ABSTRACT
Microphones, or mics, are used to capture a sound much like our ears. Microphones are one of an audio engineer's finest tools. If one was an artist, microphones would be analogous to the color palette. The first category to consider when choosing a microphone is the transducer type. The next category to consider when choosing a microphone is the directional characteristic of the microphone, also referred to as a mic's pickup or polar pattern. The directional characteristic of the mic determines the direction from which the mic will be able to pick up the sound. The last category to consider when choosing a microphone is the frequency response. Frequency response refers to how well a particular mic is able to respond to all the frequencies that strike it. Frequency response can be divided into two categories: linear and non-linear. Mic placement is an art and is one of the engineer"s most important tools.
