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Microphones

Forgotten Microphone Shoot-out

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I keep some Turner 99 microphones in the mic locker.  The Turner 99 is one of the few 1950’s dynamic mics that I feel compelled to use for studio recording.  Since we had a drum kit setup for recording in a fairly live room, I thought this would be a good time to do a quick ‘obscure microphone shootout’ featuring the Turner 99 plus a couple of other oddities that ‘passed muster’ to the degree that they earned a place in the studio rather than in a large box in the back of my coat closet.

In order to make this a (potentially) useful endeavor, i set up an AKG 414 in omnidirectional mode along side said obscure mics.  Four signals were simultaneously recorded, all at the same level relative to the snare drum.  I used the same mic preamp (the very neutral 4-channel Sytek) for each mic.  I added no processing whatsoever.  If you give a listen to the AKG 414 track,  you will hear  pretty good representation of what you would have experienced had you been standing in front of the kit during the performance.

Here is the AKG 414. Click on the link below to hear the audio stream.

AKG_01

Here is a Turner 99:

Turner U99_01

Here is a Shure 535, which was a mid-level omnidirectional dynamic sold in the 1950s.

Shure 535_01

…And here is an AKG D124E, a rare high-end dynamic mic from the early 1970’s.  I had always felt that this was a very robust, full-sounding microphone, but listening to it relative to the 414 it sounds pretty pathetic.

AKG_D124E_01

Categories
Guitar Equipment Publications

das 70s rock

I love German rock music of the 70s.  Popul Vuh’s soundtracks for Herzog films.

Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze.  Neu.  Amon Duul II.  And, of course, the immortal CAN.

There is a uniquely hypnotic, repetitive, druggy vibe to so much of this music.

It’s incredible just how different 70’s German rock music was compared to that from the UK, Italy, Sweden, and France.   Much music gets described as ‘Psychedelic,’ but very little of it actually has the potential for ‘mind-alteration’ in the way that this music does.

It’s not hard to see how these sounds effortlessly transformed into ‘Techno’ in the 80s, a counter-path to American RnB’s simultaneous development into hip hop.

Appreciation of vintage German audio equipment is intense, but it is generally limited to microphones and pro-audio equipment.  This is where the German reputation for precision really seems to sell the products.  Now that I think about it, of the 9 microphones that I stuck on the drum kit yesterday, 6 were German.  2 Neumanns for the room, an old Sennheiser 409 above the snare drum, and some 70’s Sennheiser 441s on the rack toms and under the snare.

441s are really fantastic microphones.  I wish I had even more of them.

Beyond Neumann and Sennheiser, German brand Telefunken is a favorite of audio engineers.  No one hears too much about old German guitars and amplifiers though.  I recently picked up this Ovation ‘Tornado.’

Ovation is an American brand (CT, actually…), but this, their earliest electric guitar, was actually composed of a German-made body with a US-made neck attached in the states.  It’s a nice guitar. German makers also supplied components to US guitar-maker Carvin in the 60s and 70’s

I came across a pile of 70’s German rock-instrument magazines and catalogs not too long ago. Here’s a quick tour of some of the more interesting things I found…

The Schaller Corp’s popular aftermarket guitar tuning pegs represent perhaps the greatest US market penetration that a German guitar company would have in the 70’s.  I feel like 30% of 1970’s Gibson guitars have been ‘improved’ with Schaller tuners.  Looks like Schaller also made effect devices.

FOLLOW THE LINK FOR MORE….

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Uncategorized

Recording some music today

Been recording today.

We spent last evening setting up, running cables, tuning the drum kit, and getting some basic drum sounds going.

Trying to get drums down for 6 songs today.  The material has a loose, laid-back feel, so it’s not too tall an order.

Categories
Guitar Equipment History Technical

Fkkng magnets. How do they work?

I had often heard of primitive ‘field-coil’ speakers, but it was not until i was confronted with a pair of them that I actually had to come to grips with this ancient technology.

Consider how a basic modern speaker driver works.  See this excellent animation for a quick example.

There is a (usually) paper cone with some wire wrapped around a center post.  The wire coil sits roughly inside a ring of magnetic material (either ceramic or metallic).

An electrical-signal is sent into the wire coil, and this causes it move relative to the fixed magnet.

OK so we all know what a paper cone is.  And we all know what a coil of wire is.  But what about this magnet?  Where did it come from?

Well, it turns out that modern speakers use what are called ‘permanent magnets.’  As-in, the magnet has a permanent charge.  The material which composes the magnet is always magnetic, regardless of any other influence.  Hold a key up to the back of any raw speaker driver and you will see that yes this is in fact a magnet.  And a pretty powerful one.

