Microphone Introduction

The common designs of Microphones are:

A Handheld microphone

Personal microphone

Shotgun microphone

Boundary effect microphone

Contact microphone

Studio microphones

A Hand held microphone is very recognisable. If anyone started talking about a microphone then 9 times out of 10 you would imagine one of these microphones. They are very basic, usually used on camera or film and are used on live shows. They are also used as an on location microphone as they are very portable and lightweight but are used less now as they quality is not the best.

A Personal microphone is a lot more invisible which is an advantage when being aired on tv shows or in theatres. Some are also used in interviews as you do not want to see the microphone when individually speaking. This microphone can be clipped onto clothing for easy use but is very short distanced as it only picks up what the individual person is saying.

A Shotgun microphone is used within the film and television industry as it allows you to record sound from a distance. Normally the microphone is hidden by a cage or cover to prevent wind, echo and any unwanted noise. A Shotgun microphone is made to be very direct, this means that you would have to point the microphone at the person or object you want to hear as it does not pick sound from the rear or sides.

A Boundary effect microphone (or PZM's - Pressure Zone Microphone) is a concealed microphone that is put in walls and floors to pick up atoms of sound. This type of microphone is usually found in wide areas for example in cinemas where the microphone is almost invisible so that it sets the atmosphere of the film by amplifying the sound around the room, for the audience to get the full experience of feeling like there in the film.

A Contact microphone has to be physically in contact with the person or object making the sound or it will not pick it up. This microphone is normally seen on musical instruments to conceal the vibrations and extract the background noise.

A studio microphone is normally found in different studios for direct sound pick up. Then generally have a spit guard to be protected from muffled sound. They are great sound quality but tend to be quite expensive.

Converting Sound

Dynamic microphones don't produce the best sound when video recording. They are very heavy and rugged and can also be called the moving-coil microphone as there is coil attached to the diaphragm.

Dynamic microphones are versatile and ideal for general purpose. They use a simple design with a few moving parts, they are also very sturdy and are capable of rough handling. They are better suited for high volume levels rather than low such as musical instruments and amplifiers. They have no internal amplifier and do not require batteries.

Condensed microphones are much higher quality sound recording but require a power source. They may also be called Capacitor microphones, they are made very small which increases their cost but needs to be connected to a mixer for power. These type of microphones are very common and are also found in music studios, they generally have a louder output but has the ability to reproduce the speed of the instrument or voice.

Directional Characteristics

Movement creates current that needs to be increased by a pre-amplifier to make sound louder.

Directional characteristics is how a microphone picks up sound from different directions. There are three different characteristics which are:

Omni-directional

Bi-directional

Uni-directional

Omni-directional microphones pick up sound with equal gain from all sides of the microphone. They can be made small or be sealed in a box that is resilient to wind noise. Although the microphone picks up sound all-round where multiple people can sing in a music studio at once, the microphone mainly picks up sound from on top. This image shows where sound can be picked up:

Bi-directional microphones are not as common as other microphones as they are usually used for duets or conversations because they have two microphones on top. They mainly pick up sound from the front and back which is opposite, but picks up hardly any sound from the sides. This type of microphone is usually used by a lecturer, presentation or duet where there might be two groups on the opposite sides of each microphone. This image shows where sound may be picked up:

Uni-directional microphones are the most common type of microphone for video production as the microphone is more focused towards directed sound which cuts out most background sound. This microphone could also be known as a 'Cardroid microphone' This image shows where sound will be picked up when using this microphone:

Positioning

Sound recording really depends on where you record, wherever you record there is always going to be problems but it is up t you to resolve at least a few of them. You should always test your location beforehand to make sure the issues are not too big and when your at your location, you need to consider points like background noises or echoing. Outside is always going to be a lot harder to record sound as there is always background and unwanted noise involved. Another point to think about when filming is the position of characters, this means that if the room hard hard wooden floors and is quite hollow, you are most likely to here echoes, to resolve this you could pad out some of the walls and floors with material or simply turn the characters away from an echoing wall.