Microphones!

Today we are going to talk a bit about microphones, both the definition and the appliaction. The technical source for today's discussion is Sure Technologies. Sure has many wonderful road worthy products on the market that we have all learned to rely on through out the years! So thanks again to the great folks over at Sure.

Mics

The Omnidirectional microphone has equal sensitivity from all angles, a full 360 degrees. This type of mic is the most sensitive and will pick up the most ambient sound of all mics. This extreme sensitivity comes with a price. In the live worship service application this mic will pick up all kinds of stage sound, most of what you don't want! This microphone will give you the most heartache as well as you can not aim it away from the main speakers (360 deg range) they feed back very easy. If you are forced to use this mic on stage for any number of reasons remember to keep as close to the sound source and as far from the ambient sound as possible. This will help in picking up a usable balance between the two.

The Unidirectional mic is most sensitive from one specific direction. The most common is the Cardioid (heart-shaped) response. This mic is most sensitive at 0 degrees (on-axis) directly straight into the mic. The effective coverage range is about 130 degrees, about 65 degrees off axis (either side). This mic picks up about 1/3 the ambient sound of the Omni.

Example of the on stage use of both cardioid and super cardioid with regards to floor monitors.
Cardioid Mic requires that the monitors be directly behind mic @ 180 degrees. Supercardioid allows for monitors to be as far as about 100 degrees, 50 degrees off axis and still reject sound (no feedback!).

So as you can see in this short and basic description of these mic types should help you pick the correct mics for the application, and how to adapt to a changing situation that may require you to suddenly add or change out mic's.