Electronics Paper

Megan George

3/3/19

History of Microphones

The history of the microphone starts with German inventor Johann Philipp Reis who, in 1861, built the Reis Telephone, a device which converted sound waves into electrical impulses- however it could only relay music, not articulate speech. The telephone was later famously improved by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 with the liquid transmitter, allowing vocal cords’ vibrations to be picked up, and speech to be recorded. However, this system had poor quality. The first microphone that projected voice well was the carbon microphone, which was created by David Edward Hughes around 1877. These microphones are the prototype of today’s mics, and they are what helped develop broadcasting and recording industries. Thomas Edison remastered the microphone into the carbon-button transmitter in 1886, a more practical and efficient substitute for Bell’s liquid transmitter. This is what was used in the first radio broadcast and was used in telephones up until the 1980s. The next big inventions were the condenser microphone in 1916 and the first moving coil microphone in 1923. Also, in 1923 came the ribbon microphone, which quickly became the standard. Then, because the film and television industry were booming, the shotgun mic was made in 1963 as a potential alternative. These two mics make up most of the common market microphones. Today, though, new microphones aren’t being invented- they’re being perfected. The microphone keeps getting improved, becoming smaller, cordless, and increasing in quality. For the future I can see mics becoming even smaller and becoming even more powerful. Perhaps one day they’ll be able to pick a certain sound out of a huge noisy crowd or hear a pin drop from the other side of a mountain. And of course, the evolution of the mic will also impact the evolution of cameras, phones, computers, and headphones. With audio commanded devices becoming more and more common, the need for better and better microphones will always be around. But no matter how the technology changes, we can be sure it’ll sound great.