Thunder is the loudest thing you'll ever put a mic in front of. Here's how we get it without the clip.

Leave headroom

Set your gain so the rain sits at -20 dB. Thunder needs the next 20 dB of room, and it will use all of it.

Far is better than loud

A storm six miles out sounds better than one overhead. The low end rolls in with a delay that makes the whole thing feel enormous — and it never clips.