Choosing the Best Microphone for You 🎤 (for beginners/noobs)

do you want to start recording music do you sing or play an instrument but struggle to find a microphone that'll work for you wait is it just me or does that girl kind of look like me introducing Annie's fun and easy beginner 101 foolproof no mistake gets you up and running no guide to microphone you'll learn about the types their uses sound pressure levels polar patterns and more now you're 5.99 for only 19.99 shipping and handling not included call now and get the Annie's fun and easy beginner 101 foolproof no mistake gets you up and

running no all right I'm calling hello yes already all right let's see so if you're looking into recording music huh we came to the right place understanding microphone types and when to use them is essential for getting the best sound quality for all of your recordings establishing what you want to use the mics for is the first step in selecting the right mic for the job and since there's no one-size-fits all different applications require different mics sometimes the first step into selecting the right mic is to determine whether you need an instrument mic a vocal

mic a drum mic and where you'll be recording the way that sound waves are captured are different for each mic type depending on how they convert audio their sensitivity and how they respond to sound waves coming from different directions first up we have the mic that's probably the most recognized by you guys and it is called the dynamic mic these are rugged and durable microphones that are perfect for live performances and recording loud sound sources like drums and electrical guitar amplifiers Dynamic mics use electropagnetic induction so this is when the mic's diaphragm is attached to

a coil of wire in the magnetic field when sound waves come in the diaphragm and coil moves picking up sound waves and converting them to an electrical signal Dynamic microphones are passive meaning they don't need to be powered by an external energy source or phantom power these mics are known to have lower sensitivity or frequency response in comparison to other types of mics and an extremely high Max sound pressure level a Max SPL is basically the microphone's clipping point or where the audio signals start to distort because these are a little bit lower in sensitivity

they're great at canceling out background noises and live performances and recordings and with the right amount of gain they also work really well in quieter settings so if you're looking for something versatile and you'll be recording all sorts of sounds especially loud ones at home or on stage than the dynamic mic might be the one for you next up we have the condenser mics these are a little more sensitive more precise you guys will see these in a lot of people's home studio setups unlike the dynamic microphone condenser mics are active meaning it needs to

be powered by extermines or phantom power through USB or through an XLR cable into an audio interface or preamp the electricity is supplied to create a static charge between the mic's diaphragm and back plate and once the sound hits the diaphragm the vibrations produce a small current proportional to the original sound the max SPL rating for condenser mics is much lower than a dynamic microphone meaning it's more sensitive and it's capable of capturing a wider frequency range and a more detailed sound than Dynamic microphones so you're breathing rattling and even room noise can be picked

up these mics are perfect for capturing large natural tones so an example of one of these would be used is for recording acoustic instruments such as guitar bass piano and even vocals the lower Max SPL rating also means that you got to be aware of what you're recording before the 6 signals start to distort so recording in front of a drum kit could cause Distortion and recording a guitar amp could cause Distortion and here I have both large diaphragm and small diaphragm condenser microphones large diagram condenser microphones are ideal for recording vocals acoustic guitars and

other instruments that require warmth and depth they're also great for recording low frequency sounds like bass if the bigger the diaphragm the more it can sense air vibrations small diaphragm condenser microphones are ideal for recording high frequency sounds like symbols acoustic guitars and other instruments that require precision and accuracy they're also great for capturing the sound of an instrument in the live setting where directional sensitivity is very important so if you're a senior or you play acoustic instruments at home or in the studio and you want to capture those crisp delicate warm vocals and sounds

straight into your doll then the condenser microphone might be your best bet finally we have the ribbon microphone I don't own one myself so we're just going to use this visual right here these microphones use a thin metal ribbon to capture sound waves and known for their warm and smooth sound ribbon microphones are often used for recording vocals strings brass and Woodwinds ribbon mics are probably the most natural sounding mics they are so beautiful they add Ambience to your sound and the natural high frequency Roloff cuts off a lot of the harsh tones like Dynamic

