Historical
Presenter:
Michael Pettersen, Shure Inc. - Niles, IL, USA
Benjamin B. Bauer (1913-1979) held over 100 patents for acoustical/audio technology, with his first patent, at age 25, being arguably the most significant: invention of the Uniphase principle integral to the Shure Unidyne model 55 microphone. Introduced in 1939 and still manufactured today, the Shure Unidyne was the first unidirectional microphone using a single dynamic element. Today, the Uniphase principle is employed in the vast majority of directional microphones.
In September 2016, Bauer’s engineering lab notebooks dating from 1936 to 1944 were located; they had not been seen for over 50 years. The presentation provides a peek into these Bauer notebooks as he discovers and refines the Uniphase principle, as well as numerous other electro-acoustical concepts – some decades ahead of their time.