Types Of Microphones Essay Research Paper Types

Types Of Microphones Essay, Research Paper

Types Of Microphones

Basically this section that I read told about different types of microphones, what they can do and what they can not do. It told us that microphones were contained metal diaphragms that vibrate when the sound waves hit them, the vibrations are converted into electric impulses by back plates or coils. The impulses can be amplified, and recorded on the videotape, and can be recorded and stored there for editing along with the pictures. Next the impulses are converted back to sound and which is sent through the TV.

Two microphones are really common for TV news. They are the dynamic microphones and the condenser microphones. Dynamic mics are very good, but are less sensitive they are used in noisy places. Two problems with the microphone is that when someone talks the “p” and “s” sounds come out.

Condenser microphones are becoming more and more intricate. First of all many microphones contain little batteries about the size of a hearing aid. The batteries last a very long time.

The television field uses around four kinds of microphones as basic equipment; the hand-held omnidirectional, the tiny lavalier mic, which is used by clipping on clothing, a wireless microphone called the transmitter mic, and the shotgun mic.

The Omnidirectional Microphone comes in many different shapes and sizes. They are used when the background sound is normally low. They usually work by pointing the mic directly at the source of the sound. This mic is not good for loud background sound because the mic might not be able to distinguish between the different sounds.

The Lavalier Microphones are small mics that have a more unidirectional pick up pattern which means that it has a limited reception range. These mics are attached to the reporters clothing or the subjects near the lapel level. When used in this manner they provide a very good mic, where the background sound might be high.

Wireless microphones are cute little devices. They contain tiny transmitters that send and audio signal to a receiver attached to the tape recorder or somewhere else. These microphone are good in close situations. The obvious reason for using a wireless mic is so the reporter does not have to be tied down to the camera. Disadvantages are that the transmitter mics use radio frequencies that are also used by others. The receivers pick up different things other then the mic. The wireless microphones also require a battery to operate thus the batteries need to be changed regularly.

Next type of microphone that is talked about is the Shotgun Microphone. These microphones pick up a lot of distance but must be aimed at the sound source. Sound quality is good and sound can be picked up many feet away. The are good for use in forums where speakers are far apart, or for a person who is in a crowd. Larger models of the shotgun mic can be put on a tripod, and can pick up sound from a very good distance away. Camera mounted shotgun mics should not be used for interviews. The best use of the shotgun mic is to get sound from 3 to 6 feet away.

Next this packet goes into talking about the microphone cords. There are different types of connectors also. They come in the form of single of double jacks, multiple pronged plugs, or locking plugs. First thing about connectors it says is that they should be treated with care. A majority of problems are usually broken or damaged connectors. Dirt is also a problem. If dirt gets in the connector will not work. If you need a specific cord, and the ones you have don’t work, you can usually make a cord, but do it before you go to the site. The last final warning is that power cables and microphone cords do not work well together. A microphone cord that is near a power source will conduct electricity, and will result in a bad hum that will accompany the sound you wanted onto the recording.

The next paragraph starts to talk about video and audio and being mixed together, and videotape Vs 16 mm motion picture film. The videotape is better cause sound can be mixed more efficiently then with the other.

Next paragraph talks about editing equipment can be either simple or complex. It also talks about the different ways to edit a film right on the video camera. It tells you how to setup the video recording from one device to another. This is so the editor can edit the film and get it ready for use.

The next part tells about finding the editing point. Basically you find a point you want to edit and start recording from that point. You should also rehearse the edit. There are two modes for editing material from one vtr to another. They are the assemble mode, and the insert mode editing. Today all editing is done in insert mode. A brand-new video cassette cannot be used to do insert mode until video track has been laid on it.

Audio can be edited in or out as well, the video can be too. They can be separated also. Most video editing bays contain two VTRs, a controller, an audio mixer, and a time base corrector. Many editing machines also have components that allow the use of time code in locating taped material. Time code is a standard code where the exact hour, minute, second, and video frame at the exact time the recording took place. The most useful place to put time code is on the vertical interval in the video picture. Basically the vertical interval is a part where the viewer does not see.

Time Base Correction was also discussed it is usually called TBC. The TBC corrects its timing and stores it then sends it on it’s way at a uniform interval. Next discussed was the microwave which is a wireless transmission system. This is High-Frequency radio signals carrying the video and audio information transmitted from one point to another using antennae to send them and dishes to receive them. The gigahertz word is used here which means a million of hertz. Then it goes on to talk about covering the news with the microphone.