh.  However, they look heavy to me, and their particular design style, with the focus point well outside the rim of the dish, makes it seems as if they’d be difficult to wind-proof.

At the other end of the scale, I almost went for this hand-held item below.  However, although it’s much bigger than it looks – some 25cm (10″) diameter – and despite more positive than negative reviews on Amazon, it really did seem a little too expensive (around £25) and a little too small to me, and would almost certainly not be that effective – I’m looking out for a cheaper second-hand one on eBay to give it a try, though!

[Edit: I recently managed to get hold of one for only just over £20, and made a few modifications to it to make it a practical device to use.  I’ve written it up here]

So, in the end, I went with a UK firm I found, who make a decent reflector at a very reasonable price – OK, more expensive than most of my other projects, but reasonable indeed in the world of commercial parabolics. This was Innercore; or Parabolic Microphone, who make a 50cm ABS plastic reflector for about £65 with an integral stem for microphone mounting, a rubberized hand grip and a standard tripod mounting thread. I also bought their spandex wind shield for an extra £10, as I know from experience that wind can be a real destroyer of decent recordings in the field. As the dish is white, a black cover would, in any case, be a good thing from the point of view of concealing the dish – avoiding disturbing wildlife, and so on.

*

When the dish arrived, it was exactly as described, and, as well as the windshield, even included a microphone, User Guide and cable ties to attach the microphone to the central stem.

The central stem had the focal point clearly marked.  As the picture shows, a handle was attached on the back.  The dish, made of ABS plastic, as I said, was surprisingly light and could comfortably be carried for some time; but in the base of the handle is a hole with a standard 1/4″ thread in it, which would fit a photographic tripod.  I have a couple of handheld devices with 1/4″ threads on the top, capable of folding into a small tripod, which could prove useful.

I also acquired a light, but full-sized tripod, which could be used in the same way.

*

The main task, however, was to attach the microphone inside the dish – or, in this case, microphones, as I wanted something of a stereo effect.

This was unlikely to be pronounced, as the only sound entering the microphones would be that captured by the dish.  I have seen 3-microphone systems where two of them are forward-facing, recording ambient sound in Left/Right stereo and one is facing into the dish, recording the sound on which the disc is focused; but I decided to go with my standard 2-microphone set-up and not worry too much about creating mixers for extra microphones or how different the left and right recordings were.

So, to this end, I used a standard twin-phono socket lead, cut the plugs off one end, drilled a suitable diameter hole in the dish, threaded it through and soldered two small electret capsules to the end.

I wanted some small ones, and the only ones I had left after the two binaural projects, – the dummy head and the dummy ears – were a type called WM-61A.  The Panasonic WM-61A was a very popular and often-used quality electret, now no longer manufactured and consequently becoming more expensive; these were not advertised as ‘Panasonic’, and were not expensive, so their quality was not guaranteed . . .

To fix them to the central stem I used an old Allen key and a jubilee clip – the Allen key only because it had a right-angle shape with some straight sides, and would therefore fix fairly solidly in place. You can also see in this picture the blue band which marks the focal point of the parabolic dish.

I attached the lead and capsules to the stem, close to the focal point marker, with cable ties.

The small felt pad on the end of the stem was to protect the wind shield, which was quite thin, and, I thought, could be damaged by the pointed stem.

The final thing to be done was a little wind-proofing.  Firstly, I took a spare microphone windshield, cut a small hole in the end, and pulled it over the Allen key mount, covering the two capsules.

Finally, I pulled the spandex cover over the front of the dish, covering the whiteness of the plastic as well as helping to keep wind out of the dish.

The parabolic reflector was now ready for testing.

I went to a local nature reserve and made recordings in different areas: woodlands, a river path and a small lake with wildfowl.  The following extracts are typical of the results.  The first recording illustrates the difference in what is picked up when the dish is turned in a different direction.

By and large, though, I had to turn the recording levels up too high, and there was too much noise.  The first and third recordings are just as they came out; the second and fourth are the same recordings with noise reduction applied.

The noise reduction makes them just about acceptable to use, but this is contrary to the purpose of the reflector disc, which is supposed to amplify the sound naturally, without the need for noise-making electronics.

So I’m going to have to do more research and find out the cause of this: are the electret capsules at fault?  Are they badly placed within the dish?  Are the sounds I’m trying to capture too faint?  I’ll report back on any improvements I manage to make.

Edit: I recently tested the dish out again in my back garden, and was much more pleased with the results.  I think I was too ambitious the first time out, and trying to capture sounds that were just too far away, turning up the preramp gain beyond what was reasonable.

In the following recording you can hear just a little directionality as I move through 360 degrees: