What kind of microphone is Big Joe Turner using in this video?

[rock soderstrom]

Does anyone know this microphone? Dynamic or condenser? Manufacturer? I'm curious again

 

[thomasdf]

Kind of looks like an Altec 633a with some sort of accessory ?

Edit : https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/altec_lans_moving_coil_dynamic_microphone_633_a.html
Some apparently came with that disc.

 

[rock soderstrom]

Kind of looks like an Altec 633a with some sort of accessory ?

Edit : https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/altec_lans_moving_coil_dynamic_microphone_633_a.html
Some apparently came with that disc.

That sounds plausible, I didn't know the “Saltshaker” until now.

Here you can see some photos of the mic with and without the disc. (plus a lots of info...)

https://www.coutant.org/we633a/index.html

 

[Barry Hufker]

There have been other mics which have come with a disc (notably Schoeps). I believe it is to help the cardioid pattern.

 

[rock soderstrom]

There have been other mics which have come with a disc (notably Schoeps). I believe it is to help the cardioid pattern.

Yes, the M221 also has these disks, but we never used them back then, it looked kind of funny. The M221s were the workhorses in a studio where I had my first experiences. Incredible microphone, I once owned one myself (in the Telefunken incarnation) but then sold it in a state of mental derangement. However, it has to be said that the maintenance for these microphones is not exactly cheap due to the AC701.

 

[Barry Hufker]

Just don't burn up the AC701...

 

[rock soderstrom]

At the end, the camera moves backwards, but you can't see another microphone. Did the entire recording go through the Altec 633a? Maybe the guys had one or two microphones hanging from above that we can't see? Interesting.

 

[thomasdf]

Very large rolling boom with a ribbon mic was a common thing back in the days, for instance with a KU3A, on TV and cine sets
Most likely this is the case here, and / or maybe a few mics hanging from the top grill, out of the camera's angle.
But I doubt much more than 2 or 3 in total

 

[emrr]

That’s what they sound like. Maybe the only.

 

[Cqwet Dbdfte]

Does anyone know this microphone? Dynamic or condenser? Manufacturer? I'm curious again

I see only one mike. The horror.

 

[rock soderstrom]

That’s what they sound like. Maybe the only.

I see only one mike. The horror.

If it really was just one dynamic microphone on this recording, it sounds amazingly good and, above all, balanced. That certainly has something to do with the quality of the musicians, even the announcer grooves more than most musicians these days.

 

[Barry Hufker]

Personally I can't believe it was only one mic. There is too much presence from the horns to be picked up by a mic that is heavily blocked by the vocalist.

 

[emrr]

Oh yeah, checking out more of it and hearing the applause, there's multiple mics. It may be something like 1-2 44's up high.

 

[Paul W]

The piano is almost inaudible, even when the player is taking solo, but the upright bass isn't.

Not sure what that says about the number or placement of mics.

 

[rock soderstrom]

Oh yeah, checking out more of it and hearing the applause, there's multiple mics. I may be something like 1-2 44's up high.

The applause at the end of the clip may have been added later, as the YouTube description mentions that the original recordings were recut for a later broadcast or"theatrical releases"



The original recording was apparently made in 1954 at the legendary Apollo in Harlem. The audience shots at the end of the clip also point to this, although it serms this part was not recorded linearly like the rest (IMHO) but appears to have been added.

Inside the Apollo:

Outside:


One day I will manage to see a show there, this venue is still in operation (after a long and eventful history). For me, it's one of the holy halls, worldwide