How to Choose a Microphone

November 4, 2020
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Whether you're shooting a documentary in the field or a YouTube video in your home studio, recording quality audio is essential. There are tons of microphones to choose from but picking the best microphones can be a daunting task. Luckily, there are only so many ways microphones can capture sound waves. Here's our guide for choosing the right microphone for various production needs. 

Microphones pick up sounds from different locations on the device. These locations can be categorized into three directions: 

  • Omnidirectional - picks up sound with equal gain from all sides or directions of the microphone. This means that whether you speak into the microphone from the front, back, left or right side, the microphone will record the signals all with equal gain. 

Example of Omni-directional microphone: 

Handheld Microphones are held in hand and used to capture human speech and are ideal for recording stand-ups and man-on-the-street interviews.

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  • Uni-directional - microphones that only pick up sound with high gain from a specific side or direction of the microphone. Thus, if you're speaking into a unidirectional microphone, you must speak into the right side, typically called the microphone's voice side, to get adequate levels on the recording.

Examples of Uni-direction microphones:

Shotgun Microphone - must be pointed directly at its target sound source for proper recording. They're ideal for recording b-roll, scenes, and ambient or natural sound. You can use this mic to record back up audio of interviews.

Boom Microphone - mounted on a boom arm and positioned just out of the camera frame. Booms have the advantage of freeing up subjects from having to worry about wearing wired or wireless microphones. They allow your subjects to move around freely without disturbing the sound. 

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Lavalier Microphone - also known as a "lav" or "lapel mic" is a small, compact microphone designed to pick up speech from a single person. They're usually attached to the subject's clothing with a specialized clip. This provides consistent close-range sound pickup. There are two types of lavalier microphones: wired and wireless, which are ideal for recording sit down interviews

  • Bi-directional microphone - also called figure-of-eight microphone, picks up sound from the front and back.

Bi-directional microphones are useful for picking up two sources that are positioned side by side. This type of microphone is ideal for isolating one voice or instruments surrounded by other sound sources. 

If you're interested in learning more about how to capture sound in the field, join us for our Video Production with Sony Z150 course beginning December 1st at our Firehouse facility. To learn more visit, mnn.org/learn.