In January, 2007, I was in Austin, Texas. The namesake of my microphone design. I decided to buy a ribbon microphone from an online catalog to record a spoken-word client. While researching opinions on the “best” entry-level microphone to buy, I ran across a few primitive web-pages and early discussion groups about people modifying low-priced ribbon microphones to improve the sound. I figured I could build a microphone for myself… if I could just find some instructions on how to do it. However, nowhere was there a complete tutorial on how to build a Ribbon Microphone from start to finish.

My life experience set me up as a Instructional Designer and Technical Trainer, so after a few hours of not finding enough information online, I decided that I would write a complete, start-to-finish instruction manual on how to build a ribbon microphone.

Within three weeks of that night, I was “Testing 1-2-3” on my first homebuilt microphone, and I photographed and wrote-down everything along the way… Even my mistakes! I recorded a few things with it, and it sounded GREAT, so I sent it out to be professionally analyzed, and the great sound was confirmed by those tests. The result was the first AUSTIN Ribbon Microphone Tutorial. A DIY “how-to” guide using common parts in uncommon ways, so that anyone can build this microphone from scratch for under $200 USD.

The most common question I received about my plans was: “Do you have DIY Kits?” So, when the company I was working for abruptly downsized half of their employees in the economic crash of late 2008 (including me), I decided to combine my plans with a box of all the parts needed to build a great-looking and great-sounding microphone. I began contacting local manufacturers and ordering USA-made parts for developing DIY Kits (All parts and labor in my kits is sourced in the USA) and my first kits went on sale a few months later in early 2009.

Over the years, I have updated the plans more than a dozen times, and made several sets of videos – each improving on the previous version. I even started teaching workshops at colleges and trade schools. Helping a group of students build my microphone is another area where I am always learning. There are tips and tricks in the plans and videos, which come directly from students at my workshops. Overall, I am really having fun, and it’s my goal that everyone succeeds in building my kits.

My mission is to offer a quality, USA-Made kit, at a price nearly the same as if someone were to order all the parts online, and have them delivered. I am ordering in bulk and bagging all the parts here in San Diego, so it really does cost you just a few dollars more to order a kit, than it does to order everything yourself. I’m always trying new ideas, so if you’ve read this far, you’re probably the kind of person that might be interested in beta-testing some of my new designs. Please contact me to see what I’m designing now.