Areas Of The Music Industry

Areas Of The Music Industry

So you want to know about the important areas of the music industry? Do you wish to go into the music industry and take on an important role? Are you an aspiring artist, songwriter, producer etc and are curious as to what you may require to make a success of yourself? Or are you just interested into how music gets into your life? Well, let me explain it for you in (hopefully) the best way possible by addressing the 4 key areas of the music industry, artist management: record companies, music publishing and live performance.

 

Artist Management

Artist Management?:

Artist Management is either a company or an independent person that control almost everything to do with promoting their artist(s) themselves (as opposed to just their music), they have control over the promotion of an artist(s) music but they're main job is to promote the artist themselves.

What Do They Do?:
An artist's manager handle the day to day business affairs of their artist(s) such as:
Organising gigs (usually for promotion)
Helping with explaining and negotiating contracts
Finding and organising time in the studio for their artist(s) (to record, obviously)
Promoting their artist(s) with things like possible chat show meets, online blogs or video chats (Q&A)'s etc, where the artist can directly promote themself because they can talk about certain things.
Organising travel to attend important dealings with their career (possibly a gig).
They consult with their artist(s) to find the correct way to progress in their career(s).

How They Make Money:
Managers are paid through their artist(s). They get a substantial cut of the artist's salary, which is appropriate as they do a great deal for them. They get an average of 15-20% of the artist's salary (they can negotiate other cuts) which, if the artist does eventually become famous and wealthy, can be alot of money.

Good Qualities:
A good manager needs to have at least some experience, good time keeping, great communication skills and they have to be VERY organised.

In my opinion a manager is a very important part of a musician's career because, although it is possible for an artist to promote themselves, when/if the artist becomes famous and popular it will become too hard for them to manage their own business affairs themselves. I personally feel a manager with only 1 client would be the best to choose as it means that their main focus is on their only artist as opposed to a manager with several clients (because there could be a lack of focus on the managers behalf) and, although it may mean less pay for the manager, more focus means more artist promotion which will lead to more money for the artist which, of course, leads to more money for the manager! 

Record Companies

Record Companies?:
A record company is a company which would sign artist(s). The artist would record their music under that record label.

What Do They Do?:
Record companies would sign an artist and would basically have the main involvement in what makes their records/music (CDs). For example an artist like David Guetta is signed to Virgin Records, Virgin Records would control the recording (in the studio), mastering (sorting out the final copy/arrangement of the record) and pressing (actually making the CDs). It is common for a record label to give their artist(s) an advance in money (money before any music is released) so that their artist(s) have money to live off for the time being, the artist would usually pay the money back through royalties (profits from music sales). Record labels are also known to audition artists themselves, although this is a rarity. They would audition them and, if they thought the artist was good enough, they would consider signing them. Record labels can even organise collaborations which, I should imagine, is a big help for the artist as:
1: The artist(s) would not have to do it themselves (or rely on their manager to do it).
2: It could lead to even more promotion for the artist (especially if their collaborator is more famous than them).
Once the artist has signed to the label they have stability in making their music. By this I mean that, as long as the contract still stands, the artist is secure enough in their label that they are able to produce their best work comfortably.

How Are They Making Money?:
Record companies make money from the royalties that their artist's music makes from their music being sold. For example, if you went into a shop and bought an album, the record label would have recieved the money and split it with the artist (how it is split is decided between the artist and the record company). So, basically, the more an artist sells the more money the label makes.

Good Qualities:
A good record label has to have good connections (contacts), in order to be able to promote their artist(s), good promotional skills and good negotiating skills (if they want to make a good amount of money)   


There has been many a debate about whether minor record labels are better than any major ones. Personally I feel that the popularity of the label isn't nessecarily important, it's whether the label "gets" the artist. By this I mean whether the label understands how to cater to their artist's genre and understands the best way to promote their music. The only way I feel a more famous record company would be that they have more money. More money could lead to better promotion, which, of course, leads to better profit but this isn't necessarly the case, a record label is not always about the money.

