William Baumzweiger

Video

Oral History Information

Interview Date
Job Title
Relative, Son of Benjamin Baumzweiger

William Baumzweiger’s father was the product engineer for the Shure company, who famously invented the Unidyne microphone.  Benjamin Baumzweiger is credited with being the driving force behind the creation of the first Unidyne. Benjamin (who later changed his last name to Bauer), began developing the microphone in early 1937. In undertaking the project, his primary objective was to create a unidirectional microphone which used a single dynamic element.  Prior to the Unidyne, the most common way of creating a microphone with unidirectional response was to use an omnidirectional (non-directional) element combined with a bidirectional element in a single housing. William provided a wonderful overview of his father’s career in the audio industry.