ABSTRACT
A microphone is a transducer, a device that changes one form of energy into another. Specifically, a mic changes sound into an electrical signal. Two types of dynamic microphones are moving-coil and ribbon. An omnidirectional microphone is equally sensitive to sounds arriving from all directions. A microphone's polar pattern is a graph of its sensitivity versus the angle at which sound approaches the mic. This chapter presents a list of sound sources and the microphone frequency response that is adequate to record the source with high fidelity. Self-noise or equivalent noise level is the electrical noise or hiss a mic produces. The chapter describes several types of recording mics. Live-vocal microphone unidirectional mic is shaped like an ice-cream cone because of its large grille used to reduce breath pops. Boundary mics are designed to be used on surfaces. A stereo microphone combines two directional mic capsules in a single housing for convenient stereo recording.
