Mic Selection Guide — Step-by-Step Guide & Transcript

[00:03] of the most important things to know is informed microphone selection which cover the most popular types of microphones in this video it's total

[00:15] microphones in this video it's total nerd time and it starts right now so preservation Society I'm Hal 9000. I'm Hal 9000. [Music]

[00:30] that Bell notification so you can be notified of new content right when it drops microphone selection is an experience after a while you just kind of know what to use and where but for beginners I'm

[00:46] going to give you a quick guide this video won't go into technical information about how they all work just a selection guide for various purposes a selection guide for various purposes so there are four main microphone types

[01:00] there are others but this is a video about the most popular types for various about the most popular types for various uses they are dynamics large diaphragm uses they are dynamics large diaphragm condensers and subtypes small diaphragm

[01:13] condensers and subtypes and ribbons which are technically a form of dynamic mic but we'll call it a separate food group popular polar separate food group popular polar patterns are cardioid super cardioid

[01:26] hypercardioid Omni and figure eight Dynamic mics generally have a cardioid pickup pattern which means they pick up mostly what's right in front of them mostly what's right in front of them kind of like a heart-facing

[01:40] the bottom of it facing you so it's got the lobe and then it kind of comes in they're an excellent selection when you are in a room or location that is not ideal for isolated recording these mics tend to pick up what's right in front of

[01:53] around them if you're a reporter let's say at a sports game you'll likely be using a dynamic mic due to the unpredictable be happening all around it'll help isolate what's right in front

[02:10] of it it's also a great mic for when you're recording in a room that has not been treated acoustically so like a reverberant room or a noisy house or construction work is going on just outside your window it's also mainly

[02:25] used on stages by bands and musicians during concerts because they minimize feedback from all the speakers in the arena or Club including these stage monitors which are facing the performers themselves so it helps block out all

[02:39] that noise so it won't cause feedback they're also known for having the highest tolerance for loud sounds measured in sound pressure levels Dynamic mics are always chosen when you need to mic a loud Source like drums or

[02:52] gunshots or dirt bikes or a fat guy exactly 53 minutes after eating 14 tacos they tend to be darker or in other words less highs and not incredibly articulate

[03:06] with delicate Quiet Sounds they usually need a lot of gain from your recorder or interface or preamp if you're recording quiet sources which can introduce some preamp noise if your preamps are of lesser quality so Dynamic mics need a

[03:20] healthy sound volume from the source so if you're a podcaster or a video maker and you need to talk into a mic and you've got an echoey room or five dogs and a gaggle of kids or a voice that's louder than an air raid siren Dynamic

[03:34] mics are what you'll want the trick to using a dynamic mic for Voice work is to get right up on it going really close this gives you that full sound and keeps preamp volumes low and because they're cardioids they

[03:51] create what's called a proximity effect which adds base to your voice more on that later popular Dynamic mics are the Shure sm57 or sure sm58 or sure sm7b Shure sm57 or sure sm58 or sure sm7b electrovoice re20 or re320 or the re50

[04:07] electrovoice re20 or re320 or the re50 or the Sennheiser md-421 there are hundreds probably more but I'm just naming some popular ones large diaphragm condensers large diaphragm condenser mics are the

[04:21] big mics you see in recording studios just like this one they can come in several polar pattern types cardioid is the most popular but many of them are switchable to other polar patterns such as super cardioid or

[04:34] hypercardioid Omni or figure eight they are amazing for being incredibly articulate and robust they can hear a pin drop or your partner ripping a fart from three floors up they'll pick up the sound of your guts

[04:49] what I mean they've got that big sound that can't be captured with any other mic type big sounds that are bigger than my my head measures oh hold on a second let me just find my trustial measuring tape

[05:04] you know this measuring tape was manufactured in 2014. I picked it up on a planet named Miller's planet and between uh 2062 and 2069. those years went by so fast anyway

[05:19] it measures uh 23 in circumference 23 in circumference feet phantom power which most preamps recorders or interfaces provide

[05:35] since they pick up everything around them a lot they are best used in an acoustically treated room and in isolation if you were to bring a large diaphragm condenser mic as a reporter to a sports game the listeners wouldn't be

[05:52] able to make out what you were saying the environmental noise would overtake the mic and it would be a sloppy mess best served in a bowl they also tend to have a lower limit for sound pressure levels much slower than Dynamics since

[06:06] they can pick up the sound of your Goosebumps when you get a chill they are very very sensitive to loud noises and when the sound is too loud for them they begin to distort in a displeasing way for music large diaphragm condenser mics

[06:21] are the usual choice for singers or acoustic instrument recording like acoustic guitars or brass or strings or pianos or Reed instruments Etc it's also widely chosen for voice over work like animation or even

[06:34] commercials but you need to use it in an acoustically treated room without bothersome Reflections and reverberations in fact right now I'm reverberations in fact right now I'm using it on a table and you can hear the

[06:47] comb filtering happening that's what it's called my voice is bouncing off here and going to the mic at the same time and it causes this weird Spike at around I don't know I'd say 500 to 700 Hertz anyway that's a whole bunch of

