"This microphone is not an ordinary instrument,
For it looks out on vistas wide indeed:
My voice commingles now with northern lights and
asteroids and Alexander's skeleton,
With dead volcanoes and with donkey's ears
It swims with minnows and it's in the Sphinx's jaw.
It drifts among whatever spirits pass across the night.
Here is a thought to fasten to your throat:
Who knows who may be listening? And where?"
Norman Corwin
The conclusion to Seems Radio Is Here to Stay
When the late, great Norman Corwin wrote and produced this tribute to the medium in 1939, the radio microphone was the primary nexus to the world beyond our street, neighborhood, town and city. Television, as we know it, was in its infancy; records were brittle and broke like fine china. There was no Internet, iPhone, iPod or iPad. Social media meant going to the movies, and the movie makers were just discovering technicolor — something the mind's eye had from the get-go with radio.
At the beginning of radio's long signal chain is the microphone, a kind of on-the-scene ambassador and interpreter. Whether unidirectional, omnidirectional, dynamic, cardioid, ribbon, carbon button or condenser, they all soaked up the voices and sounds of our world. Indeed, like a sonic sponge, for 93+ years the WNYC microphones have been the starting point for broadcasts and productions featuring the mighty to the minuscule and more. Below you'll find some of them.
Shure 55 "Elvis" Microphone
This classic super cardioid unidirectional moving coil dynamic mic first came into use in 1951. It was long favored by 'The King" as well as WNYC's Chief Concert Engineer Edward Haber.
Microphones 'hear' or take in sound in different ways or patterns. The pattern of a microphone is the sensitivity to sound relative to the direction the sound arrives. The most common types of directionality are: omnidirectional, cardioid and supercardioid, which is a very unidirectional microphone good for screening out background sound and noise.
Western Electric (Altec) 639A "Bird Cage" Microphone
The 'birdcage' was first made in 1939. It has a 3-position switch that selects the ribbon (bidirectional), the dynamic element (omnidirectional), or a combination of the two (unidirectional).
A ribbon microphone uses a thin aluminum or nanofilm of electrically conductive ribbon placed between the poles of a magnet to produce voltage by electromagnetic induction. It is also called a velocity microphone because its induced voltage is proportional to the velocity or movement of the ribbon produced by the air particles in the sound wave hitting it.
Western Electric 630A "Eight Ball" Microphone
This microphone was often placed on a table between an interviewer and interviewee. It is an omnidirectional dynamic mic that dates from 1931 and was used well into the 1950s.
Dynamic mics have a thin diaphragm attached to a coil of extremely thin copper wire. The coil is suspended in a magnetic field and, when sound vibrates the diaphragm, the coil moves up and down, creating a very small electrical current.
RCA 77DX "Pill Capsule" Microphone
This polydirectional ribbon microphone was first sold by RCA in 1954. Its predecessors (models A,B,C, and D) have become icons of the broadcast and recording industries.
Amperite SR-80 Ribbon Microphone
Made of a rugged bronze and steel case this microphone was used from the mid-1930s into the 1940s. The SR80 is one of the finest bidirectional ribbon or velocity mics found in this period.
Western Electric 633A "Salt Shaker" Microphone
It was developed by Bell Labs in the late 1930s and used by WNYC well into the 1960s. The 633A is a rugged, low impedance dynamic microphone and popular as a reliable workhorse with radio stations for many years.
This classic super cardioid (unidirectional) moving coil dynamic mic first came into use in 1951 was long favored by The King, as well as WNYC's Chief Concert Engineer Edward Haber. The microphone is designed for high quality broadcasting, public address and voice recording.
(Cara McCormick)
Often placed on a table between an interviewer and interviewee, this omnidirectional microphone dates from 1938 and was used well into the 1950s.
(Cara McCormick)
Constructed in a rugged bronze and steel case and used from the mid-1930s into the 1940s, the SR80 is one of the finest bidirectional 'velocity' microphones found in this period.
(Cara McCormick)
Designed by the Bell Telephone Laboratories and originally manufactured by the Western Electric Company beginning in 1938 the Altec 639A and 639B multi-pattern microphones have, for years, enjoyed an unprecedented acceptance by all phases of the audio industry. In 1941 Altec began putting their name on the microphone.
The 639A could be set to various directional patterns while maintaining high quality performance. Using a velocity ribbon microphone in combination with a dynamic pressure microphone, the 639A offered three patterns. “R” provided a “figure eight” pattern by utilizing just the velocity microphone. “D” selected just the pressure microphone for a non-directional pattern. “C” provided a cardioid pattern by combining the two microphones in series. Frequency response in any setting was 40 Hz to 10 KHz. Western Electric also built a “B” version with six selectable pattern settings. For an excellent history of this microphone go to: MIC HISTORY.
These high output and high impedance CR or "controlled reluctance" microphones were made sometime between 1949 and 1958. Shure claimed it had a frequency response of 100 to 7,000 cycles per second. The microphone was popular with ham radio operators and used also for police, fire, and other commercial dispatch uses. The mic was tailored for good speech response, and was made to withstand temperature extremes, and to be practically moisture proof. It was unaffected by weather extremes and salt spray making an ideal choice for coastal areas. Obviously this was not a studio microphone but most likely used on remotes to communicate effectively with the studio or engineering office.
(Cara McCormick)
The Type BK-1A was a high-fidelity microphone especially designed for announcing and remote pickup. Its smooth response and frequency range (60 to 10,000 cycles) made it suitable for reproducing both music and speech. It is effectively non-directional when mounted vertically and is semi-directional when mounted horizontally. The mic was first produced in 1952.
(Cara McCormick)
Developed by Bell Labs in the late 1930s and used by WNYC well into the 1960s, the famous 633A is a rugged, low impedance dynamic microphone popular with radio stations for many years.
(Cara McCormick)
The D4T is a high impedance moving coil (dynamic) microphone "for general use where clear speech and natural music reproduction are required," according to the manufacturer's original brochure. "While designed for maximum ruggedness, it is of convenient size and reflects beauty in modern lines." Often used as a public address microphone, it dates from the 1940s.
(Cara McCormick)
This microphone is exceptional for musical instrument pickup or for vocals. With its bright, clean sound and carefully contoured presence rise, the SM57 is ideal for live sound reinforcement and recording. It has an extremely effective cardioid pickup pattern which isolates the main sound source while minimizing background noise.
(WNYC Archive Collections)
This microphone dates from about 1953 and was designed for public address systems. At the time, WNYC was not only the city's broadcasting station, but also its major source labor and equipment for public events in the parks and other locations around town. In an ad from the period, Electrovoice touted the microphone as having a "uniform cardioid polar pattern [that] provides high front-to-back discrimination against unwanted sounds, without close-talking boominess."
(WNYC Archive Collections)
This microphone was known for great for bass amp pick-up and used throughout the 1950s and 60s. Designed with the help of network radio and television engineers, the EV 666 was described in the early 50s as a "mircophone that meets the exacting requirements of present day telecasting and broadcasting."
(WNYC Archive Collections)