Permament magnets possesing enough magnetic power to function in a speaker driver are not naturally occurring materials, though.  They had to be invented.  And they were, largely as part of American WW2 engineering efforts.  These new, powerful permanent magnets were engineerd from an alloy of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt, hence their name:  Alnico magnets.  In the 1950s, newer ‘ceramic’ permanent magnets were engineered, and these became the norm owing to their even greater efficiency and lower cost (cobalt is expensive as a raw material).

But what about all the speakers and guitar amps designed BEFORE the invention of this wonderful Alnico substance?  These devices (and it’s rare to find one that is still in good working condition) use similar looking speakers, but with a very different type of magnet.  They use Electromagnets.  Meaning:  they use magnets which are made of a material which only become magnetic when a large DC current is passing through it.

Exactly where the audio device creates this large DC current, and exactly what effect this arrangement has on the total system, are interesting issues to explore.  This piece is a still a work-in progress.

I hope to have it completed soon, and I will post some audio examples of this antique technology at work.

Categories
Publications

RIP audio magazine 1947-2000

AUDIO magazine was published between 1947 and 2000.  I have been reviewing a number of issues from the early 1960s.  It is very interesting to note the range of topics that the magazine covered.  There are reviews of new consumer audio products, reviews of musical albums,  and features on custom-made home hi-fi installations.  This is all in line with what we would find in, say, ‘Stereophile‘ magazine today.

But there is also a great deal of more technical/professional information.  Articles on acoustics; articles on live sound; and every issue I have from the 60’s even includes schematics for building you own audio equipment.

Wiki has an in-depth piece on the origins and lifetime of this publication.   The most telling facts:  AUDIO was published under the name AUDIO ENGINEERING until 1954.  Why the name change?  Because the AES (Audio Engineering Society) began publishing it’s own journal in 1953.  See my previous post on the AES journal for more information on this great publication. Anyhow, as Wiki tells us, AUDIO at this point shifted to a more consumer/hobbyist perspective.  Which means that: to be an ‘audio hobbyist’ in the 50’s/60’s really did mean that you likely built audio equipment.  Not simply that you were a consumer of audio equipment.

There has been a tremendous surge lately in the idea that modern Americans ‘don’t do/can’t do anything with their hands/minds/etc.’  Witness the incredible popularity of M. Crawford’s “Shop Class As Soulcraft.” Or, on the darker side of the same coin, Mark Bauerlein’s “The Dumbest Generation.” I am not advocating either of these viewpoints; I am just pointing out that the intense popularity of AUDIO magazine 50 years ago, versus the kind of content that we get in STEREOPHILE today, would seem to indicate a shift in what consumers are willing/able to do in the service of their audio hobby.

Japan still does have widely-distributed audio publications that cover both mass-produced audio products and project plans/schematics for those who will ‘do it themselves.’  I will cover some of these magazines in the near future.

Anyhow.  Getting back to AUDIO.  So we have a magazine that is aimed at the dude who likes to buy expensive audio kit.  Also at the dude who likes to build audio equipment. But also to the audio professional!  There is a wealth of advertising in these old issues which is aimed at broadcast, live-sound, and recording professionals.  Here is a sampling of some of the pro-audio goods on offer in AUDIO from 1963-1966.

FOLLOW THE LINK FOR THE COLLECTION OF IMAGES:

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Categories
Connecticut Audio History Microphones

CT AUDIO HISTORY: Syncron and Trod Nossel

(web source)

Many musicians in CT are not aware that this state is host to one of the oldest-running recording studios in America.  Trod Nossel of Wallingford, CT (a suburb of New Haven).

I have never been to Trod Nossel, nor do i know anyone who has; and in this era of modern ‘home-recording’ this is probably not all that surprising. Trod Nossel has a fascinating story.  The story of a dentist getting ‘turned-on’ to the sounds of the sixties, becoming a manager of semi-successful garage rock bands, and taking over a microphone-testing facility and creating a studio which hosted some pretty impressive acts over the years.  Crazy.  Trod Nossel Studio actually has a pretty extensive retrospective website where you can hear about this unlikely institution in their own words.

Anyhow, what is this about a microphone testing facility?  To make matters even stranger, it turns out that our dentist-turned-rock-impresario had been an investor in a failed microphone-manufacturing venture.  The headquarters of this company became Trod Nossel studio.  Ever heard of a Syncron Mic?  They were some of the earliest solid-state condensor mics, and if you can get one working, they are apparently excellent.   There is a very thorough and well-researched article on Syncron mics over at Stan Coutant’s excellent microphone data site.  You can read all the details and see pictures here.