[07:01] nerdy Tech talk way above this video's pay grade so you need to use it where there's no Reflections happening and you're not hearing the noise of a house and uh or maybe a busy street outside your window an interesting thing about

[07:15] they pick up exactly what's happening around you this is kind of the same for a lot of the condenser mic versions of microphones so they pick up everything microphones so they pick up everything that's going on around you but when

[07:30] you're listening to your environment with your own ears and not through headphones and not through a microphone your brain filters out most of the environmental sounds and you don't notice most of them that is until you

[07:43] listen back to a recording of the same environment what you hear might shock you you'll think that the microphone is some type of super hearing device it's not you just don't realize just how noisy your environment is until you hear

[07:57] it back after it's been recorded your brain doesn't filter out the environmental noise pollution upon playback for some reason try it popular large diaphragm condenser mics are Neumann u87 or u67 or the tlm-103

[08:13] AKG 414 rode nt1 and the Townsend Labs l22 now called the uadlx sphere this one right here or the Shure ksm-32

[08:26] there's lots and lots of great ones small diaphragm condensers small diaphragm condenser mics can come in a lot of forms from pencil mics to shotgun

[08:38] mics to Electric condenser lav mics that some people call lapel mics and others there's a lot of different types of small diaphragm condenser mics so I'll try to be very very brief here and power through them all small diaphragm

[08:52] condenser mics like pencil condensers are usually cardioid mics but they can come in hyper cardioid or super cardioid versions and even Omni this has to do versions and even Omni this has to do with how specific a pickup beam it has

[09:05] Omni is the widest pickup pattern and it can pick up sounds equally from all directions cardioid pickup patterns are wide but the Dr it's Direction specific and they're what's known as

[09:19] unidirectional microphones supercardioids have a more narrow of a directional beam so you're getting even more narrow and the more narrow the pickup pattern is the more the very back of the mic also has a pickup lobe but

[09:35] the more narrow the polar pattern is the more Focus the mic is to sources you're pointing it at while minimizing or darkening The Sounds coming from outside the pickup beam these are great in recording studios

[09:49] when you want to record instruments and need to pinpoint a spot that has the best sound there are also a Top Choice for field recorders when using a pair of them for capturing stereo ambiences they tend to

[10:01] focus in better and reject sounds outside the beam and when I say reject I don't mean to say that they won't pick up anything at all outside their beam I mean that sources outside their beam are less loud and less articulate less

[10:16] highs and more muffled we'll say it's called off axis coloration and it's desirable sometimes and sometimes it's really not small diaphragm condenser

[10:28] pencil mics are also incredibly susceptible to plosives and wind of any kind so using a small diaphragm condenser as a vocal mic isn't always preferred since your breath will cause it to distort and frap in a very sharpy

[10:43] way but it can be done with good plosive technique small diaphragm condenser pencil mics are often a good choice when booming on a movie set in a small room with less

[10:57] than ideal Acoustics or a reverberant space either cardioid super cardioid or hypercardioid is preferable depending on the situation while they will pick up a lot they won't pick up the room as much as a large diaphragm condenser will I'll

[11:12] explain why a shotgun is not the optimum choice for those locations a little later popular small diaphragm condenser pencil mics are Neumann km184 the Sennheiser 8040s line audio cm4s and even octava mk-012s shotguns

[11:29] shotguns are pretty self-explanatory they are indeed small diaphragm condenser mics but with a long interference tube running across both sides that cancel out sounds from the sides

[11:42] it's a whole technology it's a common misconception that they have reach when compared to other microphones that's technically inaccurate it doesn't reach any more than any other small diaphragm condenser or any other mic in general

[11:56] but it does clear away the Clutter by minimizing environmental noises so it appears to be reaching this Source easier when actually it just has more of a focused beam when pointed at your Source while muffling the sounds coming

[12:11] from the sides shotgun mics are used primarily to capture dialogue Outdoors since they reject environmental sounds they are often used indoors too but be careful that long interference tube can also

[12:23] work against you by causing comb filtering that we talked about earlier when you're in a small untreated room with a lot of hard reflective surfaces sometimes those sound Reflections bounce back and hit the interference tube at

[12:35] almost the same time as your Source causing a weird spike in certain frequencies that are not pleasing to listen to this is why in small untreated rooms a pencil condenser is the optimal Choice shotgun mics are widely used for

[12:48] voiceovers like commercials or movie trailers because when you get really close to them they become really Bassy with the proximity effect and pleasing to listen to for a short time an intimate sound once again the

[13:02] proximity effect is the reason for this the closer you get to any type of cardioid the more low end will be picked up this is sometimes desirable such as for movie trailers and commercials and sometimes a hindrance as it can become

[13:15] fatiguing on the ear in an acoustically treated room shotgun mics work great and also will not pick up the house noises as much which is another reason vo artists choose them they can and are used for podcasts and even Sports

[13:31] reporting since the rejection of the environment is good shotguns aren't commonly used in music recording but it's not unheard of there are no rules of music only guidelines popular shotgun mics are the Sennheiser

