   best way to record Nearby Thunder w/o having the rain bleed through...
  I know i can use all my NR tools etc etc, but how would you captures that near by lightning with out having the rain.One thought is to be up high in a tall building where the rain isnt hiting anything remotely close to where you are located.Though it would be a pretty tough having to guess when a storm is coming and having to have access to a large building with windows that open... (even exist?):sigh:What about using foley to make everything?Thunder rumble is easy, the crack in the begging I have no idea though.Suggestions? 
  Just don''t create a lightning rod out of your microphone cord, dude.P.S.  Guaranteed the thunder will be much louder than the rain if the rain is not actually falling directly onto the microphone membrane... ;  You have to wait for thunder without the rain. It does happen, especially when the storm hasn''t quite reached your location... ;  Well im talking 1000feet away or closer lighting...Its VERY hard to catch that first crack of lighting before it starts to poor. Distant thunder is easy though.   [edited by - jaevin on August 10, 2003 7:57:35 AM];  Couldn''t just filter out the rain? (Noise Reduction in Cool Edit, for example)There was a massive storm early in the morning on Sunday, here in Middlesbrough, but I''ve never felt it worth the risk of sticking a £100 mic out the window. ;  A low-pass filter will probably give you most of what you need, though it might dull the first "crack" some. You could disable the low-pass for that moment, though. And, yeah, keep your mic away from large, horizontal surfaces; taping it to a broomstick and holding it out a second- or third-story window should be enough.   How appropriate. You fight like a cow. ;  Simulating thunder is more rewarding I''ve found. I recorded about 2 hours of rain storm to minidisc once which sounded fantastic through headphones but the varying (and immense) boom of certain frequencies made a lot of the thunder sound no better than simulated white noise.You''re right though, the initial lightning ''crack'' is hard to simulate but hard to capture too. Even a strike less than a mile away is too far for the classic horror film sound.Simulation:1. Take white noise2. Low Pass filter down over time with little resonance, say about 1-4 secs on a straight log freq scale.3. Modulate the amplitude at random. Try between 40% and 100% and experiment with the speeds.4. Boost low frequencies. Give them a big kick below 50-200hz.That should get you started. Adding reverb will spatialise a bit but not necessarily make the sound more realistic.MarkBytten Independent Games Magazinehttp://www.bytten.comSound Effects For Game Developershttp://www.indiesfx.co.uk;  I tried and got real close... Nothing beats the real thing I guess.I got an almost real sounding distant thunder sound by slowing down a sample 84steps of me shaking water.Id like to know how other people make there own sometimes...Also you have any examples you could show me that youve made via noise and editing?   [edited by - jaevin on August 18, 2003 4:35:18 AM];  The best thing to do is to give you the software.Download this (3.5 Mb)1. Install and run2. Click ''Load'' in the ''Program List'' window on the left3. Select ''Thunder.nep''4. Press some keys on the keyboard, like QWER etc.If you click on the square boxes in the Program Information window you''ll see some parameters to play with.The real thunder I recorded isn''t very useful. The problem is it goes on for too long, often several minutes per bang and most of it a very long deep rumble. It''s funny but it''s too realistic to sound good!Mark ;  Thank you very much!There seems to be a bit of crackle in the thunder preset im trying fix that. If anything I could mix that with real thunder and probably getsome nifty effects...edit: I think its just a certain parameter cliping... Still looking for it. The clipping or gain turned down a bit still doesnt get rid of it so hmm.   [edited by - jaevin on August 18, 2003 6:55:09 PM]