OK, I can't believe I am the only person in the world who appreciates this video! I saw it 5 years ago, 3 years ago and then reviewed all ribbon mic videos on youtube during this year's vacation. I still think this video demonstrates the greatest attention to detail on construction. Well done! I hope to post one with ribbon tuning and resonant frequency. I will reference this excellent video as prior art!
I think you did an outstanding job demonstrating that ribbon mics are simple and components are relatively cheap, yet the sound is all about skill of the builder with attention to detail. Well done! Thanks you for doing this!
Thanks. The mic pre was the only other thing in the chain before it hit the A/D conversion. And that was a tube mic pre that I built, I have a video of it here on my channel...the "VP8"
Oh dude, you gotta make a vid showing us how you did that! Puh puh pleeeeeease? lol I know this was 4 years ago, and I'll scan your vids for something like that if you've already made one, but if not, I think a lot of folks would get a kick out of learning from it! I love this stuff!
What a great sounding mic, and absolutely beautiful craftsmanship. Although this isn't really DIY - with the tools and skill you have, you might as well be a manufacturer lol.
Thank you Freddy for this detailed manufacturing explanation! I noticed an important part was not referred to - the glass of Labatts Blue. I dig your ingenious 'crinkler' for the ribbon - great! You touched on and fully explained all aspects of the project - but was surprised you didn't use an f.e.t. amp. Presumably with a 1:37 step-up Xfmr this isn't necessary - and neither is phantom power! I admire your craftmanship and your voice-over explanation. To mis-quote Oscar Wilde: "To make one ribbon mic is splendid - to make two looks like sheer Stereo" Many thanks for this video!!
Set a tone generator, tighten the foil to raise, or loosen it up to lower tone. Try and match the tone generator. Be careful to not touch the foil to the magnets while plugged in. Seems like a process. Plug in, check, unplug, tighten, plug in test etc.
The human ear can only detect from 20hz to 20,000hz sounds. By tuning it to this frequency, i think... I THINK... it leaves some "breathing room" for the mic to give reasonable voltage output at low frequency, which is of course 20hz.
Your planning and design are wonderfully impressive, as well as the video itself. I'm partway through building a similar mic and am so glad I ran into your video. I happened to do several bits the same, right down to the notches in the plexiglass but you've taken some of the scare out of laying in the ribbon. Now I'm ready to proceed. Many thanks.
Yes! Me too...about a minute before, I thought "wouldn't it be cool if..." and then, knowing Freddy, figured that he'd do it that way. Awesome vid and great sound from the mic. Freddy, you keep telling people that you're no genius, but then prove yourself a liar by doing such amazing work all the time!
I just knew when video was coming to an end that freddy recorded all the audio with it. man your designs are so smooth and clean. just love it! this video deserves a double like
Fascinating build and a beautifully well-crafted mic. Nicely done. Excellent fit and finish and good warm tone. Didn't see a lot of electrical measurement, but I'd find it hard to believe this your first ribbon mic build and that you eyeballed it.
That was absolutely amazing. I imagine that the mic tensioning bit requires some trial and error for those not experienced making these. I doubt I could make one as good as yours, but I know I have some old broken mics that I may attempt experimenting with as this definitely looks like a very fun and doable project even for a beginner.
Neodymium magnets are always fun, I have a couple 1x1x1 cubes that I can barely separate. How does the strength of the magnets affect the sound of a mic like this?
Great video. The sound quality is actually very, very nice. Nice rounded tone that's not too bass mid or high heavy. Do you recommend any particular videos that show how to make this in a little more detail? thanks.
That's one serious DIY. Looks like you have accumulated a lot of helpful tools along your journey. Although I'm not listening with a pro set of speakers; that sounded great to me; perhaps a bit light on the highs, but hard to tell with just spoken words. I would have enjoyed listen to is compared to other mics. I've been experimenting with the 25 cent Electret Microphones, they are so sensitive it's scary! They pick up my voice across the room whispering.
Hey, I assume the magnets are there to generate a magnetic field, instead of hoping on luck that the ribbon doesn't touch the magnets, (which since it's coregated, if it sags over time I'd imagine it has a good chance of touching) could you use a thin piece of paper to insulate the magnets? What would it sound like?
Fantastic mate ! I am going to try and build one.The reason is I had a really old RCA mic , the ribbon looked like silk ? I really want that tone again.The old rca got sold and then given to a pop star.
really dope build! Where did you purchase the mic transformer from and is their a schematic for wiring everything up? what was the thickness of the plexiglass?
