1920's and 1930's Music Gear

[rackdude]

I need a reference of what a studio would look like from this time period... so what kind of stuff would they have in there?

[Chaellus]

WESTERN ELECTRIC !!!! Condensers and dynamic mics... Collins opened there doors in 22....but i think everyone gathered around well a conductor held a giant horned....that become the recording device to capture the sound on to Wax cylinder...might be wrong......also Wire Recorders.....Webster Electric

[Silvertone]

Universal Ribbon Microphones
Amperite carbon microphones

[rackdude]

Are there any pictures of this stuff?

[jproc]

I have an old Webster wire recorder...
I dont have a picture of mine, but I just found this online.. same model... I have the mic in the picture too
http://www.webster-chicago.com/181.jpg

I think this was a later model... late 40's...

[PRobb]

'20s and '30s are very different worlds. '20s sessions were accoustic, '30s were electric.

In the '20s a session might have looked like this.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/attac...1&d=1233768587

[rackdude]

Well, it's Singin' in the Rain, so it takes place in 1927 when the Jazz Singer was released, so thanks for the pictures!

[Chaellus]

thats about the time everythin starts going electric..

[kafka]

Originally Posted by jproc

I have an old Webster wire recorder...
I dont have a picture of mine, but I just found this online.. same model... I have the mic in the picture too
http://www.webster-chicago.com/181.jpg

I think this was a later model... late 40's...

I could be wrong, but I don't think those ever appeared in the recording studio.

[Chaellus]

Originally Posted by rackdude

Are there any pictures of this stuff?

check the the stuff on this site....pics from te 20's with word Microphones page 2

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by Chaellus

check the the stuff on this site....pics from te 20's with word Microphones page 2

Cool pix.

I'd all but forgotten the carbon mic era of radio broadcast... but carbon mics were still around when I was a kid. In fact, they were in virtually everyone's telephones. And they remained a staple in communications gear for some time... I suppose because of durability.

First mic I ever bought was a dynamic, which set me back a $1.50 (not nothing in those days, more than a week's allowance, IIRC). It was a replacement for the mic that came with my first tape recorder (pic below). I later bought a big ol' push-to-talk carbon mic for some project or other I was hacking on... it was a lot more expensive.



My first tape recorder with mic. The recorder was so primitive it used a permanent magnet on a lever as an erase head and had no capstan.

[Chaellus]

Originally Posted by theblue1

Cool pix.

I'd all but forgotten the carbon mic era of radio broadcast... but carbon mics were still around when I was a kid. In fact, they were in virtually everyone's telephones. And they remained a staple in communications gear for some time... I suppose because of durability.

First mic I ever bought was a dynamic, which set me back a $1.50 (not nothing in those days, more than a week's allowance, IIRC). It was a replacement for the mic that came with my first tape recorder (pic below). I later bought a big ol' push-to-talk carbon mic for some project or other I was hacking on... it was a lot more expensive.



My first tape recorder with mic. The recorder was so primitive it used a permanent magnet on a lever as an erase head and had no capstan.

nice....it seems carbon mics were the first mics dating back 1875 or so......there still in pay phones...

[los marbles]

Check out the "weed and recording thread"

[rackdude]

Originally Posted by Chaellus

check the the stuff on this site....pics from te 20's with word Microphones page 2

Oh man, THANKS! That site is wonderful.

[PRobb]

Originally Posted by Chaellus

check the the stuff on this site....pics from te 20's with word Microphones page 2

Great site, thanks.
Fig 1A is amazing. Doesn't look very comfortable, does it?

[Bob Olhsson]

The '20s were dominated by Western Electric carbon and condenser mikes. In 1932 the RCA 44a ribbon took over and would dominate broadcasting and recording for the next thirty years.