Veteran BBC radio broadcaster John Snagge – who first broadcast for the BBC in 1927 – discusses how microphones evolved throughout his career. Mr Snagge recalls the bulky ‘meat safe’ microphones originally used by the BBC – which were wheeled around on mahogany legs, Reisz microphones – that needed the occasional kick to unpack their carbon crystals, and moving coil microphones which had to be housed in a hut during outside broadcasts to minimise background noise.

Credit | BBC Archive