What else is in your signal chain, sir? This is an impressive build, and the sound of the mic is wonderfully clean. Usually when I think "ribbon", I think "dark"; that doesn't seem the case with your mic at all. Well done.
Hi...awesome video, I had a mike i broke and your video inspired me to go redo/repair my microphone, however i'm having difficulty finding the Aluminium sheet. Any help you can render me there???
I got the same build plans called AUSTIN Ribbon Microphone from rick wilkinson (rickshawrecords at yahoo) years ago. It's a fun build with some challenges. Namely, your own breath when working with the aluminum leaf. I had to pull my shirt up over my nose for that step until I had the motor safely installed in the housing. Pop filters ar critical to keep from blowing out the ribbon. Back then, donor bodies were harder to come by, so the plans described the entire build including the body made from brass pipe, cap and brass mesh. Fastening the motor needed brass screws to stop the risk of having the screw pulled into the motor during assembly by those strong magnets. Also other ferrus metals in the body may affect the magnetic field and possibly color the sound. Nice build.
Excellent presentation, fun to watch ! I made a ribbon mic. like this back in the early 1970s I used transistor radio output transformer, 3.2 ohms into 500 ohms, it worked great ! Bill P.
a good transformer like the Lundahl you used is realy the key of good sound, it's suppres all the noise, Cinemag also do good transformer for that kind, we can also found good 3D print stuff for making the magnet support, im thinking about doing myself that kind of mic.
Oh man, that´s very, very good indeed. I only recently bought a pair of ribbon mics for my studio ( sE X1R) and got the best sound ever on my guitar amps (Fender HotRod Deluxe and Vox AC30) If I´d known you were making them I would have ordered them from you, hahaha! God Bless
Super job, man! I had a feeling you were going to say it was the mic you were using. Ha! Niiiice! Sounds very good. I should add that you voice over chops are really good as well.
This is really good man, 10/10.. Can i ask if you did any post production on the recording though? I listened back through my DT150's and the mic sounds a little squashed and slightly distorted. wondered if that that compression or anything?
I think I'm going to get one built :) might be pretty nice for recording my acoustic. Also going to build a nice condenser, would be great if you stuck u a tut for condenser building.
+Anthony Higham I imagine they're attracted to each other based on how the separator he put between them stayed without any adhesive and just slipped out after each magnet was glued onto the plexiglass frame.
one more question... Do the magnets have to be straight or could you use curved magnets like scrapped ones from inside an old hard drive? Obviously the magnet holder would have to be different.
This is so awesome! Been watching your vids for a while now and am always blown away by your seeminly endless talents! Lol. I have a question about painting guitars (maybe irrelevant to this particular vid but alas) I'm actually trying to build a replica of Alex's red strat from the Distant Early Warning vid. Got the floyd and everything. I was wondering what the best type of paint to use? (relatively cheap and easy way being a poor college student) Thanks and keep up the amazing work!
Thank you for sharing this! Very explicit tutorial. I may try now after seeing the video. I was thinking about doing it a long time ago but I thought that it's going to be very hard. Now you made a BIG light in my hed :D.
Excellent. I thank you very much. I thnk I will make the support in plywood, because the Plexiglass here costs a fortune. May I ask you also where to find the Alu leaf please?
This was really awesome. :) Thanks for showing this. Dunno if I could make one (since I lack a lot of the tools that you used), but the first chance I get: I'm going to try. Cool video, cool outcome, just--cool!
dear, congratulations how are you? good job, where can i find the components to built? included the ribbon? i´m a home enthusiastic, i have no experience and industrial engines, could i do? please clear me where can i find this ribbon tape or improvise a one, thanks!
Man, you kinda blew my mind. I was thinking the whole time during this video, "what will it sound like? What would it sound like on an acoustic guitar? nice job.
OK, I can't believe I am the only person in the world who appreciates this video! I saw it 5 years ago, 3 years ago and then reviewed all ribbon mic videos on youtube during this year's vacation. I still think this video demonstrates the greatest attention to detail on construction. Well done! I hope to post one with ribbon tuning and resonant frequency. I will reference this excellent video as prior art!
I think you did an outstanding job demonstrating that ribbon mics are simple and components are relatively cheap, yet the sound is all about skill of the builder with attention to detail. Well done! Thanks you for doing this!
Nice reveal at the end ;-). Great video.
Instablaster
omg what a twist at the end haha ! love the vid
Yeah, it is crazy how good it sounds!
At the 5:37 mark the ribbon is clamped in. It's done with a small strips of fibreglass PC board material and two bolts on each end.
