Hellmuth Kolbe

Hellmuth Kolbe

Hellmuth Kolbe, ca. 1990
Background information
Birth name Hellmuth Kolbe
Born 28 August 1926
Origin Berlin, Germany
Genres Rock, pop, classical music, folklore, experimental
Occupation(s) Record producer, arranger, composer, musician, conductor, acoustics pioneer
Instruments Vibraphone, keyboards, bass
Years active ca. 1950–2002
Labels Viennola, Austroton (Austrophon-Elite-Special, Vienna, Austria),[1] CBS, Vox, Vanguard, Ex Libris (Swiss), Phonag (Swiss), Helvetia (Swiss)[2] etc.

Hellmuth Kolbe (28 Aug 1926 – 15 Jul 2002) was a Swiss musician, audio recording and acoustics pioneer.

Childhood and education, Zug (Switzerland) and Vienna (Austria)

Hellmuth Kolbe was the son of Austrian lawyer Walter Karl Kolbe, stationed in Berlin when son Hellmuth was born in 1926, and Editha Berta Ehrbar also of Viennese origin. The family of his mother was from the renowned Austrian piano manufacturer Friedrich Ehrbar (1827–1905), an Austrian "k. u. k. Hof- und Kammer-Klavier-Fabrikant" (Austrian Emperor's and King's Court and Chamber Piano Maker).[3][4] The parents Edith and Walter separated when Kolbe was approximately five years old and his mother moved to Zug,[5] Switzerland, where she remarried, and where Hellmuth Kolbe spent the remainder of his childhood.[3][4] Son Hellmuth completed 12 years of schooling in Zug (1933–1945), and, according to his later occupation, his main interests must have been music, electronics, physics and mathematics. Kolbe was very musical and played piano, double-bass and vibraphone. In 1945 he got a job as a pianist for a season at a hotel in Engelberg, in the Swiss Alps,[3] and worked during the day as a ski instructor.[4] His fluency in English, French, and German was appreciated by his then employer; later he also learned Spanish and Italian.[4]

By the fall of 1946 he went to Vienna, Austria, and began extensive studies in music and musicology – the main subject being orchestral conducting. In 1953, he received his diploma from the Conservatory Vienna, Austria. Thereafter, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music and Performing Arts as it was then designated, now the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts.[3][4] Kolbe was a pupil of Hans Erich Apostel (1901–1972), who headed the Austrian section of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) from 1946–1948.[6][7] Apostel had also studied with Arnold Schönberg (1874–1951) and Alban Berg (1885–1935), two prominent members of the so-called Second Viennese School.[8] From 1947 to 1950, Kolbe also worked as editor for the Universal Edition Vienna, revising the scores of, among other works, Berg's Wozzeck and Lulu.[9][10] According to Kolbe's letter to an unidentified colleague "Franzi" in Germany,[11] Kolbe must have been quite laborious in Vienna: he was a member of the Austrian Hot Club Seven until they temporarily dissolved in early 1950. In this group, Kolbe played with widely known Austrian Jazz musicians, among them Fatty George (Franz Georg Pressler, 1927–1982).[12] Fatty's first successes occurred with this Viennese band and contemporary female Austrians vividly remember the Swiss vibraphone player and bandleader "Hello" Kolbe from that group.[13] The Hot Club Seven mostly played for US military forces and in Austrian officer casinos of the Soviet Army. In 1950, Kolbe held lectures titled Introduction to Jazz Music at the Österreichische Radio-Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (Austrian radio transmission company (RAVAG),[14] had his own Jazz program each week on Thursday and Friday night at RAVAG radio station Wien I, led several Jazz combos and wrote Jazz critics.[15] In 1947, Kolbe approached the American Armed Forces Radio, looking for employment, and in 1948 started to work as independent producer/engineer for US forces radio station Rot-Weiss-Rot[16] (RWR), located in the American sector of Vienna.[17][18] Soon after employment they sent him to the Wiener Musikverein with its great concert rooms to record the many famous orchestras that still perform there (Wiener Philhamoniker – Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,[19] Wiener Symphoniker – Vienna Symphony Orchestra)[20] etc.), and a recording career that produced more than 1'000 albums began.[4]

