Microphone Pick-Up Patterns
For the live stage it's best to use the Cardioid or Uni-directional pattern mics because they will reject off-axis sounds minimizing feedback and spillage from drums, amps and other unwanted audio sources. But in the recording studio, where vocals can be recorded as overdubs the importance of using a cardioid mic isn’t as important so you have more options.
If you’re lucky and have a room that enhances your vocal sound then you will get more out of an omni or figure 8 pattern mic. This will work good for a single vocalist but also a group of singers.
Cardioid-pattern: The sound gets picked up mostly front the front. Supercardioid and Hypercardioid, are the
other 2 versions of the Cardioid pattern and each have increasingly limited ranges of pickup:
Omni-pattern: The sound gets picked up from the front, sides and rear of the microphone:
Figure 8: Also called the bi-directional pattern which picks up sound from the front and rear but not the sides:
There is another one called the Uni-directional pattern which is similar to the Cardioid but has no pick up from the sides, only from the direct front.
Use a Mic Screen To Eliminate Pops
You’ll definatley at some point experience those awful pops from a vocal performance. They’re unavoidable because if you move the singer back too far you’ll lose too much of the vocal level and important frequencies. The only way around this problem is to use a screen. A commercially bought mic screen can cost quite a bit but it’s real easy to make one yourself…
Get a nylon stocking and stretch it around some wire such as a coat hanger, that’s it!
Check out some reviews on Dynamic, Cardioid pattern microphones:
