Candid Pickups (Jan, 1947)

Candid Pickups

IF YOU don’t think amateur recording is tun, just ask Johnny Olsen. radio papa of “Ladies, Be Seated.” He’s been having a picnic with his home recorder for years. You don’t have to stay home with them, either.

Olsen rigged up an adapter and plugged his into his car battery through the cigarette lighter cord. Among the oddities he’s captured in sound are the hiss and swish of Old Faithful geyser, the sniff of ‘a Yellowstone bear (it refused to growl) and an interview with the engineer on a locomotive traveling 120 mph.

Anyone can do it, says Olsen. It just takes a few gadgets, a little ingenuity— and a sense of humor.