That is a nice sounding mic
+Declan Duff Thanks for the comment!
sell me one for really cheap please
+Declan Duff haha....make it yourself....I know of a youtube video that shows you how!
+FreddysFrets touchè im not so good at crafting stuff though, unless it involves a guitar
It's a ribbon mic. They require no power. But you do need a mic preamp with lots of clean gain because ribbons typically have a very low output.
22 dB Clean
And that's why transformers are so important ❤️
Thanks. The mic pre was the only other thing in the chain before it hit the A/D conversion.
And that was a tube mic pre that I built, I have a video of it here on my channel...the "VP8"
I tuned the ribbon tension using a frequency generator. Resonance target = 30hz.
Oh dude, you gotta make a vid showing us how you did that! Puh puh pleeeeeease? lol
I know this was 4 years ago, and I'll scan your vids for something like that if you've already made one, but if not, I think a lot of folks would get a kick out of learning from it! I love this stuff!
Awesome! This video had a better twist than MIB3.
What a great sounding mic, and absolutely beautiful craftsmanship.
Although this isn't really DIY - with the tools and skill you have, you might as well be a manufacturer lol.
Thank you Freddy for this detailed manufacturing explanation! I noticed an important part was not referred to - the glass of Labatts Blue. I dig your ingenious 'crinkler' for the ribbon - great! You touched on and fully explained all aspects of the project - but was surprised you didn't use an f.e.t. amp. Presumably with a 1:37 step-up Xfmr this isn't necessary - and neither is phantom power! I admire your craftmanship and your voice-over explanation. To mis-quote Oscar Wilde: "To make one ribbon mic is splendid - to make two looks like sheer Stereo" Many thanks for this video!!
you are a true artist; an art is a science with more than seven variables!!!!absolutely perfect!!!
so cool... I'm guessing the quality of the materials and precise construction,
reflects the quality of the sound...
sounds Great...
I was listening to this on my DIY Ribbon tweeter
Thanks to everyone for the positive comments! I had a lot of fun with this project.
"I tuned the ribbon tension using a frequency generator. Resonance target = 30hz."
Could you please explain that a bit more?
obvs the answer is "no".
Set a tone generator, tighten the foil to raise, or loosen it up to lower tone. Try and match the tone generator. Be careful to not touch the foil to the magnets while plugged in. Seems like a process. Plug in, check, unplug, tighten, plug in test etc.
The human ear can only detect from 20hz to 20,000hz sounds. By tuning it to this frequency, i think... I THINK... it leaves some "breathing room" for the mic to give reasonable voltage output at low frequency, which is of course 20hz.
didnt expect it to sound that good!
Your a genius with your mind and hands ... and a giant with your generosity in sharing your talents
Your planning and design are wonderfully impressive, as well as the video itself. I'm partway through building a similar mic and am so glad I ran into your video. I happened to do several bits the same, right down to the notches in the plexiglass but you've taken some of the scare out of laying in the ribbon. Now I'm ready to proceed. Many thanks.
That was probably the best thing iv'e seen all week.
Yes! Me too...about a minute before, I thought "wouldn't it be cool if..." and then, knowing Freddy, figured that he'd do it that way.
Awesome vid and great sound from the mic. Freddy, you keep telling people that you're no genius, but then prove yourself a liar by doing such amazing work all the time!
I just knew when video was coming to an end that freddy recorded all the audio with it. man your designs are so smooth and clean. just love it! this video deserves a double like
You are beyond clever! The design, skill in making and the quality of the explanation. AND you play guitar.
Fascinating build and a beautifully well-crafted mic. Nicely done. Excellent fit and finish and good warm tone. Didn't see a lot of electrical measurement, but I'd find it hard to believe this your first ribbon mic build and that you eyeballed it.
Wow ! I'm amazed and impressed ! How about a smaller stereo ribbon mic for D5100.... mmmm wonder would that work ?
That was absolutely amazing. I imagine that the mic tensioning bit requires some trial and error for those not experienced making these. I doubt I could make one as good as yours, but I know I have some old broken mics that I may attempt experimenting with as this definitely looks like a very fun and doable project even for a beginner.
sounds very good! I wonder how would it sound with different spacing and/or materials.
Thanks for the video.
Nice instructional video. Concise and well done. Microphone
sounds great.
Thanks! You could try reranch spray cans. I use them sometimes and you can get totally pro results with them.
Where did you get this foil?
This is really brilliant! Well done! And the video itself was perfect!
+Curt Vincent Thanks for the comment!
Making stuff is always cool.... and satisfying.