Music Publishing 

Music Publishing?:
Music Publishing means to protect, develop and possibly distribute an artist's music. An artist would have to sign on to a music publisher themself (or have their manager or record label do it for them) because, although publishers can audition/scout for new talent, if the artist is already signed to a label (which is possible) they are not allowed to audition for other people (without permission, if it states in their contract.).


What Do They Do?:
By protect the music I mean the publisher would copyright the music. This means that the song has been registered with a collecting society (the company that will collect the money if the music is used). If a song is registered with a collecting society, such as PRS in the UK, then it is officially illegal for anybody to use that specific song (for professional reasons like promoting a drink) without permission from the publishing company. Of course another job for the publishers is to take the correct action if any one should use their music illegaly (prosecute, sue, etc), it is in their rights to pull anyone up who has not been granted permission to use their music and demand money for doing so. Publishers can also produce promotional material, things like sample CDs and brochures, just to help promote their artist and their music, which would in return make them more money.

How They Are Making Money:
Music publishing companies mainly make money when music they own (made by the artist(s)) gets played publicly on things like:
Radio
TV Shows
Advertisements
The collection comapny (PRS) would know that their music has been played contact the publishers and the people/company/organisation which has played their song and retrieve their money from them and give it to the publishers. The publishers would then split the money with the artist (how it is split is usually negotiated between them) and keep their share.
There has even been instances where a company would pay a publishing company in advanced to play their music, just to save the hassle of having to sort it out on a later date.

Good Qualities:
The only thing I feel makes a good publishing company is one that is very "on the ball", they just need to know when the music was played, who played it and how many times it was played and they need to be prepared for a court battle. I personally don't feel that a publishing company's popularity comes into the equation (other people may feel different), as long as they know what they are doing, you have found a good publisher.

Live Performance

Live Performance?: 
Live performance basically means when the artist's music or composition gets, well, performed live.
Live performance is a very important role in the music business. It's all about promoting an artist's music (and the artist(s) themselves) to a bigger scale than just playing their music and compositions on the radio and gives fans an oppurtunity to hear there favourite artist's songs performed live. 

What Happens?:
What happens is that the artist, songwriter or producer will have their song performed live (or they usually perform it themselves, if they have the ability to). This could be whilst on tour or just a general booking for a show (on TV maybe). 
Usually if a performace is on TV it is to promote a specific piece of music or album and is usually arranged by the artist's manager, unfortuanately, this gives them a limited range of things they can perform (if the performance is used to promote a specific piece of music). 
However if the live performance is during a tour it is arranged collectively by the artists (usually), the manager, the record company (it can help promote further recordings with that record label, if the artist performs well the label will record further with them) and the owner/manager of the venue. All 4 of them will together discuss possible oppurtunites of when to perform at the arena. 
The reason the owner/manager discusses the performance is, not only to arrange a date, but to be convinced on whether the artist is right to perform there. For example if David Guetta decided he wanted to perform a set at The O2 Arena (London), the owner of The O2 would have to decide on whether Mr. Guetta is a resepectable enough artist to maintain and live up to the reputation and help promote their beloved venue and only then would/should they accept.

How Is Money Made From This?:
Money is made from live performance by promoting almost everything. The artist, their music, merchandise (CDs, clothes, dolls etc...) and more. Fans get to see their favourite artist perform their favourite songs live, right in front of them, which is (frankly) an amazing idea, especially if the fans have an emotional connection with them because not only will they buy tickets they will most likely buy their CDs and merchandise. 
It's a very cleverly thought out idea, record companies, artists, venue owners all see live performance as an investment to help promote themselves.
Venue owners of course are paid so the artist can perform at their venue and promote their music, they also make money from the merchandise they sell on site . The record company get paid through ticket sales as does the artist (they share the money with negotiated amounts) and the artist also gets paid to go on tour. The record company and the artists promoters pay the artist to travel around and perform their music to their fans, which would in return, earn the label's money back through ticket sales and CD sales.

