SM57 Unidyne III

The origin of SM57 may be traced to 1937, when Shure engineer Ben Bauer developed the first single-element directional microphone, the Unidyne, which had a cardioid pickup pattern. In 1959, another Shure engineer, Ernie Seeler, advanced the art of microphone design significantly with the Unidyne III. Seeler torture-tested the Unidyne III during three years of research and development and thereby, produced the SM series of rugged and reliable Shure microphone capsules. The "SM" stands for Studio Microphone; Seeler was an aficionado of classical music and expected the SM57 to be used for orchestras. He "despised" rock music, but ironically, the microphone ended up being widely used during amplified concerts, and has become an industry standard for snare drums, toms, guitar amps and other components of rock groups.