videocurios | Early BBC Broadcast Microphones Close Up BBC Radio 1949 @videocurios | Uploaded May 2021 | Updated October 2024, 14 hours ago.
Here's a fascinating discussion with audio examples of 3 of the earliest microphones used by BBC Radio from a Radio Broadcast made in 1949 called 'Close Up' the recording comes from a sound file recorded from a 2 sided acetate disc sent to me by the Cornish collector of rare records David Rule who occasionally broadcasts on the internet radio channel Liskeard Radio.
As far as I remember the microphones one was a plain lacquer-aluminium acetate with no label on one side (so you would see a black disc with three holes in it - these were to hold the disc from slipping - and aluminium showing in the middle because the lacquer didn't cover the whole disc.)
Until about 1920, gramophone recordings were made by direct sound impact, shouting or singing into a horn. Between 1920 and 1922, Peel-Conner carbon granule microphones were the standard in British wireless broadcasting. Here's davids recollection of the acetate disc this recording came from which he no longer has.
Round-Sykes Microphone 1923
Within six months of the start of broadcasting by the newly formed BBC, a new and considerably improved microphone was introduced. Unlike its predecessors, it did not suffer from the high background noise (not unlike the sound of frying eggs!).
Developed by Captain Round of the Marconi Company, it consisted of a circular electromagnet about five inches (12.5 cm) in diameter and was extremely heavy. It was used for the 1924 outside broadcast of the song of a nightingale. Initially, curious noises were picked up by the Round-Sykes microphone - so sensitive was it - including the buzzing of flies and the sound of rabbits nibbling the wires.
Meat-safe microphone
This microphone was the first put to general use by the BBC's provincial studios in the early 1920s. The name "Meat-safe" refers to the metal cage that protects the mic and its similarity to a domestic meat store. The mic itself stands almost 5ft tall and required a row of car batteries to power it, plus an amplifier that took up a whole room. Portable it certainly wasn't!
Here's a fascinating discussion with audio examples of 3 of the earliest microphones used by BBC Radio from a Radio Broadcast made in 1949 called 'Close Up' the recording comes from a sound file recorded from a 2 sided acetate disc sent to me by the Cornish collector of rare records David Rule who occasionally broadcasts on the internet radio channel Liskeard Radio.
As far as I remember the microphones one was a plain lacquer-aluminium acetate with no label on one side (so you would see a black disc with three holes in it - these were to hold the disc from slipping - and aluminium showing in the middle because the lacquer didn't cover the whole disc.)
Until about 1920, gramophone recordings were made by direct sound impact, shouting or singing into a horn. Between 1920 and 1922, Peel-Conner carbon granule microphones were the standard in British wireless broadcasting. Here's davids recollection of the acetate disc this recording came from which he no longer has.
Round-Sykes Microphone 1923
Within six months of the start of broadcasting by the newly formed BBC, a new and considerably improved microphone was introduced. Unlike its predecessors, it did not suffer from the high background noise (not unlike the sound of frying eggs!).
Developed by Captain Round of the Marconi Company, it consisted of a circular electromagnet about five inches (12.5 cm) in diameter and was extremely heavy. It was used for the 1924 outside broadcast of the song of a nightingale. Initially, curious noises were picked up by the Round-Sykes microphone - so sensitive was it - including the buzzing of flies and the sound of rabbits nibbling the wires.
Meat-safe microphone
This microphone was the first put to general use by the BBC's provincial studios in the early 1920s. The name "Meat-safe" refers to the metal cage that protects the mic and its similarity to a domestic meat store. The mic itself stands almost 5ft tall and required a row of car batteries to power it, plus an amplifier that took up a whole room. Portable it certainly wasn't!
