![]() Of course, back in the days when the original M50 came out they didn’t have consoles like we have now, so the idea of just sticking up one stand with one microphone on it was a very elegant and easy way to work.ĪT: Of course! You’ve placed them about a metre behind the conductor. It means you don’t have to put lots of mics out and mix them. My understanding is that the original M50 was designed to be a single omnidirectional microphone to stick over a conductor’s head that would cover the whole orchestra in a typical German broadcast studio. That means they have ‘reach’.ĪT: So an instrument that is further away but on axis, such as a clarinet in an orchestra, will be captured with roughly the same tonal balance as an instrument that is closer but off-axis, such as the first violin? TF: Yep, so the effect of the sphere is that they’re omnidirectional at the lowest frequencies - probably 15 to 20 Hertz - but as you go up in frequency they become more directional they’re cardioid-ish somewhere around 1kHz, and then they go hypercardioid above that. TF: The main mics for this recording are the prototype tube mics - the temporary working title is the TFM50 but that’s just an internal bit of a laugh!ĪT: Are they like the classic M50s with the diaphragm mounted on a sphere? If you then translate that into Latin you end up with ‘Anima Eterna’ - ‘Eternal Spirit’ - which is a nice little play on words, but also very appropriate because there is an eternal spirit in the Beethoven piece we’re recording tonight.ĪT: What microphones are you using to record it? It’s a musical United Nations!Īpparently if you translate the conductor’s name from the old Flemish, ‘immer’ means ‘forever’ and ‘seel’ means spirit or soul. The Australian Brandenburg Choir is performing choral duties. The conductor is Jos van Immerseel, and there are soloists from Norway, Sweden, Australia, America and Flanders. They perform on period instruments and try to recreate an authentic experience, as it would have been performed when the pieces were composed. TF: It’s an orchestra called Anima Eterna Brugge, from Flanders, Belgium. It has inspired so many people, and the message in the words and in the poetry is just… Well, it’s a great work. TF: It’s Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, which, for a lot of people, is the greatest symphony ever written. Leave the vintage microphones for the collectors.ĪT: As part of the process of finalising the work on these new microphones, you’re using them to record a concert at the Sydney Opera House. Modern microphones are much more sensible for a practical engineer. Also, the power supplies are a pain in the neck and so are the connectors - those old Tuchel connectors and things like them don’t last you only have to stand on them once or tug on them once and they fail. TF: Well… There’s the price of replacement tubes if they go wrong. Røde saw it as a challenge to come up with a microphone that had similar characteristics - the characteristics that most of us like about those old microphones - but without the grief associated with using them. ![]() I worked for quite a long time with Peter Freedman on the NTR ribbon, and I’ve always had a fascination with valve omnis like Neumann’s M50. Tony Faulkner: I’m here to finalise work I’ve been doing with Røde on some new microphone models. ![]() AudioTechnology: What brings you to Australia, Tony? ![]()
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