8Microphone Specifications

Classical music ensembles usually are recorded with stereo microphone techniques. You place two or three mics several feet in front of the ensemble to pick up the group and the hall reverberation as a whole.

Before you can understand how stereo microphone arrays work, you need to understand microphone polar patterns. This chapter explains them, as well as other specifications that help you choose mics and accessories for stereo recording.

Polar Patterns

Microphones differ in the way they respond to sounds coming from different directions. Some mics pick up sound equally from all directions. Other mics emphasize sound from the front, but have reduced pickup of sounds coming from the sides and rear. In other words, the ...

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