The RCA BK 4 A ‘Starmaker’ is a very special microphone that gets too little attention.
RCA had become the leading maker of professional microphones in the US by the mid-1930s; their great ribbon mics could be found in every recording studio and in most radio, TV and movie studios. The 44 and 77 series were undoubtedly iconic.
For the 1950s, RCA wanted to keep the lead and developed a more modern microphone line, with new specialized models: the K2Ba ‘Bantam’, a miniature version of the 44 BX, with the well-known two-sided recording pattern, the BK 5 directional microphone and, especially for TV, the BK 4 A ‘Starmaker’, a slim omnidirectional model.
As the saying goes, “Great minds think alike”, that certainly applies in this case, because the ‘Starmaker’ is based on the same idea that inspired Jorg Sennheiser when he developed his ‘invisible microphone’, the Labor W DM3.
Both mics had a slim tube that concentrated the sound and funneled it to the more distant pick up, minimizing the exposure of the mics and showing the stars behind them.
Both types were omni-directional, the all-round pickup pattern meant that speakers didn’t have to keep the same distance from the microphone to be heard clearly, which was ideal for presenters and their guests.
The ‘Starmaker’ could be held in the hand, placed in a holder, worn around the neck, or mounted on a stand. It was rugged, insensitive to shock and temperature changes, and could even be used outdoors; it was wind proof.
The colour was unobtrusive ‘TV gray’.
The sound was of the well-known RCA quality and was equal to the other ribbon microphones of the brand, so these types could be used together for broadcasts.
Although the Starmaker had many good qualities, it ultimately turned out not to be a great success and after a few years it disappeared from the RCA program. RCA’s lavalier microphones, more than four times smaller in size, took the place of the BK-4A, until they were replaced by wireless microphones in the late 1980s.
It is not known how many Starmakers were ever made, nowadays they are not often used anymore, although they are excellent as a mono microphone for drums, or for recording vocals; all in all, a one-way ticket to oblivion for this idiosyncratic model.