Summary:
Live performance is a very important aspect of the music industry, however, I feel that all elements of the music industry are almost equally important as each other. I say this because how much promotion is an artist getting without a manager and a record label? How are they able to record at their best without the stability of a contract from a record company? Who is preventing anyone from stealing their music and causing them to lose out on money if not the publishing company? And how are their fans able to see their favourite artist's music performed live without live performance? It's all of these elements that help boost each other's performance and sales and of course help their artist climb to the top.

Bibliography

Author Not Specified, Accessed 16/11/13, mpaonline.org.uk,
[http://www.mpaonline.org.uk/content/what-music-publishing]

Author Not Specified, Accessed 16/11/2013, wikipedia.org,
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talent_manager]

Author Not Specifed, Accessed 16/11/2013, wikipedia.org,
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_industry]

   


 
 

 

The History Of DJ Equipment

The History Of DJ Equipment

A DJ (disc jockey) is a person who would play records/songs. There a loads of different types of DJs the most common being your club and radio DJs, them being the most accessible. DJs have been around since the early 1900's and, of course, their equipment has always been by their side. But, throughout the past 120 years, DJ equipment has come a long way.

The first grammophone (and what would later be a turntable, a circular moving plate controlling a vinyl record) went into production in 1894 and completely dominated the music and record business with everyone wishing to own one but it wasn't until the 1900's that anyone managed to transmit any form of music... In 1909, Ray Newby broadcasted a song at his college using a small spark transmitter and became the first ever radio DJ aged just 16. This paved the way for many people to step forward and become radio DJs and is possibly the most important moment in the history of DJing, the only problem with this was that it was limited to just Mr. Newby's college and was not transmitted further, but not much could be expected back in 1909.

Timeline:
In 1927 the UK aquired their first DJ, Christopher Stone, he however, only used a single turntable.

A 1940s turntable

It wasn't until 1935 that the term "disc-jockey" was ever used (and it clearly stuck) it meant to operate and play a record. The first ever person to use twin turntables was Jimmy Savile back in 1943, he played some jazz songs (what was considered mainstream back then) at a rock party , he used the 2 turntables to have constant play during his set and no interuptions.
The 1960's introduced us to the mixer which in turn also (in 1969) saw the introduction of turn-tablism. Turn-tablism means when a DJ starts to match beats (use 2 different tracks a blend them to make something new). The 70's was when turntablism was added to a DJs technique almost completely as most DJs thought it would help them to perform better during their sets.1972 was the first appearance of the Technics SL-1200. The SL-1200 is a series of turntables which allowed a DJ to change the tempo of the the play of the record (one of the first to do this), the SL-1200's more recent models do remain vital part of some DJ's equipment as it is very basic to use and will still play to high quality, unfortunately the original model of the SL-1200 was discontinued a few years ago and it's nearly impossible to access one.  
1977 saw DJ Wizard Theodore accidently discover the technique of scratching whilst he was playing about with his turntable and putting his hand on his vinyl to stop his play instantly. Scratching means to quickly cut between 2 tracks using the crossfader on a mixer. This was an important part of DJing history as it allowed other DJs to practice this ability, add it to their sets and give their sets a sense of flair. The mixer is a very important part in DJing history as almost all club DJs are still using them today, a DJ mixer is used mainly to redirect a source that isn't playing into a DJ's headphones and the DJ would decide when to drop that paticular song, this is important to DJs as it allows them to control their tracks and sets live and puts them in control. In the 80s, the Sound to Light control was released. This is basically when the light matches the beat played by the DJ offering a very cool spectacle for the club-goers to enjoy, something I feel is very important... And cool.
Mixers also feature cross-faders, this allows for an easy change between 2 different sound sources by fading them into each other, mixing them together. Watch this video of DJ Juicy M mixing on 4 CD decks, the result is amazing.
Of course from then the progression of DJ equipment moved from vinyl to CDs and DJs began to use CDs on their decks making things much easier to handle and portable. I'm torn between the option between vinyls and CDs because, although CDs are much more accesible and portable, I personally feel the quality of a vinyl is much better than a CD, but in this day and age, they are not as accessible.

