Nod to The Legend · The inventions · Early 1930s
Harry F. Olson and the RCA 44
RCA engineer, ribbon microphone pioneer
Olson's work at RCA gave us the 44 ribbon microphone, a thin strip of metal hung in a magnetic field. Its warm figure-8 pickup defined radio, big band and crooner records.
Still heard: Ribbon mics on guitar cabs and horns, and ribbon emulations, trace back to this one.
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