Microphone Pickup Patterns

When you start to explore microphones, you’ll discover that they have different purposes. Some are designed to pick up sound at a close range (like a vocal mic), whereas others pick up sound from far away (like a shotgun microphone). All microphones have a directional area that defines where they are most sensitive to sounds. This pickup area has a distinct shape known as a polar pattern.

Here are the most common microphone polar patterns:

Omnidirectional. If you need a microphone that picks up a lot of sound, choose an omnidirectional microphone. An omnidirectional microphone’s response is equally sensitive to audio coming from all directions. This style of microphone picks up sound in a spherical pattern and works best for controlled sets without much background noise.