After the CD, the next major jump for DJs was the rise of the EQ and MP3s. The EQ (equalizer) is a piece of equipment which allows the DJ to manipulate certain frequencies in their tracks. Most EQs have a LOW/MID/HI (on a three band EQ) range. The LOW part of an EQ would mainly control the instruments featured in the track (usually MP3) that have a low frequency, like kick drums and bass. The HI range would control the high pitched frequencies like hi hats and most vocals. The MID range would control alot of the inbetween, like snare drums and some toms. The DJ could do things like turn up the volume on each range to muteing them completely (only on some EQs) giving them ability to completely change the sound of their set and create something new. Unfortunately, because the MID range applies to alot of different instruments/frequencies, it's impossible to eliminate them from the track so all the DJ would be able to do is dullen the sound which, in my opinion, would make a track sound pretty bad (most of the time). Usually the ranges would be labelled Bass/Mid-Range/Treble as this seems to apply to sounds more. The EQ, for me, is one of the best pieces of a equipment a DJ can own because it enables them to control their sound, create something new and massively entertain their audience through manipulating their sounds to give the audience that "fist pumpy" feeling, it gives a more advanced and professional take on DJing as opposed to just playing and mixing the tracks. MP3s also made their impact on DJing history as today, most of them are using MP3s. I personally feel the use of MP3s, in comparison to CDs, is more efficient as it allows the DJ to contain their tracks on something smaller (USB, SD etc) and becomes much more portable. However the use of MP3s poses the risk of losing the tracks more often than CDs and vinyls which could become a major issue for DJs. I would still personally use MP3s instead of CDs as they are much more portable and could give the DJ more options for their mix, I would just be careful not to lose them.

Important DJ:
DJ Grandmaster Flash:
Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler) was one of the DJs to cement turntablism and scratching. After growing up in New York and becoming interested in his dad's record collection, Flash took the DJing path. He is probably best known for making the term of scratching popular in the 80's (he was in his 20's). As previously mentioned DJ Wizard Theodore discovered scratching but it was Grandmaster Flash who perfected this technique and played to audiences, essentially making scratching popular. Flash is also known to be the first DJ to play 2 turntables whilst layered with a mixer and to 'freestyle' his own lyrics on top of his tracks. This man also invented the crossfader allowing himself and other DJs to fade one song into another. I feel this man is essential to the development of DJing as he has done so much, not just for himself but he has allowed other DJs to better themselves and help them perform to the best of their ability with the techniques and equipment he has produced. 

2 Pieces Of Equipment:
Numark NS7 2:
Quoted as being the "best DJ controller ever built. Period", the Numark NS7 2 would have alot to live up to. On first impression this piece of equipment is visually stunning. The lights scattered throughout make it look absolutely amazing and are colour coded so the DJ can label specific sounds/capabilities, so they're dual purpose. The NS7 2 also offers an amazing range of capabilities, it controls Serato DJ (a DJing software) from cues to loops (a repeat of a certain sound that can be added on top of another sound) to having a sampler on it, keeping the DJ busy and giving them the ability to entertain their audience to full effect. It has many inputs including AUX and a mic so the DJ may talk to their audience if they want. It also has filter knobs (EQ) giving the DJ the ability to fully control their sound. The only bad thing about this deck is it's price. It comes in at a jaw-dropping £999, something most amateur DJs would not like to pay as they feel they could get the same for the a much lower price. 

Pioneer DDJ-SR:
Like the NS7 2, the Pioneer DDJ-SR is beautiful, maybe not quite as colourful as the NS7 2, but equally as beautiful and it being made by Pioneer is a major factor into why this piece of equipment is so good. Pioneer are very famous for their musical equipment, not just because they work well but because they are all sturdy pieces of machinery, something a DJ may need, being in such crazy environments. The DDJ-SR also offers the 16 rubber based buttons controlling multiple functions like cue, roll and sampler, this one however has a function where the DJ can link those 3 options together giving them the ability to cue there samples in time with their track. It also has an EQ on it with almost the exact same options as the NS7 2. It also runs off of Serato DJ so it's software is just as stable and accessible as the NS7 2. It has 2 mic outputs (possibly for multiple DJs being able to provide commentary over their tracks) and AUX to bring more sounds in. Lastly it's price comes in at a much more accessible £499, giving DJs on a lower budget the oppurtunity to perform to their best. I personally would buy the DDJ-SR as it features almost exactly the same control as the NS7 2 for half the price and, although I do prefer the look of the NS7 2, it's not all about the look of the equipment, it's what it enables the DJ to do.

