Shownotes
Sylvia Massy returns to Working Class Audio for the first time since Episode 14 back in 2015. She joins Matt from her studio in Ashland, Oregon to talk about her new book, The Great Book of Vintage Microphones, co-authored with Chris Johnson. To write it, Sylvia and Chris acquired the entire estate collection of Milwaukee radio legend Bob Paquette: 3,500 microphones kept together rather than cherry-picked apart. The book covers 100 years of microphone history, from David Edward Hughes's 1877 burnt-stick carbon transducer to the ribbons and condensers most engineers grew up with.
In This Episode, We Discuss:
- The Studio in Ashland: Converted Radiator Shop, Five-Bay Garage, Concrete Construction
- Chris Joshnson: Co-Author, Life Partner, and the Man Who Negotiated a Microphone Museum
- Bob Paquette's Collection: 3,500 Mics, Milwaukee Radio History, and Keeping It Together
- The First Microphone: David Edward Hughes, 1877, a Burnt Carbon Stick
- Crystal Mics, Carbon Telephone Elements, and Technology That Lasted Into the 1990s
- Condenser Development: From a Wooden Box Power Supply Down to the Pencil Condensers We Use Today
- The First Directional Microphone
- A Condenser That Went to the South Pole With Admiral Byrd
- The Glow Discharge Mic: Plasma Between Two Electrodes, Banned After 1928
- Art Deco Mics That Looked Like Spaceships and Sounded Worse Because of Their Cases
- Western Electric Birdcage, Tadpole Mics, Bakelite, and the 1947 Astatic 600S
- The ChicLet: Color Options
- Pearl Mics From Sweden and the 6102 RFP
- Sylvia's Favorite Mic for Female Vocal
- Microphone Seeds: Ribbons, Dynamics, and Condensers
Matt’s RANT!: Client Mix Approval Server
Links and Show Notes:
Credits:
- Guest: Sylvia Massy
- Host/Engineer/Producer: Matt Boudreau
- WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell
- The Voice: Chuck Smith
