Microphone Technique -part 1

When you're playing live or in the practice hall, the most popular and practical microphones used are the moving coil type. And as their name implies, they're composed of a coil which is floating around a magnet.

The diaphram is a very thin material which is fixed to the coil in a way that when you speak into the microphone, the diaphram vibrates making the coil go up and down around the magnet. This produces a tiny AC current which is amplified (made bigger) and makes the speaker move in and out to reproduce the sound. As a matter of fact, a speaker works like a microphone only backwards; the current in the speaker coil makes the diaphram move in and out producing sound instead of capturing it.

Depending on how you place the mic it will sound one way or another. Here are some things to keep in mind.

The Proximity EffectAs you come closer to the front of the microphone, you'll notice that your voice gains body. Proximity means closeness, so if you're speaking straight into the diaphram, you're making it vibrate a lot more and if you say 'Peter Peter Pumpkin eater' you'll notice a poping sound as you pronounce the 'P's'. This is very undesirable because it masks the rest of the word. The sound guy will have to turn down the lows on your microphone (80-100Hz) and you'll feel like you're singing through a transistor radio.

If, on the other hand, you step away from the mic, your voice sounds thinner and the sound guy has to give more gain to the mic channel and maybe compensate giving it some lows to gain some body at the risk of having the PA feedback.

Now, I can imagine what you're thinking: 'But almost all of my favorite stars look like they're almost eating the mic and it sounds good! Why doesn't it work for me?'

First: If you look closely they're not singing directly into the mic, so those obnoxious 'P's' are not going directly into the diaphram causing pops or explosions. They're either singing on a downward angle or veering it off to the left or right. If the mic is hand held, you'll probably notice that they veer it off about 30 degrees and sing straight at the audience.

Second: They're close to the mic so that it gives them body in their voice and the sound guy doesn't have to do it for them, therefore there's no danger of feedback due to giving it more gain or lows than necessary.

Third: (And this is important!) They're singing loud enough. If you have a weak voice, don't expect the sound guy to 'fix it in the mix' when you're playing a live show. If your voice is powerful, you can bring down the mic gain so there's no danger of feedback and it can be turned up.

Fourth: If they're singing that close to a microphone they might have to even exchange the 'p' sound for a 'b' sound on some words ('beable' instead of 'people'). Although this is not usually necessary if the mic is properly placed in front of your mouth.

Final Note: The more you turn up a mic, the greater it's range or capturing area. If the mic starts capturing what's coming out of the speaker, you get feedback.