The Rode Blimp is a cheap and effective way of minimising wind noise outdoors, but it can come with one considerable downside depending on what microphone you are using with it. The metal ‘pistol’ microphone shockmount is approximately 200mm long, and the blimp overall is just shy of a whooping half a metre in length. It works pretty well with longer shotgun microphones like the Sennheiser MKH416, but it is simply too big for my Sennheiser MKH8060. As a result, I am going to try a Rode Blimp Modification.
At 175mm long, the standard MKH8060 is pretty short. It is also about half the weight of the MKH416, which has huge benefits when booming all day. When using it with a Rode Blimp I ran into issues trying to get it placed correctly. If the microphone is mounted directly over the pistol there will still be some 150mm to 200mm of empty blimp sitting in front of it, a situation which is far from ideal if you ever want to get ‘edgy’ to the frame. The closer the microphone is to the sound source, the better! For a bunch of shoots I actually rotated the pistol shock mount 180 degrees inside the blimp. This pointed the microphone out of what typically would be the rear end of the blimp, but it allowed me to get the tip of the microphone right up near the blimp’s end dome. A position that gets the microphone closer to the talent.
While that approach worked, it wildly unbalances the blimp with the microphone squashed down one end and 250mm of empty blimp at the other. It also looks a bit ridiculous. The simplest solution would have been to buy a Rycote Windshield kit. They make them in various sizes, and even have one specifically designed for the MKH8060 that replaces the 40mm long MZX8000 XLR barrel modular on the microphone with Sennheiser’s MZL wired remote cable (it allows users to screw the 145mm long capsule of the MKH8060 microphone directly onto the microphone cable, rather than using XLR connections). This results in an even shorter and lighter MKH8060, which in turn can mean an even smaller and lighter blimp. It will only cost you a minty $725USD, or almost $1000AUD. Not exactly terrible, but a substantial expense on top of what a sound kit already costs.
In the pursuit of a cheaper solution, I stumbled upon Watson Wu’s Rode Mini-Me Blimp Project. He literally chopped his Rode Blimp into pieces and glued it back together again to make something smaller. The only difference between Watson’s project and mine is that I have a Rode Blimp II which has a different design using Rycote Lyres rather than elastic bands to suspend the microphone. The process is straight forward enough, but some experience and access to tools and a sewing kit will definitely help. Taking your time will also be a huge benefit in not messing it up. Some tools I would suggest for the task:
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The trimmed down pistol shock mount. Pay attention to the measurements on the mount. You don’t want to cut off the wrong end! Sharp pair of scissors to cut the plastic blimp cage and the wombat furry cover.
- Sharp pair of side cutters to cut through the thicker pieces of plastic and trim any excess.
- 2.5mm hex Allen key. Rode include one to move the Lyres in the blimp, and it will also work to remove the parts of the aluminium extrusion in the shock mount.
- Heat gun of some sorts to melt the glue to get the threaded ends of the blimp off. I actually used an SMD reflow gun.
- Hacksaw to trim the aluminium extrusion.
- A file or three to neaten and clean up cuts in the plastic and aluminium.
- A 2.5mm drill bit and matching 3mm tap. Don’t try and cheat – properly drilling and tapping the new holes at the end of your aluminium is a must, otherwise your blimp won’t keep itself together.
- A drill or impact driver, depending on what your drill and tapping kit requests.
- A plastic glue that dries clear. I used a product available in Australia called Tarzans Grip. It worked well for gluing the threaded ends back onto your newly trimmed blimp barrel.
- A sewing kit.
I won’t go into a blow by blow about how to modify it, as Watson’s website covers it rather well. Just keep in mind that Rycote recommend lining the tip of your microphone up with the edge of the barrel of the blimp case. It shouldn’t protrude far at all into the end dome, as the microphone may potentially bounce in the shockmount and smack the blimp if it is too close. And don’t forget to include the XLR connector into your measurements! In addition to shedding a bunch of length and weight from the blimp, I made a few other modifications too. Rycote sell Lyre’s specific to the MKH8060 which are the ideal tension for the weight of the microphone. They aren’t specifically designed for the Rode Blimp, but will happily fit with the aid of a few washers for spacers. If you plan on using the blimp on the end of a boom then I also highly recommend spending the $15 or so on the Rode Universal Boom Mount. It replaces the pistol grip with a neat little threaded mount that attaches directly to your boom pole.
Any questions, feel free to drop me a line. I am already part way through modifying a second Rode Blimp for use with a stereo pair or Tetramic.
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