Polar patterns define how much of the signal will be picked up by the microphone from different directions.
Studying and analyzing pickup or polar patterns are not rocket science, but rather the simple knowledge of which way to hold the knife!
Which by that analogy, makes a kitchen knife a fully directional “cardioid” instrument!
So I guess an “omnidirectional” instrument in the kitchen will be a thermometer and a “bi-directional” will be your sushi knife?! Right?
OK, I am going to turn it over to the people who can tell you a lot more about pickup patterns in a more professional way, Lewitt Audio
Their extensive article on Microphone polar patterns is very informative and comprehensive. I highly recommend reading it.
