A microphone designed to be in physical contact with the object producing sound. A contact mic receives and derives most of its audio signal from mechanical vibrations instead of airborne sound waves. These are sometimes called piezo or transducer mics, but contact mic is the most accepted name. They are also sometimes confused with PZM microphones because they too are generally affixed to some surface, however they still work from air vibrations and are thus shouldn’t be considered contact mics.
