1 / 8
edward-r-murrow
Discuss the microphones used to record Pet Sounds, and you've earned one of the top merit badges of the music dork.
It's a flimsy ribbon of corrugated aluminum, no more than a few microns thick suspended between two magnets. It's a microphone technology so elegant and simple that it remains essentially unchanged 80 years after its initial popularity.
And it's back.
Ribbon microphones defined high-fidelity recorded sound for half-a-century before falling out of general use more than 30 years ago. Now, vintage devices can fetch four figures on eBay, and a new crop of manufacturers is designing new models for the growing market. A few intrepid hackers have been making dirt-cheap versions from scratch, and a handful of these home-brew mics have even managed to impress the pros.
See Also:
Ribbon Microphones: Audio Icon You Can Build in Your Garage
Birth of the Microphone: How Sound Became SignalOld technologies frequently find new or extended life in music, where unique sound qualities are prized, and digital alternatives don't always win over golden-eared audiophiles. Even by that measure, ribbon microphones stand out as a rare example of a full-fledged comeback, though not without controversy.
Ribbon microphones captured iconic sounds from Bing Crosby's pillow-talk vocals to Ringo Starr's cymbal crashes and the audio of many iconic recordings made before the 1980s. Through their ubiquity on news broadcasts and talk-show-host desks, their signature look became iconic itself, and sublimated into our collective unconscious.
The recording industry finally turned its back on the ribbon mic in the the 1970s, as industry giants, in a dust devil of cocaine and modern alternatives, abandoned many of the old recording techniques and gear. Ironically, it was this fall from grace that led to their salvation. When cast-off vintage ribbon mics began selling cheap, young recording engineers snapped them up and got hooked on their unique sound. Some of these bargain hunters rose to fame and fortune, and took their ribbon microphones back into the mainstream.
In this two-part photo series, we begin by exploring the epic story of the ribbon microphone and its place in audiophilia and nostalgia. In Part 2, we will meet ribbon hackers who attempt to get thousands of dollars worth of quality out of mics that cost $100.
Top photo: Edward R. Murrow speaks into the RCA 44 ribbon mic during his CBS News broadcast. The microphone was a workhorse of the broadcasting and recording industries in the 1950s.
Photo: University of Maryland Library. Bottom photo: A ribbon sags between two magnets in a ribbon-mic module. When operational, this ribbon is taut and responsive.
Photo: Michael Joly, OktavaMod Listen: Listen to this CBS News analysis with Edward R. Murrow from London, Jan. 1, 1942, recorded with a ribbon microphone. <audio controls=""><source src="http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2011/01/murrow_in_london_vbr.ogg"></source><source src="http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2011/01/murrow_in_london_vbr.mp3"></source>[dewplayer: http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2011/01/murrow_in_london_vbr.mp3]</audio>
Ribbon Microphones: Audio Icon You Can Build in Your Garage Birth of the Microphone: How Sound Became SignalOld technologies frequently find new or extended life in music, where unique sound qualities are prized, and digital alternatives don't always win over golden-eared audiophiles. Even by that measure, ribbon microphones stand out as a rare example of a full-fledged comeback, though not without controversy.
Ribbon microphones captured iconic sounds from Bing Crosby's pillow-talk vocals to Ringo Starr's cymbal crashes and the audio of many iconic recordings made before the 1980s. Through their ubiquity on news broadcasts and talk-show-host desks, their signature look became iconic itself, and sublimated into our collective unconscious.
The recording industry finally turned its back on the ribbon mic in the the 1970s, as industry giants, in a dust devil of cocaine and modern alternatives, abandoned many of the old recording techniques and gear. Ironically, it was this fall from grace that led to their salvation. When cast-off vintage ribbon mics began selling cheap, young recording engineers snapped them up and got hooked on their unique sound. Some of these bargain hunters rose to fame and fortune, and took their ribbon microphones back into the mainstream.
In this two-part photo series, we begin by exploring the epic story of the ribbon microphone and its place in audiophilia and nostalgia. In Part 2, we will meet ribbon hackers who attempt to get thousands of dollars worth of quality out of mics that cost $100.
Top photo: Edward R. Murrow speaks into the RCA 44 ribbon mic during his CBS News broadcast. The microphone was a workhorse of the broadcasting and recording industries in the 1950s.Photo: University of Maryland Library. Bottom photo: A ribbon sags between two magnets in a ribbon-mic module. When operational, this ribbon is taut and responsive.
Photo: Michael Joly, OktavaMod Listen: Listen to this CBS News analysis with Edward R. Murrow from London, Jan. 1, 1942, recorded with a ribbon microphone. <audio controls=""><source src="http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2011/01/murrow_in_london_vbr.ogg"></source><source src="http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2011/01/murrow_in_london_vbr.mp3"></source>[dewplayer: http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/rawfile/2011/01/murrow_in_london_vbr.mp3]</audio>