Kolbe in a 1987 interview:[17] “We were two Americans, two Swiss and 17 Austrians and we were heard all over Europe. My department was Jazz and modern classical, together with being involved in the design of the studios. We also did a lot of live concerts including one a week from the large concert hall in Vienna, where we used just one microphone, a Shure modified with an AKG capsule [probably a C1, C2 or C12, author's remark[21]], and it sounded wonderful!" At RWR, Kolbe was employed for the Sunday morning concerts[18] and so had the opportunity to record among others Wilhelm Furtwangler (1886–1954) and Bruno Walter (1876–1962).[18] Between 1951 and 1963, Kolbe operated his first recording studio, "Mastertone" in Vienna.[3][4][18] He had successes with US labels Vox and Vanguard for which Kolbe recorded music in Austria that was then pressed as 10 or 12-inch vinyl long play LP discs, and finally distributed and sold to Vox and Vanguard retailers worldwide. Kolbe:[17] “At that time the rate of exchange of the dollar to the Austrian Schilling was very favorable and American record companies soon found it well worthwhile to record in Vienna”. In 1972 Kolbe pointed out,[18] that at that time “a lot was going on in Austria”. Kolbe in the 1987 interview:[17] “The autumn of 1953 saw us getting the first stereo Ampex [tape] recorder in Europe [an Ampex 350[22]] and we immediately started recording in stereo – which meant we aimed for proper stereo image rather than the 'ping-pong' style that was popular in the early days – everything on the left or the right and no middle". From the beginning, Kolbe was a strong advocator of 3-channel stereo.[23]

Two Ampex 350 3-channel tape recorders, the first of which Kolbe claims to have received in 1953, and in the foreground most possibly a portable audio "processor" with XLR connectors at its backside, probably an American military style mixing console. ---> This equipment could have been installed either in RWR premises, in a Viennese Concert House, or in the Wiener Musikverein.[24] The picture actually is from a series of recordings for CBS in 1964, with American tenor Richard Tucker (1913–1975, left), conductor Pierre Dervaux (1917–1992, middle) and apparently Tucker's wife Sarah (?–1975, right) in the Vienna Concert House[25] (Orchestra: The Vienna State Opera Orchestra [26]). Photo courtesy Ursula Kolbe.

The electronic music composer Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007), who left Paris in March 1953, took up a position as assistant to Herbert Eimert (1897–1972) at the newly established Electronic Music Studio of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, NWDR in Cologne (since 1 January 1955 designated Westdeutscher Rundfunk, WDR) and in 1956 worked with Hellmuth Kolbe as engineer.[27] Together they elaborated the first electronic music "scores" which consisted of frequency vs. time graphs. Kolbe in a 1987 interview:[17] “There was no way you could use traditional notation”. In 1965, the result of their collaboration culminated in recordings of Stockhausen’s “Klavierstücke I-XI”,[28] composed between 1952 and 1961, and "Mikrophonie I/II",[29] composed 1964 and 1965, both with Hellmuth Kolbe engineering.[27] From 1955 to1975, Kolbe worked as freelance chief recording engineer and producer for Columbia International (CBS Masterworks).[4][30] During that time, CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System)[31] employed Kolbe to record all their classical collections in Europe but the majority of his recordings were either not credited or credited to a passive "supervising" engineer.[4] These jobs involved extensive travel to record on location, even to Israel right after the Six-Day War in early June 1967, or to record Mahler's 8th symphony with Leonard Bernstein and the London Symphony Orchestra in 3-track stereo (18–20 April 1966 at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, Waltham Forest, East London), after a televised performance in London,[32] with added reverberation from the Grossmünster, Zürich,[23] for which Kolbe received the recognition of nomination for the best engineered recording – classical – for awards period 1967 in 1968, or again in 1966 when Kolbe went to Paris for Columbia Masterworks to tape Alban Berg's "Wozzeck" with conductor Pierre Boulez (born 1925) and "Orchestre et Chœrs de L'Opera", Paris (CBS Set −3003). For this, Kolbe received the "grand prix du disque", an "Académie Charles Cros Diplome".[3][33] Also in the mid 60s Kolbe performed quadrophonic recording system research with Benjamin B. Bauer[34] of CBS for their “Stereo Quadraphonic” (SQ) [35] matrix system.[30]

