Chapter 5

Production Sound II: Microphones

There are many different types of microphones in the world today, from sophisticated and expensive ones used for high-end film production and music to millions of simple ones used in telephones and answering machines. While the range is large, only a few types are prominent in film and video production, and this chapter will concentrate on these types.

There are two main factors that characterize microphones, beyond their simple visible characteristics of size, mounting, and so forth. The first factor is the method by which the microphone changes acoustical energy, sound, into electrical energy, represented by changing voltage versus time at the electrical output connector of the microphone. The generic ...

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