#945118 - 06/28/00 08:40 PM
DIY Microphones
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arthur@canaveralskies.com
Senior Member
Registered: 06/18/00
Posts: 35
Loc: New York,NY,UNITED STATES
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Can anyone out there (Craig) recommend a good book/journal/link
about building microphones (more or less) from scratch?
I'm looking for information about all types of microphones,
so I guess I'll need some pretty technical stuff. But hopefully
not TOO technical; I'm no EE and my living room will be my
substitute anechoic chamber.
Although I'm no EE, but I do have a solder gun and a can of paint.
Also, I'm not afraid to build some really crappy sounding
(but hopefully interesting) mics.
Also, I'm looking for information about modifying condenser mics.
For example, I'd love to put a tube preamp stage in an NT1
to see what happens. Hopefully not my electrocution or a large
explosion!
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#945119 - 07/10/00 04:50 PM
Re: DIY Microphones
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arthur@canaveralskies.com
Senior Member
Registered: 06/18/00
Posts: 35
Loc: New York,NY,UNITED STATES
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Anyone out there? Surely (Shure-ly) someone out there
can share some of their hard-won wisdom. Think of the
warm, fuzzy feeling you'll get by helping me find info on
building warm, fuzzy microphones.
Craig?
Arthur
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#945120 - 07/11/00 03:49 AM
Re: DIY Microphones
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Anderton
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 01/28/00
Posts: 7346
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I think the process of building a mic requires really expensive machinery for machining metal to tolerances of thousandths of an inch, winding coils with wire finer than human hairs...that sort of thing.
I've done two "DIY" mic experiments. The first was taking a speaker and using it in reverse -- talking into the speaker and amplifying its output, like DJs do with headphones. The smaller and lighter the diaphragm, the better the response.
The second involved buying a condenser mic element for $2.99, putting it in a small metal box with a battery and a jack, then using a Nerf ball as a wind screen. Amazingly enough, it sounded good enough on vocals that people would ask what mic I was using!! Go figure.
For the amount of effort required to build a mic, I'd suggest just buying one! Maybe you live near a Peavey or Shure and could take a visit to see how it's done?
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#945121 - 07/11/00 01:18 PM
Re: DIY Microphones
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arthur@canaveralskies.com
Senior Member
Registered: 06/18/00
Posts: 35
Loc: New York,NY,UNITED STATES
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Craig,
Thanks for your suggestions. Of course, I've built the
speaker-wired-up-to-work-like-a-mic thing. I call mine the
Thumperator. I've found that higher than normal
impedance speakers (40 Ohms and up) speakers work best.
(Mine still sounds horrible...but in a GOOD way, I swear!)
There's an article in RECORDING this month, in fact,
that talks about this incredibly easy approach.
Of course, I also know that I could just buy a microphone for
all of the effort. But the point is, I'm interested in the effort.
I own many excellent microphones of all types. Now I want
to build some spectacularly crappy/interesting mics to
go with them. Also, I'd like to find some information
about modifying existing mics.
I'm not really interested in winding my own coils or manufacturing
my own elements, so I guess "from scratch" was misleading.
Thanks,
Arthur
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#945122 - 07/11/00 01:38 PM
Re: DIY Microphones
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JES
Senior Member
Registered: 04/02/00
Posts: 439
Loc: Montreal, PQ
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Hi,
Tape Op (no offense to EQ, but it's my favorite recording mag -- http://www.tapeop.com) did an article a few months back on building a small diaphragm condensor mic. I plan to do it. PAiA also has a kit.
Best,
--JES
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#945123 - 07/11/00 02:08 PM
Re: DIY Microphones
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arthur@canaveralskies.com
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Registered: 06/18/00
Posts: 35
Loc: New York,NY,UNITED STATES
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Thanks JES,
Yes, I've heard about this article, and I'm trying to get
my hands on that TAPE OP issue.
Arthur
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