Microphone manufacturers make an
effort to help us understand how a
microphone performs by supplying
a polar pattern graph.
But if you struggle to read these
illustrations they could be nothing more
than lines and squiggles on a page.
If you would like
to know how to make sense of these
details then stick around and I will take
the mystery out of the polar pattern.
G'day, my name is Gary and you're
watching the YouTube channel Simple
Audio Tips dedicated to make sound gear
easy to understand.
The polar pattern graph tells us a lot
about the microphones sensitivity
to sound coming from different directions
Let's have a closer look at this chart.
The chart has three different
measurements. The first one is the radial lines
Like the directions of a
compass indicate direction in degrees
These lines radiating from the centre
indicate sound coming from different
directions. 0 degrees represents
sound that is on axis or from the front
of the microphone, 90 degrees and 270
degrees sound entering the sides of the
microphone and 180 degrees, sounds
coming from the direction of the back.
Each circular
division on this chart represents a
measurement of sensitivity, and this
gives you an idea of where the
microphone picks up sound the best and
in which direction it is less
sensitive to sound. The circle on the
outside is marked 0 dB, and this
represents the loudest or strongest level
of sound expected from the microphone.
The centre circle is -25dB, the quietest.
The wriggly line or drawing, the thing that is called a plot is calculated when
the microphone is tested for its sensitivity
In reality this line is only an average of
one frequency, and real life tests reveal
that this line is never smooth,
but it is only meant to be
a relative representation of how the mic
performs. Some graphs show more than
one frequency by laying them on top of
each other and changing the line style.
To show you how this works I will use a
microphone with a very basic pickup
pattern and with the knowledge that you
gain you should be able to apply it to
more complex polar pattern
microphones.
This is the polar pattern for a cardioid
microphone. The name cardioid comes
from the heart like shape of the polar
pattern line. Cardioid microphones are
known to reject sound coming from the
back and are good in a situation like a
stage performance where you don't want
the sound from your speakers returning
back into the mic. You can see this on
the graph. The front of the mic indicates
0dB or the strongest, sound coming
toward the back of the mic would
be -25dB, or 25dB less.
So you get an idea of what this means
in real terms I will simulate the
difference in sensitivity when sound
comes from different directions.
This is the level of sound picked
from the front of the microphone
This is the level of sound from the
side of the microphone
This is the level of sound from the
back of the microphone.
As you can hear for yourself there is a
considerable difference in pick up
between the front and the back and this
as illustrated by this polar pattern.
Now you should have no problem in
working out from a microphones polar
pattern how it will perform when you set
it up for recording or stage performance.
If that hasn't cleared up the mystery of
the polar pattern add your questions in
in the comments section below this video
there are often great ideas and
discussion from subscribers like yourself
so check it out.
If you liked this video please give us a
thumbs up and if this is the first time
you have watched a video from
our channel and you would
like to learn more about
sound gear in a simple and easy to
understand format then go ahead and
subscribe and you can follow our
updates on your favourite social media ap
Remember you don't have to
be a sound engineer to learn the
basics of improving your audio.
Sound's Easy, with Simple Audio Tips
Until next time, I'll catch you later.