Hellmuth Kolbe's recognition of nomination for the best engineered recording – classical – for awards period 1967, issued by the US National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammy Award). The winner in this category was engineer Edward (Bud) T. Graham[36] for "The Glorious Sound of Brass" and Leonard Bernstein (artist) in tie with John McClure (producer)[37] won the Grammy for the 1967 Album of the Year – Classical –, Mahler's Symphony No. 8, Symphony of a Thousand. Picture courtesy Ursula Kolbe.
Cover and booklet of CBS 2013, Mahler Symphony No. 8, Leonard Bernstein conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, soloists include Norma Procter,[38] Gwyneth Jones, Erna Spoorenberg and John Mitchinson,[39] 2 vinyl LP records, boxed set.
Audio recording for CBS of the 3. Symphony ("Sinfonia Espansiva") by Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865–1931), commemorating his 100. birthday, in Copenhagen, in 1965. The tube mixing desk was the first designed and manufactured by Hans Leonhard, Zürich, Switzerland. It was purchased by Swiss studio owner Max Lussy and rented to CBS for this occasion.[23] The persons from left to right are: Hans Leonhard, Leonard Bernstein, John McClure (Director of Columbia Masterworks and CBS chief recording engineer)[37] and Hellmuth Kolbe. Photo courtesy Ursula Kolbe.

Back to Switzerland

In 1957 Kolbe returned to Switzerland and in 1960 founded the "Phonag" Record Company in Winterthur, with the label "Helvetia"[40] (used mainly for Swiss folklore records). In Switzerland, Kolbe recorded on several locations, in Winterthur primarily at Kirchgemeindehaus,[3][41] which had a room with very good acoustics. Since ca. 1962, his second engineer was Robert Lattmann who was taught on the job by Kolbe. At first, Kolbe only had fairly basic recording equipment at his disposal[42] but in April 1966 he purchased a portable 3-channel tube mixing console, designed and manufactured by Hans Leonhard (Leonhard Electronics in Zürich). This console, which had switchable equalizers co-designed by Kolbe, was used in his studios in Switzerland (Winterthur and Lindau[43]) and on most on-location recordings for CBS/Phonag elsewhere.

Kolbe at his three-main-channel Leonhard Electronics portable tube recording console, most probably between 1966 and 1970 in Winterthur, with an opened Studer C37 professional analogue tape recorder (manufactured between 1961–1970[44] in the background and a consumer-type Revox G36 recorder (manufactured between 1963–1967[44]) in the foreground. Picture courtesy Ursula Kolbe.
This picture shows a nearly identical three-main-channel audio console with vacuum tubes to the one shown above and to the left and purchased by Kolbe with designer and manufacturer Hans Leonhard (Leonhard Electronics, Zürich, Switzerland), with telephone handset. The desk has twelve microphone inputs with equalizers and three line inputs. The fourth fader to the right of the sum faders controls the reverb return. Picture courtesy Hans Leonhard.
October 1966 at Kirchgemeindehaus in Winterthur: With his new equipment, Kolbe recorded the Isaac Stern Trio for CBS (Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Trios, Op. 97, Archduke).[45] Standing from left to right: Leonard Rose (cello), Isaac Stern (violin), Eugene Istomin (piano), seated at the desk: Hans Leonhard and Hellmuth Kolbe. The two remaining standing persons are unknown. Picture courtesy Hans Leonhard.

On 29 June 1970, Kolbe on behalf of Phonag records AG, rented rooms in a hotel/restaurant building at Lindau,[43] canton Zürich, Switzerland, and built a recording studio there which existed until it was sold. The studio measured 11.5 by 14-meter and was 2 stories high (4–5-meter) and included a small stage used as storage area. The technical facilities were in a control room with double-glass window to the studio. Kolbe's first recording console was the modular portable Leonhard valve mixing desk already described, and he used Tannoy integrated concentric coaxial speakers and Studer[46] tape recorders. This valve desk was used on probably all his recording sessions, both in Winterthur and in Lindau, as well as on location during travel. In 1975, the studio was upgraded to a 16 track transistorised MCI[47] desk, and Studer A80 8–16 track recorders in addition to the Studer 2- and 4-tracks.[40] Between 1972 and 1975 Jimmy Duncombe,[48] later co-founder of Powerplay recording studio[49] in Maur,[50] Switzerland, was employed in the studio as studio manager and recording engineer. Duncombe, a musician, learnt recording studio craftsmanship under the auspices of Hellmuth Kolbe at that time.