Neodymium magnets are always fun, I have a couple 1x1x1 cubes that I can barely separate. How does the strength of the magnets affect the sound of a mic like this?
Great video. The sound quality is actually very, very nice. Nice rounded tone that's not too bass mid or high heavy. Do you recommend any particular videos that show how to make this in a little more detail? thanks.
That's one serious DIY. Looks like you have accumulated a lot of helpful tools along your journey.
Although I'm not listening with a pro set of speakers; that sounded great to me; perhaps a bit light on the highs, but hard to tell with just spoken words. I would have enjoyed listen to is compared to other mics. I've been experimenting with the 25 cent Electret Microphones, they are so sensitive it's scary! They pick up my voice across the room whispering.
Hey, I assume the magnets are there to generate a magnetic field, instead of hoping on luck that the ribbon doesn't touch the magnets, (which since it's coregated, if it sags over time I'd imagine it has a good chance of touching) could you use a thin piece of paper to insulate the magnets? What would it sound like?
Woa, the twist at the end was great haha
and I'm loving the Rush Sector box set in the background ;)
It's a downright beautiful and caring build! And your Twist At the end Makes the Video all the more worthwhile
Graham, you are very kind with your comment. Thank you!
I have heard that metal film from capacitors will work but I guess it depends on how thick it is.
Fantastic mate ! I am going to try and build one.The reason is I had a really old RCA mic , the ribbon looked like silk ? I really want that tone again.The old rca got sold and then given to a pop star.
does it matter how many "ripples" are in between the ribbon holders? and how does it affect the sound captured?
really dope build! Where did you purchase the mic transformer from and is their a schematic for wiring everything up? what was the thickness of the plexiglass?
What a twist!
Keep em coming Freddy, especially the handcraft ones, and I'll keep watching em and thumbing them up! :-)
Hey Freddy! how did you figure out what tension works best for you? Did you have to tune it to some specs or..?
thank you!
Wow...I love the "O'Henry" ending. So cool. An amazing video by an obvious inventor of skill and promise.
What else is in your signal chain, sir? This is an impressive build, and the sound of the mic is wonderfully clean. Usually when I think "ribbon", I think "dark"; that doesn't seem the case with your mic at all. Well done.
One of the best tutes i've seen, for a sophisticated device. Well done!
The home made cogs to crinkle the ribbon is mindblowing. How do you judge the tension? Thanks for such an inspiring video.
Man.! This is awesome.! The mic sounds very nice, with presence and bright, nice middles and very clear voice and not humming
Hi...awesome video, I had a mike i broke and your video inspired me to go redo/repair my microphone, however i'm having difficulty finding the Aluminium sheet. Any help you can render me there???
Nice video!
Is the microphone phantom safe, or is the ribbon fried by the 48 volts?
Sweet job. I've modded cheap Nady RSM-1 and RSM-4 ribbon mics in a similar way and am very happy with the results.
Great DIY work! Nice job!
Great video! What kind of wire / gauge do you use to wire the transformer? Thanks!
What an incredible build and the plot twist at the end was amazing. Keep it up!
I got the same build plans called AUSTIN Ribbon Microphone from rick wilkinson (rickshawrecords at yahoo) years ago. It's a fun build with some challenges. Namely, your own breath when working with the aluminum leaf. I had to pull my shirt up over my nose for that step until I had the motor safely installed in the housing. Pop filters ar critical to keep from blowing out the ribbon. Back then, donor bodies were harder to come by, so the plans described the entire build including the body made from brass pipe, cap and brass mesh. Fastening the motor needed brass screws to stop the risk of having the screw pulled into the motor during assembly by those strong magnets. Also other ferrus metals in the body may affect the magnetic field and possibly color the sound. Nice build.
Good point about the brass screws!!
Excellent presentation, fun to watch !
I made a ribbon mic. like this back in the early 1970s I used transistor radio output transformer, 3.2 ohms into 500 ohms, it worked great !
Bill P.
This is so cool! I love ribbon mics and yours sounds amazing. And this is just fun to watch!
a good transformer like the Lundahl you used is realy the key of good sound, it's suppres all the noise, Cinemag also do good transformer for that kind, we can also found good 3D print stuff for making the magnet support, im thinking about doing myself that kind of mic.
Nice Fred!
How did you put the tension on the ribbon?
This is sweet, where did you get the magnets?
