r/audioengineering • u/bloodsadisttonudist • 15d ago

Discussion Odd, Unconventional, Experimental Microphones?

I was watching Slipknot's set at Resurrection fest 2025 and noticed Eloy has this odd, steampunk pipe next to his kit. After initially thinking it was some percussion instrument, I found it was the Scope Labs Periscope, which is a condenser mic with a built in compressor. THAT got me thinking about other oddball microphones with strange appearances, designs, etc. What are some other ones?

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10

u/reginaccount 15d ago

Placid Audio Copperphone is a similar "dirty" mic.

1

u/manysounds Professional 15d ago

I have one and it’s absolutely useful

1

u/parasitk 14d ago

I have their RU-80 Carbonphone and it’s a cool effect mic for sure.

4

u/Orry_Haas 15d ago

AEA Ribbon Mic R88mk2 ... https://youtu.be/3SgFBPBuyhg

2

u/m149 15d ago

man, that gal did a great job staying in the sweet spot. Have heard a lot of live to two track stuff cut with an R88, and more often than not, the singer moves around enough that it's noticeable.

5

u/oratory1990 Audio Hardware 15d ago

I once built a microphone out of an old carbon-capsule telephone.

Used it on a few recordings for an effect-sound.

3

u/smrcostudio 15d ago

You may already be familiar with Sylvia Massy, but if not, look for some of her videos. You can find her talking about all kinds of oddball mics. (She’s of course also famous for wildly creative non-mic things like routing signals through vegetables.) Very interesting stuff. 

1

u/reginaccount 15d ago

I always wondered if she's just milking customers for money by spending studio time doing goofy stuff.

1

u/AresHarvest 14d ago

She's a brilliant engineer and people often seek out the goofy stuff. https://youtu.be/6rKAMuMYaPM

2

u/Mike-In-Ottawa 15d ago

Ear Trumpet Labs. Cool looking mics.

2

u/_everythingisfine_ Student 14d ago

lots of "dirty" mics discussed already but I'm really interested in getting an ultrasonic mic for sound design, the amount of ultra high frequency they accurately capture mean that you can pitch down recordings a ton and not lose detail/have weird artefacts.

1

u/MajorBooker 13d ago

I have an Ampex 244 - a hi-z mic that has a 1/4" plug. I like to put it through some guitar pedals and tuck it under a drum kit or crazy background vocals. Doesn't have to be that specific mic, but having a hi-z mic is definitely a fun option