The following two examples hint at Kolbes versatility and proficiency in two vastly different musical styles: In 1968 he was a listed member of the “Krautrock" band "Brainticket" (see insert below) and was playing keyboards, potentiometers, generators, and sound effects, together with performing more technical duties as producer, engineer, electronics, supervisor and "generator".[51] The book "Jazz in der Schweiz" ("Jazz in Switzerland")[52] explicitly honours Kolbe and his work for "Brainticket" as "way ahead of its time", and Kolbe himself is reported as a "good Jazz pianist", performing under the name Hello Kamm.

"Brainticket" originally formed in 1968, consisted of members of Belgian, Swiss, Scottish, and German descent. Although members came and went during their tenure, the most popular line-up consisted of the Belgian Joel Vandroogenbroeck[53] (organ, flute), Ron Bryer (guitar), Werni Fröhlich (bass), Cosimo Lampis (drums), Wolfgang Paap (tabla), Dawn Muir (vocals), Carole Muriel (vocals, zither), and Hellmuth Kolbe (keyboards, potentiometers, generators, and sound effects). Technical staff: Hellmuth Kolbe, producer, engineer, electronics, supervisor, generator. Kolbe probably contributed considerably to “Brainticket's" album "Cottonwoodhill" (released 1971) and made use of his experiences in radio broadcasting and electronic music. "Cottonwoodhill" is the debut album by "Brainticket" and is generally acknowledged as one of the more obscure "Krautrock" classics. It features the groove-based track "Black Sand", featuring Dawn Muir singing into a spring reverb unit. The LP's original inner sleeve warns: "After Listening to this Record, your friends may not know you anymore" and "Only listen to this once a day. Your brain might be destroyed”. On this debut album, the group sat out to document an LSD trip as the Grateful Dead did on “Anthem of the Sun" and as Ash Ra Tempel would later do on "Seven Up" (1972).[51] For album cover consult http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fb/Brainticket.jpg

The second example is from 1973: Kolbe recorded the Schubert Piano Trios, in D-Minor, Op. 63, at the Victoria Hall in Geneva,[54] Switzerland. Musicians were Arthur Rubinstein (piano), Henryk Szeryng (violin) and Pierre Fournier (cello). Kolbe was recording in quad-technology, but the final discs were released in 1974 in stereo on RCA's prestigious Red Seal label.[55] For this recording, RCA had sent an engineer from America who arrived late and finally sat at the desk together with Kolbe. As usual, Kolbe had set-up the microphones, marked errors, insecurities and takes in the musical score lying in front of him and talked with the musicians about corrections and improvements.[56]

Cover of 2-LP set RCA Red Seal Stereo ARL 2-O731, Schubert Piano Trios.

At the Lindau recording studio the two engineers/producers, Kolbe and Lattmann, were primarily booked by record companies, producers and musicians located in or around Switzerland and in particular performed many recordings for the Swiss Ex Libris, Helvetia.[2] and Turicaphon/Elite Special labels. The rental contract between Phonag AG and the restaurant/hotel was terminated by 30 September 1980 and engineer Robert Lattmann entered into a new contract with the hotel as owner of the studio.[57] On 30 September 1990 this contract was extended for another five years.[57] By 1980 Kolbe placed his focus exceedingly on his acoustics career, but was still working part-time at the studio in Lindau. According to a brochure of ca. 1980, the studio then offered 2/4/8/16 track facilities with Studer A80 as master recorder, the 16 track MCI[47] desk, and additional JBL loudspeakers[57]

Throughout his lifetime Kolbe was open to new technologies and ideas and for example experimented with pressure zone microphones.[58] at a live performance with conductor Leonard Bernstein and the Orchestre National de France in 1975 to record Berlioz's Requiem[30]

Acoustics career

In January 1973 Switzerland left the previously established Bretton Woods system (1944–1973) and adopted a floating currency system which considerably strengthened the Swiss franc in comparison to the since 1945 constantly declining United States dollar. Kolbe was affected by this trend[59] and it certainly forced him to think of alternatives to his status as representative of the European residence of CBS. Already since 1970, Kolbe did acoustic consulting and designed recording studios, control rooms concert halls, theatres and multi-purpose halls etc.[30] He primarily performed acoustics consultancy work, for instance in the early 1970s with the Leonhard Electronics Company, to plan and construct an auditorium for Hoffman-La Roche Ltd., and another for the Bank for International Settlements, both located in Basel, Switzerland.[60] Kolbe in a 1987 interview:[17] “By the time the 70s came around I was getting tired of living out of a suitcase and I wanted to spend more time with my family. In a way, everything came together: operas were starting to be recorded on 24 tracks and at this stage I felt that the technology was moving in and the music moving out! Also there was a general slump for classics so I was able to cut down on recording and move back to my first studies, which was acoustics. After all, I had recorded in the best – and the worst – halls in the world and had amassed considerable experience. Whenever I was able to, I measured the halls and began to compile a file on hall acoustics.”