Bibliography:
Name of Author, Title, Date Accessed, Website
[Link]

Author Not Specified, Grandmaster Flash, Accessed 26/11/2013, wikipedia.org
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandmaster_Flash]

Branislav, K, Great History Of DJ Equipment, Accessed 15/11/2013, ezinearticles.com
[http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Great-History-Of-DJ-Equipment&id=6432382] 

Author Not Specified, Numark NS7II - The Best DJ Controller Ever Built. Period., Accessed 23/11/2013, youtube.com & djkit.com
[http://www.djkit.com/numark/numark-ns7-Mk2.html]
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-9aJOmeOtY]

Author Not Specified, DDJ-SR Serato DJ Controller, Accessed 23/11/2013, youtube.com & djkit.com
[http://www.djkit.com/pioneer/pioneer-ddj-sr.html?gclid=CMm2h-fjgrsCFUUOwwodkX0A1w] 
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qQrbcr08_Y]

1st Recording

1st Recording

Today we began our first recording in music production techniques class. It involved us splitting into groups, setting up equipment, and recording an instrument in great quality.

Equipment

We used a fair amount of equipment during this assignment, things including:

The Floor Box (it connects the XLR cables to the mixer), XLR cables (to connect the microphones to The Floor Box), Logic Pro (to record the audio), The Shure SM57 (Dynamic Microphone), The Audix D6 (Condenser Microphone), The Rode NT5 (Condenser Microphone), The Jam Hub (It sends signals from the mixer to The Floor Box to a pair of headphones via a jack cable), headphones (so the person playing the instrument can listen to their cue and what they are playing), microphone stands (to position the microphones where desired) and, of course, the mixer (Zen desk, to control volume levels of the microphones and level our microphones to produce a clear sound) and a drum kit (the instrument, obviously)

Method (Session 1)

First, we started of by setting up the microphone stands to where we wished, we positioned one above the drum kit (to capture the sound of the whole kit), one in front of the kick drum (to focus on the kick) and the last one above the snare drum.
We used the Rode NT5 for over the drums because we thought it would be good pick up the collective sound. We used the Audix D6 for the kick drum because it has a good frequency low end, so we though it we pick up the bass of the kick better. And we used the SM57 on the snare because it has an improved high end, so it could pick up the crash of the snare.


Once the microphones were set up we plugged them into the floor box using the XLR cables (blue) so we could control the mics with the mixer and Logic Pro. We also plugged the Jam hub into the floor box using the jack cable (yellow) so the drummer could hear their cue and what they were playing.




When that was finished we went into the studio to set up Logic. After making our file we connected the microphones to Logic and the mixer.
We set up microphone 1 to input (what Logic and the microphones will hear) 1, microphone 2 to input 2 and microphone 3 to input 3, so we didn't get confused. We set their output (what we can here) to number 8, the reason we set them up as a collective outpout was because we thought that we wouldn't have to hear each individual microphone because we could just edit their sound levels using the mixer gain.
After doing this we labelled the tracks (with their mic and intrument) and saved the file.

Once everything was set up we tested the microphones levels (by playing the drums). At first listen the microphones sounds did not mix well with each other and was not satisfactory (the sound was distorted because the microphone's levels were to high), so we changed each mic's individual gain (the red knobs on the mixer) we did this whilst the drums were still being played so we were changing the sounds in real time.
When the drums sounded up to standard we turned on the click, so the drummer could hear their cue (to play in time) and changed the tempo.

