A microphone stand is a free-standing mount for a microphone. It allows the microphone to be positioned in the studio, on stage or on location without requiring a person to hold it.
The most basic microphone stand is called a "straight stand". It uses a dome-shaped round metal base into which is threaded a post for mounting the microphone. This post may be made up of two or more telescoping tubes that fit inside each other, allowing for quick, one-handed height adjustment of the stand. The mechanism for adjusting the height is called the clutch.
