MICROPHONE OF THE MONTH JUNE 2021

UPDATE 9-4-2024

My post from June 2021 should have been updated much earlier: in March 2023, Professor Stanley Coutant wrote me he had taken back posession of his site. Now it is even better than before, with audio and video tags. The link to the site is: https://coutant.org/index.html

Anyone with even the slightest interest in microphones should have a look at the site, I visit it myself often, since there is so much wonderful information to be found. It is really the best, enjoy!

Below is the original text from 2021

When I created a vintage microphone site in 2013, I certainly wasn't the first.
The two best sites, at the time, were made by Americans; James Steele and Professor Stanley Coutant.

There was a wealth of information to be found there. James Steele's (http://www.k-bay106.com/mics.htm) - 'Vintage (Classic) Broadcast Microphones' web site disappeared, after his death in 2011, only to reappear later in simpler form, via the University of Georgia, where his collection also ended up. Unfortunately, a lot of the information cannot be found or is scrambled on the new site; no longer useful for microphone fans.

The site of Professor Stanley Coutant (http://coutant.org) had a longer life. The site began in 2000, as part of Pasadena City College's 'Audio Controls Course', it grew more attractive and expanded over the years.

There was a lot to find here, especially about American microphones, but also about other professional microphones, from Europe and Russia.
The site had beautiful photos, audio samples from many microphones and also a wealth of bonus material such as advertisements and user manuals.

Unfortunately, the site disappeared in April 2021. Professor Stanley Coutant retired in August 2015, at the age of 72, after 40 wonderful years at Pasadena City College.

The site would be taken over by younger teachers, this sequel was given the name 'Audio Gear Guide' (audiogearguide.com), unfortunately it only contains a limited part of the earlier information, but does have some other extras, including videos.

Rather than highlighting one of my own microphones this month, I'd like to encourage everyone to take another look at the beautiful coutant site. This can be done via the 'Wayback machine', the online internet archive: here is the link to coutant.org enjoy!

When my book came out I sent a copy to Prof. Coutant. His comment was: "Marco, it's gorgeous!"

Many vintage microphones feature in that book, Witnesses of Words. More information about it can be found at www.witnessesofwords.com