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7KIT Microphone Characteristics
8
Polar Pick-up Pattern
Every microphone has a characteristic polar pattern that determines how well it
accepts or rejects signal coming from various areas around the microphone. For
example, omnidirectional mics accept all signals regardless of wherever those
signals originate (in front of the mic, behind it, to the side, etc.). In contrast, direc-
tional cardioid mics are specifically designed to accept mostly signal coming from
directly in front, and to reject signal coming from behind or from the side.The
super cardioid pattern is utilized by the QKICK, QSNARE and QTOM (as shown
in the illustrations on the following page). The supper cardioid is a slight variation
of the standard cardioid pattern with a slightly tighter pick-up pattern, which helps
increase the side-to-side rejection giving better isolation from drum to drum. For
this reason, the QKICK, QSNARE and QTOM excel in environments where there
is a good deal of unwanted ambient sound (like a live sound stage)—they deliver
those signals originating directly in front of the mic capsule itself while rejecting
those that originate from behind.
The C02 has a standard cardioid pattern offering good rear rejection, but with a
wider pick-up pattern which make them ideal for miking the cymbals and entire
kit when use as overhead mics.
In addition, the polar pattern also determines how prone a particular mic is to
inducing feedback. Feedback is that characteristic nasty howling sound that
occurs when a mic is placed too close to a loudspeaker—the signal from the
loudspeaker is fed into the mic, then into the loudspeaker, then into the mic, over
and over again until an oscillating tone is generated. Because the cardioid pat-
tern utilized by the QKICK, QSNARE, QTOM and C02 is so good at rejecting sig-
nal not coming from directly in front of the mic, you’ll find that using these mics
will greatly minimize feedback problems.
Frequency Response
Each of the QKICK, QSNARE and QTOM microphones have been designed with
a custom frequency response which is ideally tailored for the specific drum it is
going to be place on. The response is created by the careful consideration of the
microphone element and the design of rear porting. The C02 has been designed
to have a flat frequency response with just a slight lift in the highs making it great
for overhead cymbals and hi-hat.You can see the individual frequency response
of each mic included in the 7Kit on the following page.