As an artist, I have a variety of different brushes and a variety of different colors that I use to create the pictures and illustrations I paint. As an audio drama producer, I also have a variety of microphones that give me different polar patterns and sonic colors so that I can paint the stories on the canvas of your imagination as effectively as possible.

It’s worth mentioning that, just as I can render an entire artwork with a simple no. 2 school pencil that will portray the picture effectively, so I could also use a single microphone to produce an entire drama. But the reason I have a variety of microphones is twofold.

The first reason is that different microphone designs are better suited to different use cases. A shotgun microphone, for example is far more suited to field recording, than say, a large diaphragm condenser. The second is that different microphones sound different, so having options in my sonic pallet allows me to match whichever microphone fits best with each actors voice.

With that being said, here are the microphones I have in the Productions With Purpose mic locker.

SHOTGUN MICROPHONES:

AKG C568EB: These discontinued shotgun microphones work well on a wide variety of voices. They are fairly bright, but not harsh, and have a richness to their sound that I find very nice. They’re all around a decent mic for voice acting, and good for sound effects and Foley as well. I would sell a lot of other microphones before I’d sell these.

RODE NTG -1 (& NTG – 2): By far the brightest and harshest shotgun mics I’ve got. Not so harsh as to be unusable, but pushing the limit. So not the best pick for sibilant voices. Otherwise, a decent sounding mic. Nothing particularly special, but it’ll get the job done.

AUDIO TECHNICA AT835a: A precursor to the AT8035, this long shotgun mic is not too harsh, and not too muddy. It’s my default for field recording. What you put into it is pretty much what you get out of it. It’s decent for voice acting as well. If I could only have one mic to do everything needed to produce an audio drama, this one would do the trick.

LARGE DIAPHRAGM CONDENSERS:

RODE NT1 – A: This is the large diaphragm condenser that I’ve used the most and longest. A very good mic, though it does not have as full of a bass response as my modified AKG P220. What you put into it is what you get out. I’ve produced over ten audio dramas with this mic and have had no regrets whatsoever.

MODIFIED AKG P220: Without the mod, this mic is far too harsh for my liking. With the mod, however, this has become my go to large diaphragm condenser for recording the intro and credits of dramas, and for recording audio books. It needs little to no equalization in post as it sounds present and balanced on my voice. While it works well on most voices, I wouldn’t say it works for everyone.

SMALL DIAPHRAGM CONDENSERS:

AKG P170: A nicely warm and mellow small diaphragm condenser. This mic works well for sound effects and Foley recording as well as instrumental applications. Being one of the warmer mics I’ve got, I’m planning to use it on a female voice actor who’s got an airy and sibilant voice. The fact that it’s not overly bright and harsh is, in my opinion, a huge plus for a mic at this price point.

GOLDEN AGE PROJECT FC4 ST: A very bright but, surprisingly, not overly harsh small diaphragm condenser. In my limited use of this mic, it sounds very nice on both my voice, and on ukulele. I’m definitely going to try it on many more sources in the future.

12 GAUGE MICROPHONES: These little small diaphragm condenser microphones were given to me for my birthday. I have three different models. The Red 12, the Green 12, and the Blue 12. All the 12 Gauge microphones have a lot of coloration. This makes them perfect when coloration is what you want, but only when that’s what you want. They do sound decent on instrumental sources.

RED 12: This little Omnidirectional microphone is incredibly colored and very warm to the point of being a bit muddy. If you need coloration or your source is overly bright, this could be a good mic for that.

GREEN 12: This is a cardioid microphone. The coloration is not as extreme as the Red 12. I particularly like these on my upright piano. They add something very nice to the signal. I’ve also used them for recording sound effects and Foley where I need to fit the mic into a small space, as they’re a little over 2 inches in length.

BLUE 12: This is also a cardioid microphone. This microphone, however, has a built in 15db pad. The Blue 12 has been discontinued since I received mine. According to their website, the Silver 12 might be the closest thing to it. I use the blue 12 in combination with the SM57 and the built in stereo microphones on my Zoom H5 when recording gunshots. The results haven’t disappointed.

DYNAMIC MICROPHONES:

SHURE SM57: To my ears, the 57 is a gritty or a crunchy sounding microphone, but in a pleasing way. This mic is found everywhere and there’s a reason for it. There’s not much that this mic can’t do in a pinch. While not ideal, I’m confident I could produce an entire drama with this mic.

AKG D5: This microphone is brighter and smoother than the SM57. It rejects handling noise quite well. I use it whenever I’m asked to provide a PA system for a church event.

SENHEISER E935: This is the best sounding dynamic vocal microphone I have. I’d sell the D5 and the 57 before I’d part with this one. It has a nice warmth and body to it that the others do not.

GOLDEN AGE PROJECT D2: This is the dynamic broadcast microphone that I bought to record the podcast I’m currently working on. If you have a deep, rich voice then this might be the microphone for you. I do not have such a voice, and therefore I am not very impressed with it. It can be made to work but requires a ton of post processing for my voice. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you, like me, can’t afford a Shure SM7b or an Electrovoice RE20. Even the SM57 would be a better choice in hindsight. I’ve heard that it can be good on electric guitar and bass cabinets, so I may try that at some point.

ELECTROVOICE N/D 408b: I’ve used this mic on hand percussion with good results. It doesn’t sound horrible for voice over either, though it certainly wouldn’t be my first choice. It’s not a bright mic, being one of the warmest dynamic microphones I currently have.

IN CONCLUSION:

While I’m grateful to have the microphone selection that I do, It’s important to say that I started out with a couple Rode NT1-A’s and a Rode NTG-2, and even if I only had one of those, I could still produce any of the drama’s I wanted to.

So if you are thinking of getting into radio theater production, please don’t think that you have to have a large collection of microphones. My advice would be to pick up an Audio Technica AT8035, or whatever you can afford, and see what you can do with that.