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Frank Olson’s wooden ribbon microphone takes inspiration from the RCA Model 77, but its defining feature is an acoustic labyrinth cast from epoxy resin. The winding passage—reported by Hackaday as over one meter long—helps explain how the DIY build is intended to create a cardioid pickup pattern.
What is the wooden microphone?
It is Frank Olson’s DIY wooden microphone inspired by the RCA Model 77, not an original RCA product. Hackaday’s May 17, 2022 feature describes a ribbon-microphone build combining a wood-built ribbon motor, an epoxy labyrinth and a wood-veneer outer shell shaped to evoke the original microphone’s pill-like windscreen. Read the Hackaday feature.
How does the acoustic labyrinth work?
Hackaday describes the Model 77’s pickup as cardioid: it is directional, with strongest pickup from the front. In the design described, the labyrinth lengthens the route that sound waves travel before reaching the ribbon motor. That extended path is the acoustic feature associated with the microphone’s directionality.
The labyrinth is a solid block containing parallel tunnels. Neighboring tunnels connect at alternating ends, forcing sound to follow a winding route rather than pass straight through. Hackaday reports that the resulting acoustic path is over one meter long; this is a dimension reported in the build article, not an independently verified measurement.
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How was the labyrinth made?
- Form a mold. Olson used heavy paper to make a mold for the labyrinth block.
- Cast the tunnel structure. He poured epoxy resin into the mold to create a cylinder containing parallel tunnels.
- Connect the passages alternately. The tops and bottoms of neighboring tunnels link in alternating fashion, creating the winding acoustic route.
- Assemble the microphone. The wood-built ribbon motor sits at the labyrinth output, beneath the wood-veneer shell.
The article does not specify the resin formulation, brand, quantity or other material recommendations, so it does not establish which particular casting epoxy to use.
What does the build sound like?
Hackaday’s article includes a construction video narrated using Olson’s microphone and describes the finished microphone as looking and sounding good. That is a qualitative impression, not a controlled audio evaluation. The feature provides no measured frequency response, sensitivity or noise figures, and no comparison establishing performance parity with an original RCA Model 77.
Rank #2
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How does this build relate to Olson’s other microphones?
The feature also points to Olson’s wooden Model 44 replica and BK-5-like microphones made for drum-kit recording. They illustrate related builds, but Hackaday provides no head-to-head specifications or objective comparative audio measurements.
Quick Recap
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