These audio examples accompany the May 2026 Sound On Sound feature about recording outdoors.
You may listen to the audio examples streamed as MP3s on this page or download the WAV files here:
Singer-songwriter Tymisha was recorded using a single Sennheiser MKH40 in a Rycote blimp. a DI signal from her guitar was recorded to a second track.
Moonlight FINAL MIX is the end result, as released with accompanying video on Tymisha’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@Tymisha_
The other audio files illustrate how that result was arrived at:
Moonlight (mic only) is the raw sound from the MKH40. The basic vocal tone is pretty good, but there is more dynamic variation than you’d want in a finished mix.
Moonlight (mic with EQ and compression) shows the results of applying processing to the mic track. The vocal is more consistent, but now the guitar becomes uneven in level.
Moonlight (vocal split unprocessed) is the raw result from using Hit ’n’ Mix’s RipX to separate the vocal from the guitar. Not bad!
Moonlight (vocal split with EQ and compression) and Moonlight (vocal split with EQ, compression and reverb) show the results of applying processing to the vocal stem. Some artefacts are audible in isolation.
Moonlight (guitar split) is the other stem generated by RipX. Artifacts here are obvious. However, most of them are eliminated or attenuated when the two stems are recombined.
Moonlight (guitar DI) and Moonlight (guitar DI with EQ) are the signal from the guitar pickup, in its raw state and as it appears in the mix respectively.
Forest ambience (filtered) is part of the stereo recording of birdsong that was laid over the top of the music recordings to reinforce the sense of being outdoors. I used a high-pass filter to cut out rumble from wind and distant traffic.