Vocal Microphone Guide You Need to Know

A high-quality vocal microphone and the user are vital to the success of any church service. When it is time for worship, the vocalist leads the entire congregation in a worship song. Also, the pastor is responsible for feeding the congregation on the word of God using the vocal microphone.

This makes the choice of vocal microphone alongside the EQ sculpting an essential part of any church service. This article sheds light on crucial things to know about vocal microphones and EQ.

Vocal Microphones

Microphones are not created equal. Microphones come in various models that have properties and characters which affect the overall output – sound. For instance, two different vocal microphones used by the same person can produce two unique colorizations of the user’s voice. One of the microphones might pick up excessive background noises compared to the other. One of them might be well suited for solo singers, while another one might be well suited for a couple of singers sharing the same microphone.

Generally, microphones have four properties:

  • The type of microphone
  • The polar patterns of the microphone
  • The frequency response
  • The size of the diaphragm
  1. The Type of Microphone

Generally, a microphone comes in three types: ribbon, dynamic, and condenser microphone, for an onstage vocal microphone, and for many churches, which are condenser and dynamic microphones.

Dynamic microphones are pretty versatile for some reasons:

  1. They can withstand heavy use and abuse
  2. They can handle loud volume with little distortion
  3. Users get a high gain before feedback to arrive at the highest audio level signal from the microphone before receiving the feedback.

Mode of Operation

Dynamic microphones utilize a thin metal coil to detect sound. One of the essential electromagnetic principles is that a magnet’s movement inside a coil generates electrical current in the wire. A dynamic microphone employs the principle of a diaphragm that is linked to the coil.

The diaphragm’s vibration as a response to incoming sound waves creates a back and forth movement of the coil near the magnet. This triggers a current in the coil that is transferred to the microphone. Due to this design, the least sensitive type of microphone is the dynamic type.

For a dynamic microphone, the trade-off is that high volumes do not affect it. For instance, when the church kids need to sing and their high-pitched voice was like a scream in the microphone. On the other hand, they are not so sensitive in picking up gentle sounds.

The condenser microphones stand out from the dynamic type with the following:

  1. Their signal is more robust compared to the dynamic type
  2. The sensitivity and response is higher, which makes them the preferred choice where fitting

There are situations where condenser might not be the best choice, which explains the phrase: “where fitting.” For instance, they are terrible choices where high volume is essential as sound distortion could occur. Interestingly, if a trained singer is handling a condenser microphone in the best environment, the output will be better than what you will have with a dynamic microphone.

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