[13:44] mkh-416 or the Sennheiser 8060 or the Shep's cement 5u or the rodent T3 or even the sanken cs3e lav mics lab mics tend to be Omni mics

[13:56] but also come in cardioid patterns they're known as lavalier mics you see them on lapels of news anchors and the like these mics are very small and great for personally miking someone but their sound is unnatural most of the time when

[14:10] you mic someone on their chest it's much like putting your ear up to someone's chest while they're speaking the chest resonance comes through so it's important to high pass the sound if you can by cutting the low base out of the

[14:23] recording kind of get rid of that Rumble believe it or not according to DPA microphones a really really high-end company the optimal place to mount a lav mic an omni lab mic on a person is just above their foreheads this apparently

[14:36] gives the most balanced sound that's great news for Wig wearing stage performers they tend to have a very low tolerance for loud noises and as such are primarily used for dialogue lav mics are used as backup mics on movie actors

[14:50] or for just in case the boom recordings have issues or if there's no way to stealthily get the Boom in close enough to the actors so that it's not seen on camera they're also used as main mics for stage actors

[15:03] you've seen them used by journalists and news anchors all the time applications but who knows what you can do the sky's the limit a pair of full frequency Omni lab mics are great for

[15:16] field recording When capturing stereo ambiances in fact they're my favorite for that application Omni lab mics have a particular Advantage though since equally from all directions this means that you don't need to point it at your

[15:31] Source at all so when you mic someone with a lab mic you can have it Point sideways or even upside down if it will attach better any omnipolar patterns on any mics do not exhibit the proximity effect so while you'll get louder the

[15:45] closer you get to it you won't get bassier cardioid versions of lab mics are much more directional as their big brothers are so they need to be pointed at the source so at the mouth in that case if they're mounted on one side of

[15:58] the lapel and the talent turns their head to the other side then the sound will become noticeably darker and lower a nightmare in post popular lab mics are sanken cost 11d Countryman B6 and DPA

[16:14] 4060s and my favorite little big Labs the clippy em-272s you can watch that one right there and finally ribbon mics ribbon mics are an old technology that dates back to the 20s and so that's like

[16:30] 100 years ago and still has that really likable sound they're articulate and very sensitive to transients so that uh the edge of of sounds the first part of a sound that hits so when you hit a drum the drum will go right transient part is

[16:47] the two the loudest hit the thing that starts the that spot that's a transient so they're very susceptible they're very sensitive to the transients while also maintaining their warmth a lot of

[17:01] old-timey crooners sang into ribbon mics they're still used today on guitar cabinet making and other fun stuff they are usually in a figure eight polar pattern so they tend to pick up from the front and the back equally they're very

[17:16] around much they also have a very low output so generally need to be paired with a preamp with a lot of gain a lot of Clean Gain or a cloud lifter or something to boost up that signal they're mostly used

[17:32] for music and in special broadcasting and that's just about it but you can use it for anything you want since they're so fragile and low output they can't be taken onto movie sets or out for field recording even keeping them on their

[17:48] droop and at that point we'll need to go in for repairs so they're very fragile their uses are much more limited than other types of mics but for what they do they do it very well there's nothing

[18:03] quite like the sound of a classic ribbon mic unmistakable popular ribbon mics are mic unmistakable popular ribbon mics are Kohl's 4038 a Royer r121 in RCA

[18:15] Kohl's 4038 a Royer r121 in RCA 77dx if you can find one those are some kind of expensive too I mean you should look into them they're very interesting and that's your microphone Rundown

[18:30] one of the reasons for proper mic Choice among many is that it makes your life much easier later when you're editing or mixing if there's anything worth saying in this video it's that recording sources properly at the start is the

[18:46] most important thing you can do with any audio recording in any field ever the best music engineers in the world will tell you that when it comes to mixing their recorded music there's not much to do because if you've done your job right

[19:03] the song already sounds like a finished song on an album before you've even started mixing it all that's left to do is just polish it and make some creative choices this applies to every other type of audio recording there is

[19:18] if you take the time to learn how to record and choose the right tool for the job you will have a much easier time later when you finalize something if something or if you're sending a deliverable to someone or whatever

[19:33] you're doing I'm a recordist that's that's what I do I've been a recorder that's what I do I've been a recorder for a long time I record a lot of stuff and over the years I've learned how to capture the best version of sounds right

[19:47] at the beginning I've spent far less time mixing than I have recording and it probably shows mics are a massive part of your toolkit and having a collection of different types of tools in your toolkit allows

[20:03] you the freedom to properly choose the one you need that will best serve you the experience to know which to choose is the other part but like anything else in the world that comes with practice and repetition so I hope this video will

[20:18] help you on your wonderful journey into audio recording you can save this video for future reference and use the chapter markers to quickly get to the part you markers to quickly get to the part you need

[20:34] possible use which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do bye now in transmission [Music]

[20:48] right hey man I learned from the mistakes of [Music] watch these watch these [Music]