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I haven't yet had any reply regarding Edgar Froese's use of the artificial head. But someone who used a Sennheiser `binaural' mic in the late 80s to record a choral recital in Southwark Cathedral posted to the Tangerine Dream news group, and he's also given me a little more information.
I've also remembered something that may be helpful - the BBC recorded one or two radio plays in the 80s using the head. So maybe they can come up with some definite details.
From the Tangerine Dream newsgroup:
It was called a 'binaural' microphone and was made by Senheiser. Indeed, it came with a plastic dummy's head and the microphones sat into the plastic ears like walkman headphones. We then screwed the decapitated head onto a tall mic stand to get the best of the building's acoustics.
The visual effect was very alarming and upset an old lady. It looked just like the medieval 'traitor's gate' which used to exist at the entrance to London Bridge next door (where traitors' decapitated heads were stuck onto spikes to deter others...) She was only a little less alarmed when we explained what it in fact was.
The sound quality was superb, and even now sounds great through headphones. The only problem was that it picked up too much of the ambience, including the nearby London Bridge train station.
And the same guy also e-mailed me with:
The 'binaural' microphone I used was made by Sennheiser. The dummy head was a matt grey colour and had a very fine suede finish (like alacantra). I remember that it was quite heavy and once we had mounted it on the mic stand it was very unstable.
The 'ears' were simplified versions of a human's, but were the same size and overall shape. The microphone caspules were designed to sit in the ears in the same way that an underslung walkman headphone is. They had pegs attached so that they slotted into holes where the aural canals would be.
Unfortunately, I can find no details on this on Sennheiser's website any more. |