Audiotuts+ has put together a simple, helpful guide on microphone basics. This is a quick read of the fundamentals and will help you understand the different types of microphones, how polar patterns describe the way a microphone picks up sound, and what other factors you should consider before purchasing new equipment.
At their most basic, microphones are transducers. A transducer is an electrical device that converts energy from one form to another. In this case, the transducer is turning sound — acoustical energy — into an audio signal — electrical energy.
Most of you would know that sound is essentially fluctuations in air pressure. The component all microphones have in common is called the diaphragm. When sound waves hit the diaphragm, it vibrates, and the vibrations (which represent the fluctuations in air pressure) are turned into electrical energy (current). At the other end of the mic lead, that current is turned into the audio signal.
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