Do you need a ribbon microphone?

There has been a great deal of renewed interest in ribbon microphones lately, which has resulted in many manufactures (Rode, SE Electronics, Audio Technica etc) joining the race to release new models.

So why would you want to buy one, after all, aren't they old technology inferior to modern mic's?

Artur Fisher's superb RM-5. A hand made ribbon mic from Latvia.

We are currently preparing 2 videos on ribbon mic's, but whilst you're waiting for them to be published, here's some food for thought.

1. Before the 1950s, all microphones were ribbons, but the invention of the capacitor (condenser) microphone, with its superior bandwidth made them largely obsolete. However, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley and Billie Holiday all made classic recordings with ribbon mic's.

2. They are mechanically simple, you can even make your own, or buy a kit to make one.

3. Despite huge price differences, many ribbon microphones sound incredibly similar, perhaps because they basic mechanical design of the ribbon motor is the same.

4. They have a pronounced bass lift proximity character which means they often cannot be used close to a source, but are ideal to thicken thin sounds.

5. Almost all have a figure of eight polar pattern, which means unless you are recording in a dead space, you hear a lot of room ambience, especially as because of the proximity effect, you may not be able to place the mic close to the source.

6. They are capable of a smooth or flat frequency response up to 15kHz, over which their sensitivity drops dramatically. They can therefore sound duller than a capacitor mic, so it is perhaps unsurprising that many engineers favour them for mic'ing sources without hi-frequency content such as brass and guitar combos and cabs.

A popular ribbon mic'ing application

Like all mic's, ribbons have their own unique character, so rather than thinking of them as an replacement for other mic's, you may want to add one to an existing collection of dynamic and capacitor mice. Choice and experimentation is always good.

However, for most applications, unless you have an acoustically controlled space,  you will want to achieve a dry sound, which means a recording booth or non-reflective room environment will be essential. Without them you find a ribbon microphone almost unusable.

Thanks for reading
FairFax