Microphone Pickup Patterns

WHY DO MICROPHONES HAVE DIFFERENT PICKUP PATTERNS ? 

Pickup patterns in microphones are like our ears, we can change how we filter out sounds and focus on the sounds we want to hear. 

Omnidirectional microphones are equally sensitive to sound from all directions.

OMNIDIRECTIONAL MICROPHONES

Omnidirectional microphones are microphones that hear everything that’s going on around them "360". They are equally sensitive to sound from all directions. This would be the equivalent of us humans “taking in the whole scene.” Omnidirectional microphones are often used for orchestra recordings. But they can also be very useful in the home studio; for instance, when you record acoustic guitar, percussion, or background vocals, or anything that sounds best with some room ambience. It can be a good room microphone.

Cardioid microphones “listen” to sound from the front and reject sound from the rear.

CARDIOID / UNDIRECTIONAL  

A cardioid microphone is most sensitive to sound coming from the front. Sound from the sides is picked up somewhat quieter, and sound from the rear is greatly rejected. That’s exactly what we want, most of the time, which is why the great majority of stage and studio microphones come with a cardioid pattern. Cardioid microphones are great for recoding vocals and anything that’s supposed to sound “dry” and “close”.

Figure-8 microphones are equally sensitive to sound from the front and from the rear, but have great rejection for sound coming from the sides.

FIGURE-8 / BIDIRECTIONAL

This is a somewhat weird way of listening which would be very hard to do for a human. It is the equivalent of listening to two guys standing on either side of you while ignoring everything else. A microphone with a Figure-8 or bidirectional pickup pattern is sensitive to sound coming from the front and coming from the rear, but has a very high rejection for sound coming from the sides. Advance applications for figure-8 microphones such as mid/side and Blumlein stereo techniques. Figure-8 happens to be the natural pattern of ribbon microphones, and most multipattern condensers can be set to figure-8. 

Mid/side 

The main weakness of the XY microphone technique is the fact that you're stuck with what you've recorded — as well as its stereo image. And in some cases, collapsing those tracks to mono can result in some phase cancellation. The M/S technique gives you more control over the width of the stereo spread than other microphone recording techniques, and allows you to make adjustments at any time after the recording is finished.

Blumlein

One of the most popular techniques for recording in stereo. Its realistic, wide, and focused imaging is why it is one of the primary choices when recording everything from drum overheads to entire orchestras. Often times, a pair of mics in Blumlein configuration is all that is needed to capture the full scope of a source. In 1931, Alan Blumlein, an engineer for EMI, invented stereo recording by demonstrating the natural reproduction of the soundstage in one of the Abbey Road studios in London.

Using two figure-of-eight pattern ribbon mics is the benchmark for producing an authentic representation of a performance in a room. The Blumlein method uses the two mic elements angled at 90 degrees and mounted in close proximity to each other along the vertical axis. A sense of realism is created. It’s as if the listener is there in the acoustic sound field. This technique is extremely accurate and gives a direct center image with a very wide sense of space. For solo piano or general room miking, it captures a highly realistic image of the original sound.

Supercardioid and hypercaridoid microphones are very focussed on sound from the front.

OTHER PATTERNS

WIDE CARDIOID

Some varieties of the cardioid pattern, the best known being wide cardioid and super- or hypercardiod. Wide cardioid is a, i.e. a less directional form of cardioid. Wide cardioid is excellent for recording acoustic guitar and small vocal groups.

SUPERCARDIOID & HYPERCARDIOID

Super- and hypercardioid are patterns in-between cardioid and figure-8, i.e. they are even more focused on sound from the front, but sound from the rear isn’t suppressed quite as much. Their maximum cancellation is somewhat left and right to the rear, in an angle of about 110-125 degrees to the front. This can be useful in live situations. Hypercardioid microphones are also great for drums, e.g. when you want to record the snare with as little spill from the hi-hat as possible.