Making Music
  Computer Music Software and Hardware

Other microphone types

There are several other mic types that deserve a mention. The tube microphone is a condenser with valves that offers 'valve warmth' but that must be weighed against the cost, fragility and increased background noise with low-level signals.

The ribbon microphone is now quite rare although you may find them in high-end studios. They are a form of dynamic mic using a ribbon in front of a metal plate. They are very sensitive and are therefore very good for quiet sounds and excel at close-micing. They are very fragile and have largely been superseded by condensers except for specialist situations.

So-called bass mics are dynamics with large diaphragms. They are very robust and used with sources that generate loud sounds such as inside a bass drum but they have poor high frequency response.

Pickup patterns

The other aspect of a microphone you need to consider is its response or pickup pattern. Some people think that if you point a mic towards something, that's all it records. Not so. There are three common response patterns plus two variations.

A mic that can pick up sound from a full 360 degrees around it is known as omni-directional and is ideal for recording background and ambient sounds. They generally lack any proximity effect and so are commonly used for vocals.

A bi-directional pattern records sounds from in front of and behind the microphone. The response looks like an '8' and such mics are often called 'figure of 8 mics'. They are often placed above a sound source.

A cardioid response has a heart-shaped pattern, picking up most sounds from in front of the mic, a little from the sides and almost none from behind. These seem ideal for minimising noise which might be in front of the instrument or singer but they tend to minimise such noise rather than eliminate it and they can be subject to the proximity effect which causes the tone of a speaker's or singer's voice to change as they move closer to or further away from the mic.

The hyper-cardioid design is a tighter version of the cardioid. It's more directional, has a flatter response and is less sensitive to sound behind the microphone. You might lose a little warmth but the benefits in a noisy environment may be worth the trade-off. Live, with monitors on stage, it's a good choice.

Finally, there's a shotgun or directional response which is a more sensitive bi-directional variant. At extremes, these are the sort of mics you see being used by snoopers and tappers and people listening in to conversations of individuals in a crowd. CIA stuff. They are not used so much in music.

Putting it all together

Ideally you will have separate mics for different purposes such as recording vocals, acoustic guitars, micing drums and so on. In practise you may not have the luxury or the budget so here's a few guidelines to help, but do bear in mind that this is where personal preferences and the black arts come to the fore.

In a studio, the condenser is the most versatile and one with a cardioid response should serve as a good all-rounder. Vocals can benefit from an omni-directional mic providing there are no sounds in front of the singer. Having said that, some vocalists prefer the response of a dynamic mic because it makes them sound better.

For live use with rock material or vocals that need to be punchy, up-front and in-yer-face, a dynamic mic is the answer. If you need the mic to double in the studio then consider a back-electret while saving for separate condenser and dynamic mics.

Recommending a single mic to record a range of acoustic instruments is difficult as different mics afford different recording techniques. An omni-directional mic can be dangled or placed on a stand in front of an instrument. Condensers would usually be recommended although dynamic mics are commonly used for micing drum kits. The placement of mics for recording instruments, however, is beyond the scope of this short feature.

If you can only afford one mic and want a good all-rounder, a back-electret is a good choice.

If you get the opportunity to try different mics, you may be surprised at the difference they make to the recording and there's nothing wrong in preferring a dynamic to a condenser for vocals or a cardioid to an omni if you prefer the sound and can work the proximity effect. That's where art overtakes science in the world of music.

For more info... Many microphone manufacturers' web sites include a lot of useful information about microphones. The Shure site is a mine of essential information: http://www.shure.com/microphones/microphone_help.asp