Polar Pattern
From WikiRecording
A microphone's Polar Pattern determines the directions from which it picks up sound. Polar pattern is sometimes referred to as Directionality.
Contents |
Common Polar Patterns
Cardioid
Picks up sound only from the front of the microphone. The Shure SM-57 is a classic example of a cardioid microphone.
Variations of the cardioid pattern are super-cardioid and hyper-cardioid. These variations have greater off-axis rejection than a standard cardioid, the hypercardioid however rejects less at 180 degrees (from the back) but rejects more from the sides.
 |
 |
 |
Bi-directional (Figure 8)
Picks up sound in both the front and rear of the mic, in a figure 8 pattern (hence the nickname). Many ribbon microphones are bi-directional.
Omnidirectional
Picks up sound in all directions.
Multi-Pattern Microphones
Some microphones can change their polar patterns either with a switch or by changing capsules.
References
About.com's Microphone Basics
Shure's Guide to Microphone Techniques for the Studio (PDF)
