Microphones come in a range of different design types depending
on the size and style of the capsule but basically they all
do the same thing: they convert sound pressure levels into an
electrical current. Some are very specialist but the majority
of microphones are multi purpose and if you ask a kid to draw
a mic they will probably come up with something like a Shure
SM58 , one of the most famous multi purpose microphones
ever made. Every studio has at least one and you could probably
make a decent recording of just about anything with a few SM58s.
But of course there are hundreds of different microphones and
some exploit their particular design features to be good at
a particular job. Microphones come in a range of different basic
designs: dynamic, condenser, ribbon, boundary, binaural, M-S
and more. These then can come with a number of different pick-up
patterns, from omni through cardioid to figure of 8 and with
a whole range of different diaphragm sizes, deliberately altered
frequency responses and sensitivity along with a range of stereo
microphones. There are lots of very good sites on the net
covering all the technical aspects of microphone design and
we have a number listed on our Links page.
As a brief overview 90% of all microphones fall into the two
main categories: generally, dynamic mics are for stage and live
and condenser microphones for recording. However there is a
big crossover and it comes back to the fact that you really
can use any mic to record anything but some will be better at
certain things than others. I honestly think that there are
very few bad mics made today and even the sub £100 Chinese
mics can make a great recording with a little effort and experience.
