In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:
I'll bet they were in the early days. The BBC certainly used them for a
while.

Interesting, Do you know what did they use them for?

Err, broadcasting? I'm surprised you've never heard of the GEC Peel
Conner. Or Marconi Reisz. Etc. Carbon mics were used into the '30s.

But in what application? Speech only?
Surely not for music?

Not having been around then my guess is they were used for everything and
anything. They didn't have the selection we have today. ;-) Certainly
early pics show it being used for singists.

The Schottky ribbon dates from 1923
and ribbon mics were available from the very
earliest days of electrical recording and
ubiquitous by early 1930s

Even by modern standards, ribbons can produce
a very pleasing sound. I have a pair of British made
Film Industries M8s which are excellent on strings,
and the STC/Coles 4xxx series is still highly regarded
by people who have them. Especially pleasing for
acoustic guitar.

After the AXBT came the PGS - both BBC designs. The PGS was then
slightly modified for production and made by STC as the 4038. I have
one.

We had a number of 4038s at Decca. I have
never come across them since.

I'm surprised. It's the sort of mic most people have at least one of.
Since it was one of the finest general purpose mics of all time. But very
pricey.

Still my
favourite alto sax mic. You should try it on those sometime

I would if I had one. I can imagine it would sound very good on
an alto saxophone in an orchestral setting - Ravel, Dubois, etc.
But for jazz, where you need proximity, two mics are often neede
for solo alto. A pair of 84s are a popular choice, among those
that have them. Their placement needs particular care. Fortunately,
the legendary Greek recording engineer Isosceles has worked it all
out for us:-)

It works just fine for any type of music. Being extremely dead on the
sides has uses in a multi-mic setup too.

--
*Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.