Device used to create an electrical signal that follows and corresponds to sound waves striking it. Microphones are used to listen to sound electronically, used in recording live sound, used in transmitting sound, and more. veryone experiences microphones on a daily or nearly daily basis. A telephone has a small microphone built into the handset so that as we speak our voice can be transmitted to someone else. Drive through fast food restaurants use microphones so that we can hear the order taker and they can hear us give our order. There are all varieties and quality levels of microphones. traditional microphone works similar to the stylus and cartridge of a phonograph. Sound passes through a grill and hits a thin, sensitive plate of material. That material vibrates in accordance with the sound waves hitting it (exactly the opposite of a speaker driver’s diaphragm). The vibrations in the material generate an electric signal by moving in a magnetic field. The signals can then be recorded, sent over wires, amplified, etc.