Remembering D-Day June 6th 1944

CLICKHEREJohn Snagge announces the D-Day Landings in France 75 years ago today.

The STC4017c was used by the BBC throughout World War 2 to broadcast many momentous events and speeches. Possibly the most important communication tool of the 20th century it was the first microphone robust enough to withstand the rigors of serious outside broadcasting in a war zone.

For more information https://martinmitchellsmicrophones.wordpress.com/2013/06/21/stc-4017c-dead-or-alive/

How to get that Vintage Mono Sound. A 1930’s Microphone Shoot-out!

In this age of manicured digital perfection, where nothing is quite what it seems,  I look back with nostalgia to a time when recording was all about capturing a performance by a great artist and not about manufacturing one!

At the present time when  so much R & D is being expended on surround sound, virtual reality and other forms of immersive audio, I find myself taking a renewed interest in Mono! Just as black and white photography still has it’s charms I think that there is a good deal to recommend about sound recorded in Mono.  Genuine Monophonic recordings made with just 1 microphone are completely phase coherent and coming from a single point there is something very focused and unambiguous about the sound. The listener’s attention is concentrated completely on the music and not distracted by artefacts of  multi-channel production. Recordings made in this way can also provide the listener with an excitingly honest account of a real performance. The balance is simply what felt right to the performers (or conductor) at the time and there is little scope for fiddling around with the mix afterwards. For the engineer the art of Monophonic recording is in carefully choosing the right microphone and positioning it in exactly the right place, ie the perfect listening position.

Virtuoso gypsy jazz duo ‘Echoes of France’ (Fenner Curtis violin, and Andy Wood guitar) were looking for an authentic 1930’s/40’s sound for their latest recordings, harking back to the golden years of Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli.  We had a very pleasant session experimenting with vintage microphones. In the space of a few hours recording in glorious Mono we laid down 12 complete tracks.  No overdubs, no mixing, no editing, no plugins, no special effects! However, what we did end up with is  3 different microphone recordings to choose from!

The  shoot-out is between the mighty Siemens SM3 ribbon mic, an STC4017 and an STC4021.  Although they are all from the 1930’s each of these microphones has a very distinctive tonal character.

Take a listen to this short clip of each of the three mics. CLICK HERE.

Please leave any comments below and vote for the winner.

When I told my photographer that this picture was for a Microphone Shootout she suggested that perhaps they should be wearing cowboy hats for the occasion !!!

1931-32 Cutting Edge Microphone Technology At The BBC. (inc The Voight Slack Diaphragm Condenser ! ?)

In 1932 Marconi-Reisz carbon mics were still in regular use but their days were already numbered.

The other day I purchased a copy of the BBC Year Book 1933 from my usual supplier (ebay). The book covers the period from October 1931 to October 1932. Inside I found an absolutely fascinating chapter on the latest  developments  in microphones and associated technology heralding the move away from the old carbon mics and  the arrival of experimental condensers and the brand new Western Electric dynamic mic. It also describes an innovative new development in the form of equalisation circuitry for correcting anomalies in the frequency response of microphones. The birth of EQ as we know it today. Exciting times!

Here below I have scanned the whole chapter.

Here is some more info about the slack diaphragm condenser

With the arrival of the iconic BBC-Marconi Type ‘A’  ribbon microphone in 1934 the somewhat unreliable condensers featured above were gradually phased out.

P.S.

The 1933 Year Book also celebrates the opening of the BBC’s fabulous new art deco London headquarters in 1932.

Vitavox Admiralty Pattern No1359 (1944 D-Day)

 

 

Whilst the BBC was broadcasting and recording many of the momentous events of World War 2 using the STC4017C, and American radio stations continued to use the original trusty Western Electric 618A, out on the high seas the British Royal Navy were issuing orders and communicating using the Vitavox Admiralty Pattern No 1359.

Because it looks very similar, I had previously thought that the Vitavox was simply a re-badged STC, but this is not the case. Having finally managed to unscrew the grills on both it is easy to see key differences.

1) The STC4017 (on the right) is very slightly larger than the Vitavox No 1359. 2) The Vitavox diaphragm is, however, a good deal larger than the STC. 3) The Vitavox has no equalising tube running from the front to the rear chamber . 4) The grill components are quite different.

CLICK HERE for Sound Clip.

The Admiralty Pattern No1359  is also mentioned in the Australian Royal Navy Fleet Orders for 1945 for use with radio & disc recording equipment. It is suggested here as an inferior alternative to the STC4021  (which has a much flatter frequency response).N.B. Coarse groove, direct cut, disc recording equipment was used extensively by broadcasters  and the military throughout WW2.

 

STC 4017-C Dead or Alive ???

My freshly unwrapped STC4017C

Bought ……. ‘sold as seen’……’not known if working’….. from a house clearance sale on ebay. This microphone was previously owned by Kenneth Chaplin, who worked for the BBC from 1935 to 1981. Question is……. will my newly purchased STC 4017-C turn out to be:-

a)  A Classicic World War 2 BBC Outside Broadcast microphone in perfect working order…………’We will fight them on the beaches’… etc etc.

OR

b) An expensive  copper paperweight/doorstop!!!

What’s your guess?   a) or b)                                                                           

All I’ve got to do now is make up a special lead and find out!!!

2 Days Later ……… To find out what happens when I plug it in  CLICK HERE!

I was going to write some technical blurb on this mic, but the information on Stan Coutant’s wonderful ‘Welcome to Microphones’ site is so comprehensive I would thoroughly recommend reading that!

http://www.coutant.org/stc4017c/index.html

Many historic 20th century broadcasts and recordings were made with the STC4017 (probably more than any other microphone) and many famous people have had their picture taken with it! Here is a great photograph of the writer George Orwell

Marlene Dietrich 1944 performing for the BBC Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme.

Here is another famous user:-

The 14 year old future Queen makes her first broadcast in 1940

More PicsLucky to find this elegant, original BBC stand for a bargain price on ebay!

Another sound clip CLICK HERE>

also

Live concert Solo violin recording

Tasty guitar clip.

STC4017-C Delivering the famous ‘Peace in Our Time’ speech. Sept 30th 1938 Chamberlain returns from Munich with agreement from Hitler!

‘Mark my words, that Adolf Hitler is a very naughty boy!’ Headmaster Neville Chamberlain Declares War on Germany 1939
P.S. I wonder why they mic’d up his right hand??

Here below are links to to more interesting information :-

war time use of the STC4017 by the BBC.

John Snagge reporting D-Day landings June 6th 1944

America Declares War on Japan. President Roosevelt’s Speech using the original  Western Electric 618a. (Same as STC4017a)

A variation of this microphone also used by the Royal Navy in the form of the Vitavox Admiralty Pattern No 1359

Following the years of wartime reporting, below a battery of  STC4017s assists in cementing the peace.  

The first session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 10 January 1946 at Central Hall in London. Here, Secretary-General Trygve, speaks at his installation ceremony. (2 February 1946) UN Photo/Marcel Bolomey