Microphone Choices:

Your Questions Answered!

Down here in the MIC DUNGEON, we too value KNOWLEDGE. Yes, my brethren of the TIN SANDWICH, KNOWLEDGE! Like the tides themselves, it flows in and out, back and forth, washing over the stubborn questioning rocks of our curiosity regarding the WHAT, HOW, and WHY of LORD MICROPHONE. Ah, if only to harness these tides! OK, before I turn into Robert Burns (the poet, NOT the cigar) we might as well start spreading some of them-thar smarts around—thanks again to your questions…

“HEY FRITZ! You keep saying that these old mics were never meant to be handled. Whadda ya mean? We handle them every time we play through them! Whatsa matter with you?” Signed Chicago Blooze Grip

Dear CBG: As much fun as I could have with that last line, I'm going to stay on task and deal with the issues of both the INTENTIONAL and INCIDENTAL functions of microphone design. Remember that we are the unintended beneficiaries of a very new technology. Audio gear (including LORD MICROPHONE) has only been with us for about a century—and has gone through stunning growth and startling changes all along the path it's taken. We handle these mics because we've found it serves our purposes to do so, not because they were intended for our use in this manner. Dig… In commercial design, the purpose of a product's packaging is to sell the contents—or even the idea of the contents. In the case of LORD MICROPHONE, the active component, the actual transducer or “element” that does the sonic work just isn't much to look at. What do businessmen do with unattractive products? Simple: Wrap them in a stylish package. That's the INTENTIONAL part of the mic's exterior design. The shapes that microphones took were influenced by the popular schools of design at the time of their creation. In the case of the “BULLET” designs of the 1930's it was the influence of the ART DECO or MACHINE AGE movements that produced what I like to call the “La Salle Headlamp Factor.” Industrial design school grads of the day were utilizing this association to sell the products they were packaging, not because they were the result of a sonic quest—or anything resembling “ergonomics.” In their initial use, “Cupping” of the mic was unheard of. And in radio and recording facilities of the day? The tech-in-charge would NEVER allow mere mortals to touch these icons. It's a truly INCIDENTAL function of the design that they were a size and shape that worked for amplifying the TIN SANDWICH. Another reason they became popular? Their cost. The most accessible mics were the most common and the cheapest. Utility microphones on dispatch stands, in service areas, and connected to intercom systems were the ones TIN SANDWICH jockeys began experimenting with because they were the most available. These inexpensive “BULLETS” were the mics most likely to be found in service closest to the people who would eventually break the “TOUCH TABOO,” improvise with them, and make use of them in ways so familiar to us today.

LET'S HEAR IT FOR BREAKING THE “RULES”! Hey, it's our heritage…

YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT “MIC FINISHES”! NEXT TIME WE VISIT…
THE MIC BENCH!

For pictures and descriptions of most of the microphones listed visit: http://www.harmonicamasterclass.com/vintage_collection.htm