Microphones

Wether you’re recording music in a studio, playing a live show or creating a short film, each type of microphone has it’s uses and features that make it suitable for different situations. The four main types of microphones that I’ll be discussing are dynamic mics, condenser mics, ribbon mics and shotgun mics.

Dynamic microphones

Dynamic mics, as the name suggests, are a multi purpose microphone that can be used for pretty much anything however they are better for some things than others. Due to their ability to take a beating, both physically and in the terms of sound levels, they are commonly used for live performances. They are best used when close to the sound source meaning they would not be very effective on a film set where the microphone has to be out of shot and therefore far away from the source.

Condensor microphones

Condensor mics are usually used in recording studios, they can pick up small details whilst recording and are much more fragile that dynamic microphones meaning they are not used for live performances as dropping one could cause it to break. The diaphragms inside these microphones can vary in size which changes how the microphone works, small diaphragms are great for acoustic instruments and larger diaphragms are used for recording vocals.

Ribbon microphones

Ribbon mics are some of the oldest microphones and were used for singers in the 30’s. They use the figure of 8 pattern and therefore are mostly used in situations where two people need to use the same microphone such as interviews and live performances.

Shotgun microphones

Looking like the barrel of a shotgun, shotgun mics are aimed at the source and only record sound coming from that direction, commonly used on film sets or on digital cameras. On a film set, these are often placed on a boom arm and aimed at the sound source, most of the unwanted background sound is not detected but obviously some will be as the microphone doesn’t know what you want or don’t want to include.