A Quick Guide to Microphones

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Audio:

Microphones.

Pretty much every musician has to deal with them at some point or another.

How do you actually know which one to use, and how to use it?

To start, there two basic types of mics that you might use: Moving coil microphones, which are most commonly called dynamic mics,and capacitor microphones, which are most commonly known as condensers.

Dynamic mics are known for being rugged, affordable and all around useful. (Not bad at all.) They don't have the crystal clear, full bandwith operation of condensers, but this is actually often a good thing, such as when you're recording certain types of drums, guitar amps, or other acoustic instruments.

Condensers are good for vocals, generally somewhat fragile, and usually more expensive. They are known for their ability to capture fine detail. Condensers require some current to work. This is phantom power, which is commonly represented by a button or switch labeled as +48V.

Transducer. Microphones are a type of transducer. The transducer is something that converts energy from one form to another. In this case, they're taking sound waves and turning them into electrical energy.

Though different mics work in slightly different ways, they all have a diaphragm. The diaphragm is a thin piece of material, often mylar or some form of metal, and often even gold-plated, in the case of condensers. When sound strike the diaphragm, it causes it to vibrate, and this passes energy to the rest of the microphone's components. These vibrations are converted to an electrical current which becomes the audio signal your interface uses to capture and playback sound. Generally speaking, smaller diaphragms are more sensitive and react faster than do large diaphragms. So large diaphragm mics are often better for voice and vocals, since they don't pick up as much annoying lip and mouth sounds.

Microphones have a directionality, commonly referred to as their polar pattern. Make sure your mic this pointed in the right direction. Most small diaphragm mics are known as "front address," which means that you face them directly at whatever it is you're trying to record. Large diaphragm mics are commonly front or side address, which means you have to be sure you're pointing them in the right direction. One way to tell is that in most cases the company's logo is on the front of the side address microphone.

Microphones create a very weak signal, so you need what's called a preamp. Your audio interface likely has at least one of them. These will amplify the very low level electrical signal to a useful level, and it makes it possible for your audio interface to sample the fluctuating voltages more accurately.

So there you go. Chose the right mic, face it in the right direction, plug it into a preamp, and then you're ready to start capturing the sounds of the world all around you.

[quentinmckay]

Perfect video. Short. Informative. Humorous. 10/10. Thank you!

[AAC]

This was a perfect recap for me as someone that completed an audio course a few years ago, very well structured !

[shannonmccarthy]

What a creative video production, and in delivery I'd say even now, just over 5 years later (currently Jan 2022) I find this could definitely spark inspiration to research and learn more about microphones and recording. It has for me, at least. Hope the video continues to do well!

[jbroadway]

If you’ve made it this far, your doing good in your career

[knowledge]

I was very curious about audio recording and this video of yours fulfilled my curiosity to a great extent.

[gabrielkobler]

Very fun and informative Video, nice!

[areamusicale]

1:16 was that a Bill Wurtz parody ? :D

[sweetgav]

This is an absolute amazing video, and hilarious. And short. To the point. Well done to all involved 👏🏻

[daruscole]

Just asking since it is started in this video that mics produce..but that may not be technically true with condenser mics as they manipulate or change the frequency of the electricity going through the mic as the capacitance varies with the sound waves and don't make electricity on their own. Just want to be sure. I believe that a carbon mic is the same way but I am not sure how much these are used now. They may still be used in landline telephone mics. What about crystal mics?

[daruscole]

Nice video. A dynamic mic actually generates a small amount of current itself but a condenser mic doesn't so it needs power to go through it right?

[alekoldchannel]

Isn't the song in the beginning Jupiter?

[martimfreiredeoliveira]

The microphone is the same as a speaker the difference is that a speaker requires current to make sound and microphone needs sound to make current

[gamingwithayman]

Hell yay man....
U just made my life easy

[scottvaughn]

So with a condenser, would I need BOTH 48v phantom power AND a preamp? Or would just 48v phantom be enough?

[sassysinder]

i luaghed my ass off when he hit the dynamic microphone on the wall and then just talk into saying 'were good' XD

[Adinayla]

Thanks for this video :D It's very very cool

[mcwooley]

Instead of a diaphragm, coil, and magnet, how about a CO2 sensor
Like most electric guitars, you electrify you and/or your wind instrument without picking up other sounds

Sunday, April 16, 2023 CE, 20:17 EDT

[samoerest]

I have a usb gaming mic. Its almoust silent. i need a preamp right?

[apitelrgramapitry]

I can not focuses bro the background😀 00:55

[ronnocdog]

OH MY GOD WHERE HAVE I HEARD THAT BEGINNING SONG BEFORE IT WAS SAMPLED IN SOMETHING WHAT IS THAT SONG CALLED