So this article strains way to hard to make the Hitler connection...Ok, it's still a good read though.
NPR has posted an article up about John Peluso, a boutique microphone manufacturer, whose not only trying to replicate the look, but also the sound of classic microphones. As a studio engineer, John worked on Sony's, AKG's, RCA's, and Neumann's, and learned quite a bit of his craft from Verner Ruvalds (a physicist responsible for the bottle mics popularized by Hitler's speeches).
Of course the article focuses on that, and it is kind of chilling to think how Nazi propaganda was tactically planned down to the micron measurements of their microphones (there's probably a lesson in there somewhere buried in our villification of history),though I can no more blame Neumann for the rise of the Nazi party than i can Volkswagen...Anywho, the actual history of this article is fascinating, and I'm seriously going to consider getting my hands on some Peluso Microphones.
Having just finished fixing up an SM56, it's kind of crazy to think that as these engineers are passing away, we're losing the knowledge to create these sounds. Kinda crazy, kinda sad...
Here's NPR's Article, and here's audio of the article.
Here's the Peluso Microphone web site.someaudioguy some audio guy microphone voice over recording vo voiceover demo production history engineering restoration vintage tv film radio broadcast
