Vintage Microphones?

[DronesDodz]

Hey,
I am a audio and broadcasting engineer from Greenville SC. I am currently doing some research on vintage microphones for voice recording and I am wondering if anyone can give me some information on the type of microphones you can always see in news reels from the 1940s as used by Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt etc. Tech specs would be great but general info are also very welcome
CK

 

[Vornholt]

I do regular recording with a set of vintage RCA ribbons, so I can certainly appreciate the attraction.

Try this site for a ton of information on a very, very wide variety of microphones.

http://www.coutant.org/contents.html

PM me if you have any questions on my gear.

 

[Barrelhouse]

That mic you usually see Hitler screaming behind is, I think, a Neumann CMV3/3A. I have an illustration in a book that lists this mic as a Telefunken manufactured by Neuman. I don't know the history there but the cmv3 was the premier mic in Germany during the 30's.

RCA ribbon mics like the "44" where pretty much the industry standard in the USA during the 30's and 40's. I really don't know what was being used in Great Britain and France at that time.

Sorry I can't be of any more help to you. What little knowledge of mics I have is from about a decade later in the 1950's and 60's.

 

[DronesDodz]

Wow, thanks for the comments! Big help. Any of you are on Facebook by chance?

 

[Pilgrim]

Two of the most common studio mikes seen in old documentaries are the RCA 44DX and its successor, the 77DX. The 44 has angled corners on the windscreen:

....and the 77 has the capsule contour:

I have a fully functional 77DX sitting on my bookshelf in my office as a reminder of my broadcasting career. I even have the factory zippered cover for it.

 

[Vornholt]

I use a 44BX, and both a 77D and 77DX for spoken word audio drama recording, and when paired with a proper preamp those are the best sounding microphones I have ever used.

Sensitivity is unbelievable. I tested the 44 in a large church sanctuary, with at least 50 to 60 feet between me and the mic. At a normal speaking voice I was clearly and easily audible.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The 44 was introduced in 1932, and was the first ribbon mike to take hold in broadcasting, with the 77 following in 1937. Prior to that, the RCA 4-A condenser microphone, introduced in 1929, was the most common broadcast mike at the network level --

This was a high quality microphone, but it was extremely cumbersome -- a three-tube preamp was contained in the metal box along with the mike element, and it required a thick, heavy cable running to an external power supply. It was fine for studio use, but less so for the field.

The ribbon mikes were delicate, and they were usually kept for studio use as well. The most common field mikes were dynamics, like the Western Electric 618A, as used here by FDR:

The CBS mike is a WE618-A, the NBC mike is its RCA equivalent.

 

[vitanola]

Moving coil dynamic microphones were commonly used for radio remotes, such as at the President's press conferences and speeches. These microphones fo not have the characteristic lozenge shape of the higher quality ribbon microphones. The sound quality offered by these durable units was quite acceptable in the days of limited frequency AT&T network hookups, though, and the microphones were sturdy enough that one could practically drive nails with them.

Here are a couple of examples:

Western Electric 618A (1931-43)

http://www.k-bay106.com/w-e_618a.jpg

Turner 999:

http://www.k-bay106.com/turn_999.jpg

 

[vitanola]

The 44 was introduced in 1932, and was the first ribbon mike to take hold in broadcasting, with the 77 following in 1937. Prior to that, the RCA 4-A condenser microphone, introduced in 1929, was the most common broadcast mike at the network level --

This was a high quality microphone, but it was extremely cumbersome -- a three-tube preamp was contained in the metal box along with the mike element, and it required a thick, heavy cable running to an external power supply. It was fine for studio use, but less so for the field.

The ribbon mikes were delicate, and they were usually kept for studio use as well. The most common field mikes were dynamics, like the Western Electric 618A, as used here by FDR:

The CBS mike is a WE618-A, the NBC mike is its RCA equivalent.

I see that we were both posting at the same time! Excellent photograph of the President at the microphone.

 

[Fletch]

The studio where I did my big band album had both 44s and 77s available. I asked to use the 44s and was firmly refused. "Too lo-fi." The most they'd do was 77s for the brass - and only the brass.

The results: Too hi-fi. Every squeak, rustle and throat-frog, but no atmosphere.

[huh] Sometimes we use technology, sometimes it uses us.

 

["Skeet" McD]

Turn about is fair play at any RPM...

The studio where I did my big band album had both 44s and 77s available. I asked to use the 44s and was firmly refused. "Too lo-fi." The most they'd do was 77s for the brass - and only the brass.

The results: Too hi-fi. Every squeak, rustle and throat-frog, but no atmosphere.

[huh] Sometimes we use technology, sometimes it uses us.

Well, I have the reverse tale to tell: when I recorded my first album in 1982 we used a small studio here in Boston. It was self-produced by two very poor musicians with a small but adequate budget provided by an angel.

Going into the booth while the engineer respooled the tape, imagine our surprise to hear him ask: "well, what are you going to use this for?" A few beats pause...."uhhhh...an LP...they told you, right?" [two beats pause....] HOLY J-SUS! IF THEY'D TOLD ME THAT, I WOULD HAVE PUT THE F***ING DOLBY ON!

The recording was still fine...and successful...and, now digitized, still available. So, all's well that ends well. But I can still remember the thud of my heart as it hit my insoles, and for 30 years now I've been telling myself "well...all that hiss and penumbra makes it sound more like a John McCormack 78."

"Skeet"

PS: some of the hiss and rumble was removed in the digitization, but you can hear the results HERE (the first album):
http://www.james-joyce-music.com/selectedsongs.html

 

[John in Covina]

I have seen some microphones in new musician equipment catalogs where it seems they are remaking the old style mikes.

One thing I have seen is on some of the Beau hunks and related artists CD from Basta Music they spend time describing the microphones and how the placement effects the sound of the recordings. One CD is actually mono, but the placement of the single mike gives the recording a room ambience that is astonishing.

I love seeing the old style radio station "flags" on the mikes in the press pictures of famous speeches.

 

[jazzdigger]

Try this:

beautiful photographs of Dutch collector Hans Ettema

http://heavenrich.nl/hans/gallery.html