Hansa Tonstudio
The Hansa recording studios include several former and still active recording studios in Berlin.
History
Except in a small recording studio in the headquarters of the Hansa music production in Wittelsbacherstrasse in the district of Wilmersdorf produced the brothers Thomas and Peter Meisel since 1965 mainly in Sonopress studio Ariola - euro disc in Meistersaal in Köthener Straße 38 in the district of Kreuzberg. However, in order also to be independent recording technology of music production, the Meisel brothers founded in 1972, the Hansa Tonstudio GmbH and built the fourth floor of the house Nestorstraße from 8/9 in Hallensee the recording studio. Opening of the Hansa studios I mentioned was time for the radio show in 1973. It produced numerous recordings by Bernd Clüver, Marianne Rosenberg, Bernhard Brink, and Peter Orloff. But foreign artists were guests, such as Albert Hammond with the production of his success title Down by the River or the Indian singer Asha Puthli.
In 1974 the studio after a change of the owner, was associated with unacceptable for Hansa Terms of lease abandoned. Almost simultaneously took over Hansa Studio in Köthener Street ( now: Hansa Studio II ) as the main tenant. The Master's Hall had now found its perfect acoustics, an excellent reputation, in addition to the hit recordings of the famous Hansa artists there also productions from all other areas of music instead: opera productions, such as with Anna Moffo as Carmen under Lorin Maazel, the last operetta recordings by Robert Stolz, as well as productions by Rudolf Schock, Ivan Rebroff or Paul Kuhn with his SFB dance orchestra. But even film scores were recorded and synchronizations were held. Happy Jack White used the studio and produced his artist Tony Marshall, Lena Valaitis, Jürgen Marcus, Renate & Werner Leismann, Nina & Mike or Tanya Berg; CBS also produced here numerous national artists.
Not only the good acoustics of the master room with its magnificent ambience of historic ambiguity - the great hall had served before 1945 as a dance hall for SS officers - even the unique view from the window of the control room on the Berlin Wall was fascinated by international artists, the studio that soon lovingly Studio by the Wall or Big Hall by the Wall titulierten.
Above all, David Bowie made his Berlin Trilogy (Low, Heroes and Lodger and in particular with the inspired by the sight of the Berlin Wall Heroes Song, 1977), the studio in the international music world famous. Iggy Pop, who had produced there along with Bowie, followed Depeche Mode, Marillion, Falco, Nick Cave, U2 and other rock and pop stars.
The house Köthener Road 38 was commissioned in 1976 into the possession of the Brothers Meisel and was expanded. In a former cinema on the ground floor, the Studio 3 was built, an economic area was - initially intended as an exercise room - first to the copy room and later to Studio 4 Finally pulled under the umbrella as a substitute for the studio in the Nestorstraße the new studio 1 a.
Equipment
The studio equipment was continuously adapted to the progress of sound, there were computer-controlled mixing consoles, digital recording technology or multi-channel sound. The studio in the 1980s, compared with similar studios in other cities and especially the United Kingdom, by the former Berlin promotion was relatively inexpensive. It had in the production of Depeche Mode's Construction Time Again (1983 ) already 64- channel mixer, and even then praised Alan Wilder, that everything is computerized and so demanding mixes are possible.
When in the late 1980s became apparent a change in music production and the need for studios of this size declined steadily, Thomas Meisel decided to decommission the Studios 2 and 3, and to restore the master room to its original condition. This was accompanied by a restoration of the entire building. Today, the Hansa recording studios include Studio 1, two additional production studios, one suite and the former " mixing studio", which is currently being rented by the Swedish producer Michael Ilbert.