Multipattern

A type of microphone design where the user has access to more than one polar pickup pattern. In some cases as many as a dozen different patterns can be made in a microphone. This is accomplished by using more than one (usually two) elements and combining them in different ways. Mostly two cardioid pattern elements are used. By using different levels and phase relationships between the two, which is accomplished in the electronics of the microphone, it is possible to have them cancel each other in ways that produce pickup patterns ranging from omnidirectional, through figure-8, all the way to very directional supercardioid patterns.