I love Coutant’s site.  It is truly an asset to all of us interested in antique audio.   I don’t want to re-hash any of his work, but i would like to try and add to it, however modestly.  I have dug up the following circa 1966 advertisements for the Syncron mics.    Check ’em out.  The company folded shortly after these ads appeared in AUDIO Magazine.

Anyone ever done any work at Trod Nossel?

Anyone use these Syncron mics?

Categories
Custom Fabrication Guitar Equipment Technical

some recent pieces

Last week was busy in the shop.

This is a 2-watt per-channel stereo power amp built for our friends K&D.  It is tiny (only 10 inches wide).  The form of the amplifier was driven by the styling of these beautiful black-lucite vintage speakers which complete the set.

The speakers were made by Speak-Easy Intercom of Kansas City, likely in the early 50’s.  They are handmade from individual pieces of black lucite.  I found them with the original base-station for the intercom, all in flawless condition.  I replaced the drivers in the speaker cabinets.  This tiny tube-audio system is intended as a casual background-music-listening setup for the home or office.

—   —   —

A couple more ‘Recycled’  Tweed Champ Clones were born last week as well.

I have decided on the name ‘Cassius’ for these and all future small single-ended 5watt guitar amps.  ‘Cassius’ being the name of the most famous Champ of the 20th century.

Like the previous Recycled Champs, these are freshly-built  guitar amplifiers, built with largely new components, into antique cabinets.  In this case, factory/school PA speaker boxes.

I built these with identical circuits, very true to the circa 1955 5E1 schematic.   They use a 6V6 output tube with a 12AX7 preamp tube.  They have choke transformers and a feedback circuit.  The output transformer is mounted directly on the 8″ Alnico speaker in order to conserve space.  I used a 6X5 rectifier tube rather than a 5Y3 so that i could use a slightly smaller-sized power transformer.  The 6X5 is an excellent tube which was used in a great amount of pro-audio equipment in the 50s.  These amps also will also accept 12AY7 preamp tubes for a different breakup.

These amps are very small and lightweight. They sound fantastic.  Extremely dynamic.  The range of sound that you can generate using the volume knob on the guitar is outstanding.  The small Alnico speaker magnet make these amps less efficient than some other 5 watt amps, which makes these ideal for apartment dwellers (or anyone who lives with other people!).

Up next: this week I will be building a similar ‘recycled’ guitar amp, but scaled up: a 12-watt “Tweed Deluxe-type” amplifier with a 12″ field coil speaker.

Categories
History Publications Technical

Service Call

Why do some of us (audio enthusiasts, recording engineers, musicians) choose to use old vacuum tube equipment?  The reasons vary widely, but very few users would cite ‘better reliability’ as a positive factor.   True, much old tube-based audio equipment designed for professional use (EG., Fender guitar amps) is designed so that it CAN be easily serviced.  I haven’t found a tube guitar amp yet that I couldn’t fix. But ‘serviceability’ is different from ‘reliability.’

Is vacuum tube audio equipment inherently less reliable than solid-state equipment?  I am not certain that this is the case.  But there are a few basic conditions of tube equipment that would seem to make it more prone to breakdown.

*High Voltage.  Due to the optimum operating points of many vacuum tubes, most tube equipment will have DC voltages upwards of 300 or even 500 volts present inside the chassis, flowing through the capacitors, resistors, pots, and transformers.  This voltage is often near the stated working limit of these components.  Compare this to solid-state, where 24volts is the most you will likely find.

*Filaments (tube heaters).  Man look at those tubes glow.  They look great, right?  Yes they do.  But remember that the glow is created by heaters.  Their function is to make the tube hot.  Very very hot.  And they make everything else in the area hot.  Drying out wires and insulation, causing potting wax to flow out, and generally contributing to the decline of the physical condition of all the components.  Consider the amount of heat in, say, a Fender Twin amp.  Each 6L6 tube is drawing (6.3Vx .9A)= 6 watts x 4 tubes.  That’s 24 watts of pure HEAT present whenever the device is turned on.  Solid-state equipment does not need heaters to operate.

*Layout. In order to conserve space in a chassis, and simplify the construction, tube equipment was often wired point-to-point, with lots of little hand-made solder joints.  Compare this to solid-state equipment, where the smaller (due to lower voltage requirements) components can all be assembled on a board.  Just take a look at the two devices here.  Which one do you think is more likely to develop a problem due to mechanical shock?

