If you have arrived at this page, you likely want to know how to get more out of your auditory capture device so that your listeners can admire the smoothness of your dulcet tones.
Types of Microphone
This is one of the most important ones in terms of handling and address. The Shure SM58 dynamic mic can be, (and from the look of some of ours, has been) dropped out of a helicopter and still used for a respectable gig at the other end. However there are some high-end ribbon mics used for voice over that you can damage simply by shouting at them.
Dynamic Microphones
These microphones are some of the more common around and are at the time of writing used by URY in our studios with our SM7Bs and in OBs with our SM58 microphones. They work due to an induction coil attached to the diaphragm moving in response to changes in sound pressure within a magnetic field, this generates a current proportional to the original noise.
Advantages
- Better rejection of background noise
- Usually has more directional pickup pattern
- Does not require Phantom Power
- Less sensitive to physical handling
Disadvantages
- Non-uniform frequency response
- Struggles with far away sounds
Condenser Microphones
Condenser microphones work through two thin metallic plates with a potential difference between them forming a capacitor, one of these plates acts as a diaphragm to vibrate in sympathy with sound waves like the human ear drum. As the diaphragm vibrates it changes the distance between itself and the other plate, thus creating a current which is a representation of the original sound.
Advantages
- Generally more accurate representation of original sound
- Cover larger frequency range
- Can pick up sounds from further away, including groups of people
Disadvantages
- Picks up large amounts of background noise, even noise that you can't hear, such as low frequency rumblings through walls.
- Receptive to handling noise, if you grab or knock your microphone while using it, it will be very loud and noticeable.
- Require phantom power in order to operate, the microphone can be damaged if this is not done properly.
Ribbon Microphones
Ribbon Microphones were some of the earliest microphones used in a broadcasting context. They are quite rare to see these days outside of specialist music studios and orchestral concert recordings, but they are still produced, and can be found in a number of applications if you're into this sort of stuff.
Advantages
- They can produce a very nice coloured sound, reminiscent of the golden days of radio... if you're into that...
- They have a figure 8 pickup pattern with excellent noise rejection to the sides, this means they make a very good stereo microphone when used in pairs. This is useful to know exactly non of the time to you, but is very important for things like concert orchestra recordings.
Disadvantages
- They break *very* easily, like you don't even need to drop them, just give them a hard knock.
- They're usually very expensive, and if they're not, they're usually very crap.
Pickup Patterns
Microphones are in general directional. This is important to bear in mind while using them. You will always want the zone of the microphone that picks up the most noise directed towards the source of the sound that you want to record, (in this case, your voice). This is very important to bear in mind when you are doing your shows, you don't need to rigidly sit in the exact same spot but if your microphone is designed to only pick up things directly in front of it it is very easy to slowly drift out of this cone without noticing, especially when you are in the middle of a long link. One good tactic to deal with directional microphones in a home environment is either to keep a chair in a fixed position that you have already checked for good pickup, or if you are especially excitable, to keep your no-dominant hand on a desk in front of the microphone throughout the broadcast. If you practice doing this for a while you will get used to constraining your movement to within a certain cone where the microphone is at the right angle and distance to yourself.
- Polar pattern omnidirectional.svg
Omnidirectional - Error creating thumbnail: sh: convert: not found
Bi-directional or Figure of 8 - Polar pattern subcardioid.svg
Subcardioid - Polar pattern cardioid.svg
- Polar pattern hypercardioid.svg
Hypercardioid - Polar pattern supercardioid.svg
Supercardioid - Polar pattern directional.svg
Shotgun
Microphone Mounts
Microphone Arms
One simple way to keep a microphone at the right distance and relative positioning to yourself is to use a mic arm like the ones we have in the studio. These can seem excessive, and certainly will increase the bulkiness of your setup as compared to a laptop and a desktop microphone. However they contribute to your final product by aiding a more natural delivery of your speech from a comfortable position and making it much easier to move the microphone to a good position.
Buying a mic arm and making yourself a small, vocal environment does not need to be complex or expensive. Cheap microphone arms that clamp to the edge of desks and use a standard 1/4" thread mount can be found on amazon for below £12.
Shock Mounts
Certain microphones react badly to being knocked or held while being used, particularly condenser and ribbon microphones, even when on the ends of a microphone arm or a headset. In order to prevent the nasty knocks and scrapes associated with handling being picked up in the final result on air the microphone must be isolated from the sources of these noises, a microphone connected rigidly to a desk receiving hard knocks will pick up the noises almost as well as if they were made to the microphone itself. This is why it is important to remove sources of vibrations and other external noise from your environment before recording.
One way of avoiding these handling noises is to use a shock mount, these suspend the microphone away from vibration conducting surfaces using elastic cords and a pair of elastic disks. It is important to ensure that once you have installed the shock mount, you only use it to move the microphone, and do not touch the microphone itself. Normally, dynamic microphones do not need shock mounts.
Headset Microphones
Headset microphones are mounted on to a pair of headphones or earbuds, usually in a position that makes them closer to the mouth of the user. They often come cheap or free with modern headphones as they are an integral part of the noise cancelling system. Having the microphone physically attached to the user is a great way of making sure they don't move to far from the microphone. They can be dynamic or condenser, with most consumer earbud microphones being electret condensers.