
There's something very satisfying about throwing a hulking
ribbon microphone up in the studio to capture vocals, drums or room sounds. Maybe it's because engineers have been doing it since the ribbon mic was first invented in the 1920s by Drs. Walter H. Schottky and Erwin Gerlach. It's a piece of the past that we can still relive today.
One of the more sizable ribbon microphone designs from recording history is the Melodium 42B. The microphone was originally built by Charles Bouteleau and Emlie Furn in Paris in the early 1940s with an initial production run that lasted into the late 1960s. The 42B featured four monster Alnico magnets and delivered a smooth, warm sound.
Continue reading →