Editing Microphone (section)

==History==
In order to speak to larger groups of people, a need arose to increase the volume of the human voice. The earliest devices used to achieve this were acoustic megaphones.  Some of the first examples, from fifth-century-BC Greece, were theater masks with horn-shaped mouth openings that acoustically amplified the voice of actors in [[amphitheater]]s.<ref name="Montgomery1959" /> In 1665, the English physicist [[Robert Hooke]] was the first to experiment with a medium other than air with the invention of the "[[lovers' telephone]]" made of stretched wire with a cup attached at each end.<ref>{{cite web |last=McVeigh |first=Daniel |date=2000 |title=An Early History of the Telephone: 1664–1866: Robert Hooke's Acoustic Experiments and Acoustic Inventions |url=http://oceanofk.org/telephone/html/part1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030903082530/http://www.oceanofk.org/telephone/html/part1.html |archive-date=September 3, 2003 }}</ref>

In 1856, Italian inventor [[Antonio Meucci]] developed a dynamic microphone based on the generation of electric current by moving a coil of wire to various depths in a magnetic field. This method of modulation was also the most enduring method for the technology of the telephone as well. Speaking of his device, Meucci wrote in 1857, "It consists of a vibrating diaphragm and an electrified magnet with a spiral wire that wraps around it. The vibrating diaphragm alters the current of the magnet. These alterations of current, transmitted to the other end of the wire, create analogous vibrations of the receiving diaphragm and reproduce the word."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lander |first=Jack |date=July 1, 2017 |title=Who Invented the Telephone? |url=https://www.inventorsdigest.com/articles/who-invented-the-telephone/ |website=Inventors Digest |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201222318/https://www.inventorsdigest.com/articles/who-invented-the-telephone/ |archive-date=December 1, 2022 }}</ref>

In 1861, German inventor [[Johann Philipp Reis]] built an early sound transmitter (the "[[Reis telephone]]") that used a metallic strip attached to a vibrating membrane that would produce intermittent current. Better results were achieved in 1876 with the "[[#Liquid|liquid transmitter]]" design in early telephones from [[Alexander Graham Bell]] and [[Elisha Gray]] – the diaphragm was attached to a conductive rod in an acid solution.<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacLeod |first=Elizabeth |date=1999 |title=Alexander Graham Bell: An Inventive Life |publisher=Kids Can Press |location=Toronto }}</ref> These systems, however, gave a very poor sound quality.

[[File:David Edward Hughes.jpg|thumb|upright|[[David Edward Hughes]] invented a [[carbon microphone]] in the 1870s.]]

The first microphone that enabled proper voice telephony was the (loose-contact) [[carbon microphone]]. This was independently developed by [[David Edward Hughes]] in England and [[Emile Berliner]] and [[Thomas Edison]] in the US. Although Edison was awarded the first patent in mid-1877 (after a long legal dispute), Hughes had demonstrated his working device in front of many witnesses some years earlier, and most historians credit him with its invention.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e9wEntQmA0IC |title=Oliver Heaviside: The Life, Work, and Times of an Electrical Genius of the Victorian Age |first=Paul J. |last=Nahin |author-link=Paul J. Nahin |date=2002 |publisher=JHU Press |page=67 |isbn=9780801869099 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://telephonecollecting.org/DavidHughes.html |first=Bob |last=Estreich |title=David Edward Hughes |access-date=December 30, 2013 |archive-date=November 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101192223/http://telephonecollecting.org/DavidHughes.html }}</ref><ref name="Huurdeman 2003" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/274915/David-Hughes |title=David Hughes |access-date=December 17, 2012 }}</ref> The Berliner microphone found commercial success through the use by Alexander Graham Bell for his telephone and Berliner became employed by Bell.<ref>Wile, Frederic Willam 1926 Emile Berliner: Maker of the Microphone, The Bobbs-Merrill Company Publishers, Indianapolis</ref> The carbon microphone was critical in the development of telephony, broadcasting and the recording industries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.angloconcertina.org/files/HughesforWebsite.pdf |title=David Edward Hughes: Concertinist and Inventor |access-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000041/http://www.angloconcertina.org/files/HughesforWebsite.pdf |archive-date=December 31, 2013 }}</ref> Thomas Edison refined the carbon microphone into his carbon-button transmitter of 1886.<ref name="Huurdeman 2003" /><ref name="Robjohns 2001" /> This microphone was employed at the first radio broadcast ever, a performance at the New York [[Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)|Metropolitan Opera House]] in 1910.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schwertly |first=Scott |title=The History of the Microphone |url=https://ethos3.com/the-history-of-the-microphone/ |website=Ethos3.com |access-date=May 9, 2023 }}</ref>

[[File:Bogart Bacall AFRS.jpg|thumb|left|[[Humphrey Bogart]], Jack Brown, and [[Lauren Bacall]] with RCA Varacoustic MI-6203 ribbon microphones broadcast to troops overseas during World War II.]]

In 1916, E.C. Wente of Western Electric developed the next breakthrough with the first [[#Condenser microphone|condenser microphone]].<ref>Fagen, M.D. A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System: The Early Years (1875–1925). New York: Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1975</ref> In 1923, the first practical moving coil microphone was built. The Marconi-Sykes magnetophone, developed by [[H. J. Round|Captain H. J. Round]], became the standard for [[BBC]] studios in London.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hennessy |first=Brian |date=2005 |title=The Emergence of Broadcasting in Britain |publisher=Southerleigh |isbn=9780955140808 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Marconi-Sykes Magnetophone |url=http://www.coutant.org/magnetophone/ |access-date=June 18, 2018 }}</ref> This was improved in 1930 by [[Alan Blumlein]] and Herbert Holman who released the HB1A and was the best standard of the day.<ref name="Robjohns 2001" />

Also in 1923, the [[ribbon microphone]] was introduced, another electromagnetic type, believed to have been developed by [[Harry F. Olson]], who applied the concept used in a [[ribbon speaker]] to making a microphone.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=1931 Harry F. Olson and Les Anderson, RCA Model 44 Ribbon Microphone |url=http://mixonline.com/TECnology-Hall-of-Fame/olson-anderson-rca-090106/ |magazine=[[Mix Magazine]] |date=September 1, 2006 |access-date=April 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324111751/http://mixonline.com/TECnology-Hall-of-Fame/olson-anderson-rca-090106 |archive-date=March 24, 2008 }}</ref> Over the years these microphones were developed by several companies, most notably RCA that made large advancements in pattern control, to give the microphone directionality. With television and film technology booming there was a demand for high-fidelity microphones and greater directionality. [[Electro-Voice]] responded with their [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]]-winning [[shotgun microphone]] in 1963.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kahn |first=Al |date=1953 |title=Time Capsule: History of Electro-Voice |url=http://www.prosoundweb.com/install/commentary/kc/ev/timecapsule.shtml |website=ProSoundWeb.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212141555/http://www.prosoundweb.com/install/commentary/kc/ev/timecapsule.shtml |archive-date=December 12, 2008 |access-date=February 14, 2023 }}</ref>

During the second half of the 20th century, development advanced quickly with the [[Shure Brothers]] bringing out the [[Shure SM58|SM58]] and [[Shure SM57|SM57]].<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Shure Americas |url=http://www.shure.com/americas/about-shure/history |title=History – The evolution of an audio revolution |access-date=April 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915095300/http://www.shure.com/americas/about-shure/history |archive-date=September 15, 2012 }}</ref>