Now that we were ready to record we made sure the drummer could hear the click (his cue) and what they were playing (so they weren't making any mistakes) and started to record. When we finished recording, we noticed that the sound was still a little distorted, so we changed the microphone's gain levels again (we turned them down) and recorded again.
We recorded a piece of music around 50 seconds long and made sure that the sound had not distorted in any way. It hadn't.

Once recording was finished we made sure to save our project and flatten the desk (changed all the mixer levels back to neutral) and packed away all of our equipment away (coiled the wires and packed the microphones).   

Method (Session 2)

During session 2 we used the same equipment but we didn't use the Audix D6 (as we feel we didn't need it), instead of the drums we used a piano and instead of 3 XLR cables we used 5. We used 5 XLR cables because we needed to extend them, 1 cable per microphone didn't stretch from the floor box to the desired position near the piano, the last XLR cable was to extend the jack cable to where the jam hub was (next to the piano). We simply connected the male adaptor (the side with prongs) of the first cables into the female adaptor (the other side, with holes) of the second cable.

We used 2 microphones during this session, the Rode NT5 and the Shure SM57, we position the SM57 on the inside of the piano (to capture the full sound) and the NT5 was placed above the piano, looking straight onto it (to capture the sound the piano made throughout the room). We plugged the XLR cables from the microphones to the floor box (Rode NT5 was in number 1 and Shure SM57 was is in number 2)


We set up the Jam Hub so the piano player could hear what they were playing and were able to hear their cue (we could not see the piano from the Zen desk as we were in a separate room, so the player had to be able to hear us), we placed it next to the piano. We made sure that power was running into the Jam Hub (at one point it wasn't) and were able to set up Logic.

Once we finished setting up the equipment we went into the separate part of the studio (where the mixer and the computer were) and loaded Logic up. We found our previously saved file, loaded it and added 2 more audio tracks to it. We set up the Rode NT5 into mono, input number 1 (as it was in number 1 on the floor box) and the Shure SM57 into mono, input number 2 (for the same reason) and we set both of the microphones to output number 8 along with the already recorded drums (to avoid confusion).

Again the levels were not to standard so someone went into the other room and played the piano whilst the gain levels (red knobs on mixer) were edited in real time to achieve a good quality audio. Whilst doing this we made sure that the player could hear through the headphones and when they couldn't we realised that the output was not set to relay back into the headphones (so the player couldn't hear a thing) so we changed this by turning up the blue knob on the mixer (Zen desk) on channels 5 & 6, as this was what channel the headphones were set to.

We made sure the player could hear the previously recorded drums through the headphones, we also set up the click so that the player could play in time with the drums and the click in order to produce something that sounded remotely good. Once everything was ready we started our first take. When recording finished we were unhappy on how the final recording (of the piano) turned out, it didn't really match the drums, so we recorded again. After recording the second time we were much happier on how it turned out, it went with the drums fairly well. We called the player in and listened to it one last time, we felt it turned out good so we saved it. Once we felt we were finished we flattened the desk and packed up our equipment.

 

Smart Target

Smart Target

A Smart Target needs to be:

SPECIFIC

MEASURABLE

ACHIEVABLE

REALISTIC

TIME-BOUND

My smart target whilst at college is:

1) To Understand Logic Pro better, to practice more and produce 3-5 tracks by the end of the academic year.

2) To understand the music industry better, to buy a book and to have read it by Christmas.

