Making Ribbon Microphones…The Detailed Process
As a tribute to the sound of the RCA 44, a Pasadena company is making a modern day version, and here is the fascinating process. Thanks to Barry Mitchell for the clip. -Bobby Ellerbee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHkOkqnJjy0
Here’s another excellent “How It’s Made” episode showing the assembly of an AEA ribbon microphone. This mic is almost $4000.
The Television Debut Of The SNL Original Cast…Rare & Surprising! As it turns out, “The Not Ready For Prime Time Players” were not even ready for late night television! Really! Here’s the story… NBC’s new 90 minute, live comedy show ‘Saturday Night Live’ was scheduled to debut at 11:30 on October 4, 1975. The plane […]
Guess What This Door Used To Be… Here’s a clue: in the 50s, people lined up here to see the most famous of all television shows. Source
Early Dumont Cameras: Configuration 2 Unlike the RCA cameras, the Dumont Iconoscope cameras had electronic viewfinders which were side mounted. This called for more equipment at the camera and this is one configuration of how that was done. I suspect the larger box is the camera control unit and the smaller one, the power supply. […]
The First Sign Of Trouble At RCA… Thanks to John Schipp, here is a great photo of Joe Garagiola and painter Leroy Neiman with Art Parker behind the camera…a Norelco camera! In 1964, RCA stopped production of the RCA TK41C and was switching over to the TK42. Fred Himelfarb was head of NBC Labs at […]
Such beauty.
Small correction: AEA is a Pasadena company owned by Wes Dooley. http://www.ribbonmics.com/
I have a working 44BX and 77D I got when my dad passed away along with some others
canadian TV show featured it though. hows it’s made gets played in the canadian discovery channel all the time.
This is the Microphone Norman Petty had in his recording studio.
If you want to hear what that AEA ribbon mic sounds like, put on headphones and watch this video of Gary Louris of The Jayhawks performing one of their songs recently. Recorded straight to a Nagra analog machine.
https://youtu.be/7nEIO1-RJig