Oh man, that´s very, very good indeed. I only recently bought a pair of ribbon mics for my studio ( sE X1R) and got the best sound ever on my guitar amps (Fender HotRod Deluxe and Vox AC30) If I´d known you were making them I would have ordered them from you, hahaha! God Bless
i used to thrilled when you said how it sound then you told me that the rest video use this as voice-over. Amazing!!!!
Super job, man! I had a feeling you were going to say it was the mic you were using. Ha! Niiiice! Sounds very good. I should add that you voice over chops are really good as well.
Out of curiosity, what keeps the ribbon in place?
nice video, well done. I learned a lot about ribbon mics! Keep up the great work!
This is really good man, 10/10.. Can i ask if you did any post production on the recording though? I listened back through my DT150's and the mic sounds a little squashed and slightly distorted. wondered if that that compression or anything?
Thanks Guy!
Post? I can't remember exactly but no doubt I EQed and compressed.
I think I'm going to get one built :) might be pretty nice for recording my acoustic. Also going to build a nice condenser, would be great if you stuck u a tut for condenser building.
Great vid! It sounds like the mic has a very natural and flat frequency response.
Ha! I liked the little surprise at the end! I didn't expect the quality to be that good! Well made :)
what are the dimensions of the magnet? and which way is it polarized in respect to the ribbon?
+Anthony Higham I imagine they're attracted to each other based on how the separator he put between them stayed without any adhesive and just slipped out after each magnet was glued onto the plexiglass frame.
Thanks, good observation.
one more question...
Do the magnets have to be straight or could you use curved magnets like scrapped ones from inside an old hard drive? Obviously the magnet holder would have to be different.
I dare say you could simply attach a couple of ex-HDD magnets to the polar pieces for those are high Gauss magnets
Freddy, you never fail to impress me with your videos. I truly enjoyed this one. You should be hired to build gadgets for the next 007 movie....
This is so awesome! Been watching your vids for a while now and am always blown away by your seeminly endless talents! Lol. I have a question about painting guitars (maybe irrelevant to this particular vid but alas) I'm actually trying to build a replica of Alex's red strat from the Distant Early Warning vid. Got the floyd and everything. I was wondering what the best type of paint to use? (relatively cheap and easy way being a poor college student) Thanks and keep up the amazing work!
Had a feeling that the end would be as I suspected. Good work!
Can you give us a link to the magnets you used? ~Thanks
+TechGuy756 www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BY042SH
+FreddysFrets Thanks!
The gap between the magnets is exactly 1/4". The ribbon is 7/32" wide.
Excellent editing and presentation. No dead time.
I am impressed with the sound quality of this mic! Good work!
Curious; why not mill a couple of protruding 'stops' in the ends of your plexi to help keep the magnets spaced apart?
Great mic. And a surprise at the end too.
Awesome work! Sounds great too, thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this! Very explicit tutorial. I may try now after seeing the video. I was thinking about doing it a long time ago but I thought that it's going to be very hard. Now you made a BIG light in my hed :D.
Excellent. I thank you very much.
I thnk I will make the support in plywood, because the Plexiglass here costs a fortune.
May I ask you also where to find the Alu leaf please?
Very cool ! All yours vids are a pleasure to watch. Greetings from France !
Great ability you have there and a very natural sounding mic at the end of it. Sounds as nice as my se1's, well played sir! Subscribed.
Wow! The video recordings from the actual mic? It's great quality! I thought it was a condenser mic or something!
Dude! You’re the plot-twist king! Great video man!
I loved this video, esteemed Freddy. And that microphone is a marvel! Alas, I couldn't find your clip on the VP8. Did you take it down?
THE BEST GUITAR/AUDIO/MUSIC VIDEOS!!! thx fred
Great info and video., well done. Awesome job with the mic, sounds GREAT!
This was really awesome. :) Thanks for showing this. Dunno if I could make one (since I lack a lot of the tools that you used), but the first chance I get: I'm going to try. Cool video, cool outcome, just--cool!
Woooow, that's really amazing! Also it sounds really nice! Wonderful work!
dear, congratulations how are you? good job, where can i find the components to built? included the ribbon?
i´m a home enthusiastic, i have no experience and industrial engines, could i do?
please clear me where can i find this ribbon tape or improvise a one, thanks!
Hey Freddy, thank you very much on this fantastic instructional video!
Very thorough.
Happy new year to you Sir!
Mark G
Oh microphonesmith!
You are my new hero.
Excellent video
Nice video! thanks! ,, I wonder, what would happen if the ribbon is touching the magnet? it wont have any sound at all?
Man, you kinda blew my mind. I was thinking the whole time during this video, "what will it sound like? What would it sound like on an acoustic guitar? nice job.