Lesson 5 Microphones!!!! - Posted on 2017-08-18 by Mike-Cole

For the longest time I was under the impression that when going into a session the audio engineer just chose the closest and most expensive condenser microphone that they could find. I now know it is crucial to learn that every microphone is different and that the different uses are going to drastically affect the overall sound that I am able to work with when I start the mix. While there are no absolute rules to recording as stated there are definitely some choices that could be made that are much better and will sound more professional. Since microphones are one of the first things to things to think about when doing a session along with what room you’re in and microphone placement (next chapter), we can safely assume that this will make a grand difference in the sound that we are hearing during the recording. A cardioid pattern condenser microphone will capture frequencies than a bidirectional ribbon microphone, just like a sm57 will capture frequencies differently than a neamann large diaphragm condenser. It is all about the sound that you want.

I currently own 3 microphones, 2 large diaphragm condensers and one small diaphragm and it was cool being able to experiment with them after this lesson, now knowing what situations to use each of the different ones in.