So far this semester, you have learned a little bit about microphones and recording during the field recording and recording in Reaper content pages. However, we have not yet gone into great detail about what a microphone is, how they work, and additional information about recording modes in Reaper.
Microphones are transducers. A transducer is a device that converts energy from one form to another. Usually a transducer converts a signal in one form of energy to a signal in another. In the case of a microphone, it converts mechanical acoustic energy into electrical energy. This energy is then capable of being transmitted down a mic cable to a microphone preamplifier.
As a point of reference, a speaker (also sometimes referred to as sound monitor) is also a transducer. However, whereas a microphone converts mechanical energy to electrical, a speaker converts electrical energy to mechanical acoustic energy.
Please read the following two chapters from the University of Indian’s “Introduction to Computer Music” text on cables and microphones to dive deeper into this topic: