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Felix Nieto
Hey Guys
So today we will be talking about microphone polar patterns. While you may know something about this topic already this might serve as a refresher and maybe shed some new light on the issue.
As a sound engineer, knowing your microphones is your life (well at least your job) and picking the wrong one can be the difference between a hit record and a mundane mix. So lets make sure we get the right mic for the job and understand how polar patterns can help us achive that.
So the mic above is one of the most used snare mics, an SM57. So with this cardioid mic we can see that the best rejection for point is somewhere above 120° to 180° on both sides. This is good to know espcially when micing a drumset. It tells us that if we dont want annoying bleed from the hi hat we have to make sure that hi hat is right behind the back of the 57, between 120-180° for maximum rejection.
So this next mic is also another popularly used snare mic, the Beyer M201. But as you can tell from the picture the rejection is not as defined as the SM57. So this is a major thing to consider! Instead of being certain that placing something directly behind the mic will reject the most you have to look at the chart and see whether that is the case or not, and in this situation this is not true with this mic. The best rejection is between 120-150°. So this is something to remember when using this mic. Not every mic will act the same. Each mic is different and has a polar pattern unique to them.
So when micing up anything where sound bleed could be a problem, just take a quick peek at the chart and place it accordingly. Now days with the internet just pull it up on your phone if you have a question and make sure you have it in the right spot. Taking the extra second to verify could be the difference between a hit track and a mundane mix.
So hopefully this helped and will give you something to think about this week. And like always, go make some great recordings!
Il see you on the next one guys!
