Top 10 Aussie Sopranos

By Roger Neil Someone started a thread on the unofficial BBC Radio 3 message boards asking for nominations for the top ten sopranos. It seemed to me that the emerging lists were filled with the usual suspects, and since I’m currently in the process (with Tony Locantro) of finishing up a 4 x CD setContinue reading “Top 10 Aussie Sopranos”

Recording Pioneers- Part 1

Emile Berliner 1851 – 1921 “The key to victory is never-ending application” -Emile Berliner Name: Emile Berliner Born: 20 May 1851 Resident: Born in Hanover in Germany, immigrated to the United States as a young man of only 19 in 1870 Occupation: Recording sound mastermind Loves: His wife and family, inventing, campaigning for better health standardsContinue reading “Recording Pioneers- Part 1”

A Whisper That Roars

By Wayne Shevlin I’d like to celebrate the microphone and the revolutionary impact it has had on music. As technology, the microphone is a marvel: converting into electricity the invisible, minute air pressure waves – what we in our mind’s ear perceive as sound – so that the very essence of sound can be capturedContinue reading “A Whisper That Roars”

(Another) Welshman invents electromechanical device that converts sound into an electrical signal & calls it mic not dave.

He doesn’t look very happy in this picture, but this is David E. Hughes, former child prodigy harpist turned inventor who was a very successful and significant man. He was born 180 years ago yesterday. Hughes was a contemporary of Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell and paddled in the same new technology waters asContinue reading “(Another) Welshman invents electromechanical device that converts sound into an electrical signal & calls it mic not dave.”

More royal microphones

Following on from our first blog item below about the microphone used in the new film The Kings Speech and in response to the huge correspondence that the blog item stirred up (well I had one email about it), here are some more of the royal microphones held by the EMI Group Archive Trust. TwoContinue reading “More royal microphones”

The real star of The King’s Speech

A major new film opens today, January 7th 2011, in the UK. The King’s Speech is tipped to win a gong or two in the upcoming awards season; possibly even Best Picture at The Oscars. It tells the story of King George VI who suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life and the efforts ofContinue reading “The real star of The King’s Speech”