The RCA Type 74-B Junior Velocity
is a bi-directional ribbon microphone.
The RCA Type 74-B “Junior Velocity”
Copyright © 2005 by Sean Brady.
Used here with permission.
Not for other publication, distribution, nor resale.
Copyright © 2005 by Sean Brady.
Used here with permission.
Not for other publication, distribution, nor resale.
This is an MI-4010-A, predecessor of the Type 74-B.
Notice the two grille screws at the top rather than at the sides, the
separate side grilles, and a stand mount that does not include a swivel.
This 74-B was auctioned for $600 on eBay in June, 2002. View a 74-B with its grilles off.
Features
- Free from objectional peaks or dips from 70 to 8,000 cycles.
- Bi-directional “figure eight” type pattern which allows placing of artists on both sides of the microphone and greatly reduces reflection pickup from side walls.
- Light weight, small size.
- Attractive appearance.
Uses
The 74-B has been widely used by broadcasters for years. It offers the smooth bi-directional response of the 44-BX in an inexpensive, small and light-weight model. The 74-B is particularly recommended for applications where the extended frequency response and more elaborate shielding and shock mounting of the 44-BX are unnecessary. It is, therefore, a very useful microphone for audition studios, announce positions, talk back and for small and occasionally used studios. It may also be used for remote pickups where the frequency response is limited by lines and other factors. While the 74-B is particularly useful for pickups from inside remote points, the Type 88-A Microphone is especially suited for general remote use. The 88-A is designed to give the greatest freedom from the effects of wind, shock and moisture.
Description
In design the Type 74-B is similar to the larger 44-BX, but lacks the latter’s shock mounting and transformer shielding. The transformer output impedance taps are for 50, 250, and 15,000 ohms. The windscreen is finished in satin chromium and the base is umber gray. Attached to the base is a ball and socket joint which permits rotation or tilting at any angle.
A new ribbon
The magnet and ribbon assembly
An educational note on the “silks”
The fabric that lines the grilles is called “silk,” but originally it was 100 per cent cotton cambric, also used across the bottoms of sofas and chairs by furniture manufacturers of that era to keep bugs and dust out. The cambric was cut to size and applied to the microphone grilles with shellac, then smoothed and worked by hand with alcohol, which kept the shellac from clogging the weave of the cambric, but allowed the cambric to stick to the metal grille. Other techniques are used today, like spray adhesive.
—Thanks to Gary Sanders and Jon Sank for this information.
Polar Response
Frequency Response
Bill Shadel covered D-Day for CBS Radio, became an ABC television anchor, and moderated the third presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon in 1960. Mr. Shadel, who worked with Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid and Howard K. Smith at CBS, later became a communications professor at the University of Washington.
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As did many American broadcast personalities of the day, Walter Cronkite lent his support to the work of the Radios. Cronkite narrated Towers of Truth, a film about Radio Free Europe’s work commissioned by the National Committee for a Free Europe in conjunction with the Crusade for Freedom fund-raising efforts.
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Brandon Chase, a disc jockey at WNLC in the fifties, also conducted interviews and did a bit of field reporting as well. He tells an interesting tale of jumping onto the caboose of a train to try and get a better recording (on a wire recorder) of Harry Truman, and being batted back off again by the secret service.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
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