The introduction of the compact disc in 1982 caused Kolbe to change careers definitely. He believed the format had been rushed into production with “not enough bits” for his ears.[61] Although he continued to contribute to occasional recording projects, from then on his interests laid elsewhere. He studied acoustics and control room design and was soon designing studios, concert halls, churches, etc.[17]

Kolbe in a 1987 interview:[17] “I started a consultancy service for concert halls, theaters, industrial buildings, domestic, etc. that dealt with all aspects of acoustics such as reverberation, isolation, and so on. I am convinced that in order for anyone to be an acoustics engineer in a musical environment, he has to be a musician. You have to understand the sort of environment that musicians require in a studio, control room or concert hall. Most of us have come across situations in theatres or halls where the orchestra can either hear everybody or each musician is straining to hear his neighbor just to stay in tune. It is the same situation with console manufacturers – the best builders are also users because they know what is required out in the real world.”

According to his own account, Kolbe was the first TDS/TEF (Time Delay Spectrometry/Time-Energy-Frequency) [62] user in Europe in 1980/81.[30] For this, Hellmuth Kolbe had to study TDS, invented by Richard C. Heyser[63] (1931–1987) and first published in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society (JAES) 1976 issue. For Kolbe it was largely learning by listening, adjusting and doing.

Hellmuth Kolbe and Hans Leonhard at the Ratsaal (parliament room) in Zug, Switzerland, in ca. 1980, with Kolbe's early TDS/TEF measuring equipment, performing acoustics measurements. Picture courtesy Hans Leonhard.

Kolbe in his 1987 Interview:[17] “The development of TDS by the late Richard C. Heyser is, in my opinion, one of the greatest steps forward in acoustics since the work by [Wallace Clement] Sabine(1968–1919). One of the important aspects of it is that you can now prove to a client that what you are doing actually works. Before, he [the client] had to take your word for it. We are involved in studio construction all over the world and anywhere it is rare to be able to build a studio from the ground up – but that's the challenge! For me the most important thing is to make the control room as big as possible – you need space in order to be able to have an uncolored sound. With today's recoding techniques most of the music is done in the control room which means that you need space both for the instruments and the sound.”

Since 1985, Kolbe performed research work on scale-model acoustic measurements (with TDS) and stage-acoustics[30] and in 1986/1987 was involved in the development of the first head-related ear-recording system for acoustic measurement and recording purposes (a Syn-Aud-Con Tech[64] topic). Kolbe formed many long lasting friendships at Don and Carolyn Davis's Synergetic Audio Concepts (SynAudCon)[64] workshops where he heard lecturers such as Gerald Stanley,[65] Eugene Patronis,[66] Chips Davis,[67] and Richard C. Heyser[63] (all of whom consider him their equal), and lectures at several of those workshops himself.[4]

Kolbe in the 1987 interview:[17] “Design criteria are always on the move and I have modified the LEDE concept [Live End-Dead End studio control room technique] to include the Reflection Free Zone (RFZ)[68] manner of design. This gives the most uncolored sound possible in a given situation and provides a natural sound that can be the reference point. Of course, some of the original LEDE principles are still very valid such as the asymmetrical outer shell and completely symmetrical inner shell. The goal is to achieve as natural a sound as possible so that things such as equalization [EQ] can be used as an effect, rather than as an attempt to compensate for coloration and/or bad acoustics. The moment you have a neutral reference point I find that EQ settings tend to become less drastic and are often of the order of several dB or so. […] As a studio designer I feel it is my duty to provide a neutral reference point; you then need a good engineer with good ears – and one who listens!”

Hellmuth Kolbe pioneered the use of quadratic residue diffusors [Manfred R. Schroeder,[69]], designed and built custom units into recording studios and concert halls. One innovative design used a low-frequency diffusor to control room modes in a tiny control room in Lucerne, while another design turned a multipurpose space in Cham Switzerland into a fine concert hall (and provided excellent noise isolation in the process).[4] Kolbe in his 1987 interview:[17] “You need mass to properly control the bass”.

