5 Ways to Reduce Wind Noise When Filming Outdoors

Wind noise is the low rumble you hear when moving air hits a microphone. Even a breeze can cause it, and it’s much easier to keep out of a recording than to try and remove it afterward.

A microphone is built to pick up sound waves from your voice. Wind hits it much harder than your voice causing a low rumble.

A light breeze is enough to mess up a take, so it’s easier to block wind before you record than to attempt to fix it later.

A microphone picks up sound waves from your voice. Wind hits it much harder than your voice, causing a low rumble, and even a light breeze can mess up a take.

The biggest fix is a furry windscreen. The fur breaks up the wind as it reaches the mic and cuts out most of the noise. The tips below help and will work with any microphone.

Good microphone placement puts the mic close to the speaker’s mouth, so their voice stays loud compared to the wind.

Attach a clip-on microphone to the upper chest, lined up with your mouth. Keep it outside your clothing where fabric and hair can’t rub against it.

When you’re passing a handheld microphone back and forth, bring it to about the same distance from each person’s mouth. Hold it a little below the mouth so you don’t pick up breathing sounds.

Before you start recording, look for a spot out of the wind, like beside a building. If you’re filming somewhere open, like a beach, keep the furry windscreen on the whole time.

Gain is how much your microphone boosts the sound it picks up. Turning it up makes the wind louder too, so set it as low as you can.

If your mic or app has automatic gain, switch it off in gusty weather so your level doesn’t jump around with the wind.

If the footage is already recorded, editing software can help with mild wind noise. You can try:

• A high-pass or low-cut filter, which removes the low frequencies where most wind rumble sits
• Adding some noise suppression
• Re-recording the line as a voice-over and covering it with b-roll, so the new audio doesn’t need to match your lips

If you need a wireless microphone for filming outdoors, Wave Go comes with two furry windscreens: one for the clip-on mic transmitter and one for the Smart Handle, which turns it into a handheld mic. It works with phones and computers over USB-C, and a built-in low-cut filter reduces the low rumble from wind and handling.

Before your next outdoor shoot, fit the windscreen, check your levels, and record a short test clip. If you film with Wave Go, our guide to setting up Wave Go for interviews, vlogs, and outdoor recording covers the settings for each situation.