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Blackwater River Guitars
Pop Screen

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A Pop Screen (also called a pop filter) is a noise filter for a microphone to eliminate popping sounds from air hitting the mic. These sounds generally occur with "p" or "b" sounds that send fast moving air into the mic.

A quick check on-line brought up a ton of available products in a price range of $19 to $300 (ouch).

If you have the time, you can make one for a couple of bucks. Here's how I did it. I needed four of them to record the band.

The main part is a 6" embroidery hoop. I bought 10 of them for $10 which includes the shipping cost.

The other parts are a small block of wood, some wire, and an old stocking.

After trying out different types of wire, I ended up using the handles from a Chinese food take-out box. Using two twisted together provided the perfect stiffness for holding the filter in place and allowing some flexibility for adjustment.

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The photo at the top of the left column shows the thing in action.

This photo (below left) shows the wooden mic stand clip, just a block of wood with a slot that fits over the mic stand. I drilled two small holes for the wires. In the picture you can see that I wrapped the mic stand tube in tape to get a good fit. It slides on to the taped tube and is held by friction. No clamps involved.

The last photo shows the wires attached to the hoop. I probably should have closed the loops on the wire ends, but it's holding fine.

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