What Does A Microphone Shock Mount Do?

Microphones come with all sorts of accessories that help the overall user experience of them. One of these accessories is the microphone shock mount.

Now you may have heard of it or not but it is simply attached to a microphone as a means of shock absorption.

One of the many questions that I get from newbie music producers that have only a limited amount of experience is “What does a microphone shockmount do?”

Therefore this post will discuss this so you develop a good understanding of this topic.

With that said, What does a microphone shockmount actually do?

A microphone shock mount helps hold your microphone in place and prevents vibration from travelling up the microphone stand to your microphone. A shock mount also helps ensure that your microphone be well guarded from any bumps or proximity issues that you may run into.

Microphones are susceptible to bumps as well as vibrations that may be caused by unsteady stands. A shock mount can help you with this.

Let’s get into the main reasons why a shock mount is necessary.

Why a Shock Mount is Necessary

A shock mount is something i recommend for almost all situations that can benefit from a good recording free of interference.

Most people have the misconception that you only need a shock mount in recording situations but that’s not the case at all.

A good shock mount can help you prevent any physical interference that may be picked up by the microphone such as bumps, stand vibration etc.

In many applications, you need Your microphone to be held steadily and properly, making it firm and well cushioned from vibrations that can be easily picked up by the diaphragm.

This makes shock mounts a crucial accessory for high-quality microphone output in various applications.

With regard to recording, youll find out that most condenser microphones tend to exhibit a lot of vibrations whilst recording.

This is because the design of these microphones makes them record sound by vibrating between a sheet of thin metal and the microphone mesh.

Therefore recording without a shock mount, can often lead to your condenser microphones picking up those muddy lower frequencies of vibrations that can cause serious damage to your recordings and probably have you re-record often.

The cheaper microphones are commonly known to run into vibration issues and it is for this reason that one needs a shock mount.

However, some cases may have expensive microphones buzz while they’re recording especially when they are not set up the right way with their stands. This is another reason why a shock mount is particularly necessary.

Noise being recorded and captured by microphones is a common issue that most people run into and its not always about the shock mount.

Other times you just need to properly acoustically treat your environment so it’s conducive for recording or performing or whatever microphone application.

But before you run off to a sound shop to pick our your soundproof material, ensure that you first get a shock mount for your microphone so you improve the sound recording quality.

The workings of shock mounts

By definition A shock mount is simply a mic accessory, it’s duty is to connect a microphone to a mic stand to reduce vibrations. Hence the name “shock mount”.

It is usually metal circle with elastic webbing throughout and the purpose of this webbing is to hold and keep the microphone in place and absorb any vibration from the ground, the microphone stand, as well as any other vibrations that may be in immediate proximity with the microphone.

For example microphones mounted on desks are very susceptible to vibrations because people tend to put their hands on the desk as well as other items that can create shock and vibration.

This makes shock mounts are useful in different application such as recordings and performances with basically all sorts of microphones.

I personally have found them quite useful in handling very delicate vocals and instruments that can benefit from clear and clean recordings.

People that record with bands usually work With multiple microphones which essentially means more vibrations.

Having shock mounts on each microphone can ensure that you reduce as well as avoid some vibrations that you may have not gotten away with if you didn’t employ a shock mount.

You’ll also find that most shock mounts are usually paired with a pop filter which is good for getting rid of any proximity issues like sibilance.

There are a variety of pop filters available on on market. All you have to do is find one that can be easily paired with your shock mount.