What are polar patterns and microphone gains?
Microphones have what is called polar patterns, which is an elegant way to say sound directions that collect and reject. Most microphones use what is called cardioid Patron, where it collects what is in front of the microphone, but little to the back and the sides. This is ideal for a single person. High -end microphones have options to change to modes for Figure 8where the microphone collects the front and posterior (perfect for interviews of two people), or omnidirectionalwhere it collects all the instructions (it is good for whether you need to collect the conversation of a complete room). In general, there is a microphone switch that tells how to find it, but for most people, we recommend that you adhere to cardioids, except in specific cases such as the previous ones.
Another knob you could see in most microphones is gain. This is the knob that adjusts the sensitivity of the microphone. More gain works better to collect more silent sounds, and you will want less gain for stronger sounds. Adjust this configuration using the recording software and compare the results to see what the sounds are. (Some microphones also have an britcommerce gain function in their software, where the microphone listens and adjusts to volume britcommerceally).