Microphones

Microphones and their Properties                                                      

1.) In terms of a microphone being suited for a specific kind of sound, I agree and disagree. I agree because microphones can be made to capture a specific kind of sound, whether it be the size of the diaphragm, the price, it's polar pattern and it's ability to pick up sound and details. However, I disagree partially with the argument because, essentially, a microphone is a microphone, it captures sound, that's it's primary purpose. But some of them may work better in different environments. A Dynamic microphone is mainly known to work better for capturing live sounds, this is because of it's strong diaphragm, it's relatively cheap (so if it's moved a lot and breaks it's replaced easily) and it's strong structure (so it doesn't break), but it's not brilliant for detail. A Condenser microphone is known to work best in a studio. It has a very weak diaphragm, so it's amazing for picking up slight details, but it is however very expensive and doesn't have the strongest of structures, so if it's moved it is more likely to break than a Dynamic microphone (and it's alot harder to replace) , but, being a studio microphone, The Condenser microphone shouldn't be moved that much anyway therefore it shouldn't be in danger of breaking. 
An example of a Dyanmic microphone is the Shure® Model SM57, the specification for this microphone (http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/bovardauditorium/pdf/sm57.pdf) states that the microphone is "Extremely durable under the heaviest use" and "break-resistant" which is good if the microphone is to be moved a lot (if it's used for live sound) and, while the specifications do state that the microphone reduces "background noise", it does not comment heavily on the type of quality it may produce which suggests that it may not be to everyone's standards. It has a frequency response of 40 Hz - 15 kHz which sounds quite impressive for a dynamic microphone but can still be topped by other types and brands of microphones.
An example of a Condenser microphone is the MXL® 990 model. These specifications (http://www.mxlmics.com/microphones/900-series/990/) state that the microphone "Provides silky sweet high end" but maintains a "solid low", which, in comparison to the description of the Dyanmic microphone's spec, includes alot more about the sound quality. It does not, however, provide any indication to the strength of the microphone, which suggests that it is alot weaker than your standard Dynamic microphone which could become a problem for a lot of people . It has a frequency response of 30 Hz - 20 kHz which is a much broader range than Shure®'s microphone.

2.) Polar Patterns 

  

Polar Patterns represent the pattern/direction in which the microphone can pick up sound. There are 3 main polar patterns used with microphones. They are: Uni-directional (Cardoid), Omni-directional and Bi-directional.

Uni-directional (Cardoid): A Uni-directional polar pattern means the microphone is more sensitive at the front and picks up minimal sound behind. It's polar pattern resembles an upside down love heart. It is best used in studios or in live sound when only one direction of sound is wished to be picked up. 

Omni-directional: An Omni-directional polar pattern means the microphone picks up sound from all around it. It's polar pattern would usually resemble a circle or circle-like shape. It could best be used when recording sounds from the area/environment you're in (possibly a whole studio).

Bi-directional: Bi, meaning 2, means that a microphone with a bi-directional pattern will pick up sounds from 2 different directions, usually opposite each other. It's polar pattern looks like a figure 8. It could work best during interviews when the interviewer sits opposite the person they are speaking to.

3.) Other types of Microphones

Another type of microphone is The Carbon microphone: This microphone was one of the earliest microphones used. It uses carbon dust to capture the audio signal. The carbon dust causes the current to alternate when sound waves reached the microphones diaphragm. These were rarely used in studios but were and are still sometimes used in phones.

4.) 3 Examples of Microphones

Audix D6: I would use the Audix D6 for recording instruments that have a great amount of bass and a low pitch and frequency such as a kick drum, a bass guitar, and possibly the lower end of a piano. This is due to the low end of frequency it can pick up, it would make instruments like a kick drum sound very crisp and clear.

SE Electronics Titan: The SE Electronics Titan is highly praised for it's ability to pick up small details in audio and has a frequency pickup of 20 Hz - 20 kHz, so it essentially picks up what the human ear can hear. It is, however, very pricey with an average price of around £500, so it's only affordable to those who would professionally use it. I would use a microphone like this for vocal recordings, because of it's frequency pick up range and attention to detail, not to mention it is a multi (polar)pattern microphone so it is very flexible in terms of what and which direction it can record in.

Microtech Gefell M300: The Microtech Gefell M300 comes in at around £750 and for that price I would expect quite a bit ALOT. It has a frequency pick up range of around 40 Hz - 18 kHz so, though very good, there are microphones that have a broader frequency range. It is, however, very lightweight, at 126g it weighs hardly anything. So, taking that into account, I would use the Microtech Gefell mainly for quick recordings, and for instruments more portable than others (guitar, bass, etc) because it's lightweight and would be very easy to guide around instruments.