microphones most ribbon microphones are passive meaning they don't require an external phantom power supply they're known to be super fragile so if you happen to use phantom power through a passive ribbon mic you might just ruin it there are active ribbon mics out there on the market so if you're buying a rhythm mic and you're planning on using one make sure to double check to see if it's passive or active before you turn on the 48 volts on your interface or your preamp so if you're chasing a vintage feel you want more color and depth

in your recordings then the ribbon mic might be the one another area that is super important to understand when it comes to differentiating microphones is polar patterns or pickup patterns a polar pattern defines how much of the signal will be picked up by the microphone from different directions there are several types of polar patterns Each of which is suited for different recording scenarios so here are some common types of polar patterns cardioid polar patterns are named after their heart-shaped pickup pattern these microphones are most sensitive to sound coming from the front and reject sound from

the sides and in the rear they are commonly used for vocals and solo instruments where you want to focus on a single Sound Source and reject any background noise the cardioid pattern is perfect for environments where there's lots of noise and reverberation especially in live performances so only your voice is captured and not your audience and for a lot of you guys who are starting to make music at home and don't have treated rooms this pattern is perfect for canceling out noise that are bouncing off of your walls the laptop fan your AC as long

as you have it pointing away from those things so if you notice if I just turn my mic towards my laptop you might be able to hear that nasty fan other cardioid patterns include sub cardioid hypercardioid and supercardioid as you can see all of these are more sensitive to sounds in the front and less sensitive to sounds coming from the back next is the omnidirectional polar pattern and I don't have a recording mic that has omnidirectional pattern in it so I'll be using a lav mic just for demonstration purposes and as you can see omnidirectional

captures sound waves from all sorts of directions equally and this is perfect for recording groups of people and for ambient sounds this pattern is especially useful in acoustically treated environments where the Acoustics are controlled and you want to capture a very natural recording next is the figure of eight pattern which captures sound from the front and the back but rejects sound from the sides this pattern is perfect for capturing a stereo image such as in a duet or when recording two instruments that are facing each other these are super useful in capturing the sound of

a room such as for a concert hall or a church as they can capture sound from the front and the back business and front party in the back okay so that might be a lot of information for you guys to take in especially if you're a beginner I totally get it I'll walk you through some questions to ask yourself when you're choosing your microphone what type of instrument or Sound Source am I recording will I be courting in a studio or live setting how much ambient noise will there be in the recording environment and what

type of sound am I trying to achieve once you've answered these questions then you can start to narrow down your choices so for example if you are recording a guitar amplifier at a performance you might want to use your dynamic microphone but if you're recording vocals at a studio and you want to cancel out that background noise then the condenser mic is something that you want to use and if you want to record a string quartet or a brass section then the ribbon microphone might be your best bet and remember there's no one size fits

all so I hope this encourages you to go out there try all the different mics and figure out which one works for you and your situation and before you go I have a special announcement I'm going to be doing a giveaway to thank you guys for all the support and for literally being here through everything I'm going to be giving away okay three new condenser microphones to Three Special winners first up we have the NT USB comes with the microphone itself the pop filter desk stand and everything that you need to get started like this

is the ultimate beginner microphone no preamp needed all you got to do is just plug it into your laptop so this is a good one the next one is so cool and I'm so excited to talk about it it's the nt1 5th gen this is super new that came from rode um they have a dual connection so it's both USB and XLR so you can plug it straight into your computer or laptop or through you know your interface or preamp and so this is super cool and it comes with the shock mount a pop filter

the cables all that good stuff last but not least we have the lewid lct440 which is an amazing condenser microphone to add to your home studio if you guys are interested in any of these three microphones and want to enter the giveaway make sure to subscribe to this Channel and two go down to the description down below and fill up the Google form that I've linked below make sure to read the instructions and good luck anyways thank you so much for watching this video and I'll catch you guys in the next one bye [Music]