(web source)

(web source)

Anyhow, vacuum tube equipment tended to require more servicing than later solid-state equipment designed for the same purpose.  A natural consequence of this was…  more servicemen!  Radio/Television repair shops used to be a common sight in America.  Now, not so much.  Even beyond the greater need for servicing in the tube-era, there is secondary reason: cost.  Since so much modern ‘surface-mount’ equipment can be built by robotic automation, and produced offshore, modern equipment costs less.  It’s often just not worth repairing.  You simply throw it out.  This was not the case in the 1950s.

Consider the cost of a basic 17″ television in 1951.  $139.50.  This is today’s equivalent of $1170.  That’s a lot of money. If your $1170 TV breaks, you would likely get it fixed.   Whereas in 2010, a 17″ TV will only cost you $168. Would you spend time and money to have a $168 TV serviced?  Not likely.

A large range of publications once existed to cater to these legions of TV/Radio serviceman.  We will look at several of these titles in the future on this site.  For today, let’s consider Radio & Television News, which was the 1948-1959 title of the magazine that Ziff-Davis published for the professional readership market.   Wiki has a good article about the long and complex history of this publication.  Anyhow, the R&TN ran articles on electronic theory, service practice, general small-business professionalism, etc.  They also had several articles in each issue which offered circuit descriptions and schematics for various devices.   R&TN published several ‘Audio Feature’ issues that have some interesting projects outlined.  Today we will look at some of these projects which have potential use in the recording studio.

FOLLOW THE LINK FOR MANY INTERESTING C.1950 DIY AUDIO PROJECTS.,..

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Categories
Manufacturers

The Sound of ’51

In the process of preparing tomorrow’s post, I came across these circa 1951 microphone ads.  Check em out.  Some icons here, some forgotten specimens.

I have never used these BRUSH mics.  Seem like communications, rather than recording microphones.

These particular EVs were primarily intended as HAM/PA mics.  I have a few 630s and 636s and I’ve never been inclined to use them in the studio.

Ah.  the ‘ELVIS’ mic.  Perhaps the most iconic vintage microphone in the world. 

The Turner 99 is a great mic.  I own a few of these, and I do use them in the studio from time to time.  They are very clean, with a reduced (midrange-y) frequency response. I have had good results using a 99 as a ‘close’ vocal mic, along with a good AKG or Neumann condenser mic as a ‘room’ mic, 6′- 10′ feet off the same performer.  

I have never used an ‘aristocrat,’ but Turner did make a few decent hand-held dynamics back then… I have a model 510, which was their top-of-the-line, and it is a good mic; definately worth checking out if you want something ‘different’ but still useful.

Categories
Publications

en busca del sonido de edad

We went to Buenos Aires  (BA) a few years back to visit a friend who was working on a project there.  It is a very beautiful yet decayed city.  If you like faded glamor, I got a place for you.

The history of Argentina is long and sometimes dark, filled with tales of cannibalism,  secret police forces, athletic games involving live ducks, and on up to recent obsessions with cosmetic surgery and psychology.  It also has some of the finest architecture, food, and wine on the planet.   100 years ago, Argentina was one of the most prosperous and wealthy nations on Earth.  Its fates have shifted.  Visiting BA in the midst of the most recent Economic Calamity, I could not help but imagine Argentina as a vision of the United States in 50 years.  Proud and beautiful and vast, but with many starving, huge dependency on foreign industry, and very low standards of conduct for elected officials.

We stayed in an old part of the city by the docks.  There are many flea markets in this part of town, and I managed to find a few things of interest.

This circa 1960 Soviet microphone sadly did not work.

Purchased this very cleverly named chorus pedal from modern Argentine maker CLUSTER. This pedal is a clone of the EHX Small Clone, an effect which looms largest in our collective subconscious due to Kurt Cobain’s use of the device for the clean (IE, the verses) guitar parts in ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ 1992 was the year that this track broke worldwide.  Hence “Spirit (of) (19)92.”

It’s a great sounding pedal with a very charming hand-finished quality to the enclosure.  I don’t think these are available outside of Argentina.

Most exciting were the ancient audio-tech magazines that turned up in some of the numerous stores and stalls dedicated to old books.  Here are some images and projects from:  ‘Radio e Televisao,’ Sau Paulo, 1950; ‘Radio Chassis Television,’ BA., 1960; and ‘Radio Tecnica,’ BA., 1976.

Many more great images and schematics from a bygone world after the link….

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