[linux-audio-user] Re: Companies Refusing to Release/Permit Linux Drivers

[Gene Heskett]

On Sunday 19 March 2006 04:42, Wolfgang Woehl wrote:
>Gene Heskett <gene.heskett at verizon.net>:
>> I took one of them once to go record the SUI Scottish
>> Hilanders bagpipe band, but it was raining so we all
>> retired into a 20x40 quonset hut. With the sound of about
>> 15 bagpipes all focused at the center of that thing by the
>> rounded roof, I plugged that mic into the line input on a
>> pretty good tandberg tape recorder that could do 15 ips,
>> and had to leave the line gain control down at about 1.5 on
>> a 0-10 scale.  I think my tinnitus & carhart notches
>> started then.  But I also got some quite usable recordings
>> they used as promo's for quite a while.
>
>Aha, so the scottish run from rain :)

I dunno, these were the usual corn fed Iowa girls where we grew 'em 
right if you get my drift.  I doubt if rain would have melted thier 
sugar, but it might have damaged the bagpipes & sheet music.  I was 
only paying attention to the recording levels and the girl with the set 
of 42FF's.  The rest were just 38D's, average for Iowa girls. What can 
I say, I was 22 and still single then. :)

>You happen to have an url for a picture of the Altec M-21
>somewhere? Can't find one myself. Love to read your stories
>and recollections, Gene.

I'm afraid its been out of production for at least 40 years now.  Its 
cable was specially made, with maybe a decades worth of usefull life in 
it at best.  So I doubt many of them survive in anything but museum 
settings now.  It was shaped somewhat like a miniature baseball bat, 
with the element in the knob on the end of the handle, and the vacuum 
tube in the fat end.  It was the 'gold standard' in its day, selling 
for about $600 1960 dollars.

We have some decent mic's today, but I have doubts the best of the 
conniaughts or nieumen's (spelling for both there) can handle the pure 
sound pressures with the accuracy that it could.  Rated 20-18khz +-2db 
I think, unheard of performance back then.  Some didn't like it because 
it didn't 'sweeten up' their voices like their pet mic's could.  I 
always held it in considerable awe after that experience.  I also held 
the cable up as pretty good too after the governor rolled it under his 
foot for 45 minutes while giving a speech one day without hurting it.

-- 
Cheers, Gene
People having trouble with vz bouncing email to me should add the word
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Copyright 2006 by Maurice Eugene Heskett, all rights reserved.