Since ca. 1990, Kolbe used scale models to test his designs and documented their performance with TDS. Later, he adopted Ahnert and Feistel’s EASE (Enhanced Acoustic Simulator for Engineers), an industry standard for 3D electro-acoustic and room-acoustic modelling [70] as a modelling and auralisation [71] tool. Hellmuth Kolbe has always been very supportive of others who shared his enthusiasm for advancing the state of the art in audio, including Wolfgang Ahnert,[72] Sam Berkow,[73] Peter D'Antonio,[74] Don and Carolyn Davis,[75] Chips Davis,[67] Markus Erne,[76] Kurt Graffy,[77] Dirk Noy,[78] Ken Wahrenbrock,[79] and Jim Brown.[4][80]

On 15 July 2002, Hellmuth Kolbe died in Zürich, Switzerland, at the age of 75 and posthumous, in 2005, he received the Richard C. Heyser TEF Award "for his revolutionary work in the use of TDS in room acoustics and recording".[4]

More personal remarks

In 1960, Hellmuth Kolbe met Ursula Plischke-Delabro in Vienna, where she was working in a recording studio, and they got married in 1966. Hellmuth Kolbe, in addition to classical music, loved jazz, especially the music of Lennie Tristano (1919–1978). He had perfect pitch and arranged music, particularly for jazz combos. Acoustics designer Sam Berkow, founder of SIA Acoustics LLC,[73] tells of an informal excursion where Hellmuth picked out the individual frequencies of multi-note train horns, and many of his colleagues tell of finding it difficult to listen to some recordings, systems, or halls after Hellmuth pointed out their subtle faults. During a recording session, he would make extensive notes on the musical performance, including the mistakes; this speeded up editing the tapes. He was fluent in reading the most complex musical scores and always prepared himself carefully for a pending recording session.[3] Hellmuth Kolbe was modest to a fault, rarely speaking of his accomplishments unless prodded to do so. Don Davis wrote, "We never knew him to ever be less than exact and his word on a matter was gold. Diogenes, the man with the lantern searching the world for an honest man, would have stopped with Hellmuth had he met him."[4]

Hellmuth Kolbe ca. 1985–1990, probably with head-related ear-recording equipment for acoustic measurements. Picture courtesy Ursula Kolbe.

Selected works

As engineer/producer

• 1965: Audio recording for CBS of a work by Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865–1931), commemorating his 100. birthday, in Copenhagen.[81]

• 18. to 20 April 1966 at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, Waltham Forest, East London: Leonard Bernstein conducting Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra (nominated for a Grammy-Award in 1968 for “Best Classical Engineered Recording”).

• Mid 60s: Kolbe performed quadrophonic recording system research with Benjamin B. Bauer of CBS for their “Stereo Quadraphonic” (SQ) matrix system.

• 1966 Paris, Alban Berg’s “Wozzeck” with conductor Pierre Boulez and “Orchestre et Chœrs de L'Opera”, Paris (Columbia Masterworks, CBS Set −3003, released 1967). Kolbe received the “grand prix du disque”, an “Académie Charles Cros Diplome”.

• 2 October 1966: Kirchgemeindehaus in Winterthur: Kolbe recorded the Isaac Stern Trio for CBS (Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Trios, Op. 97, Archduke).

• June 1967: Isaac Stern in Israel (right after the Six-Day War).

• 1967: Sonny Stitt, Autumn in New York. Four live tracks of this album are from a 1962 Birdland live date with an unknown rhythm trio, the second half is from a 1967 studio date in Zürich with Howard McGhee (tp, on three of four tracks), Walter Bishop (p), Tommy Potter (b) and Kenny Clarke (dr) accompanying Sonny Stitt (as), with Kolbe engineering.

• 1968: Columbia Masterworks, Philippe Entremont. Chopin “Entremont Plays the Chopin Walzes”.

• 1968: CBS, Pierre Boulez “Bartok – Stravinsky, The BBC Symphony Orchestra”.

• 1968: CBS, Eugene Ormandy, “Dvorak Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, opus 95 ‘From The New World’”.

• 1968: Columbia Masterworks, Edward Power Biggs “The Glory Of Gabrieli (Music For Multi Choirs, Brass And Organ).

• 1969: Columbia Masterworks, [Aaron] Copland Conducts Copland "Short Symphony, Dance Symphony", The London Symphony Orchestra.

• 1971: CBS, Philippe Entremont "Entremont plays Chopin".

• 1971: Columbia Masterworks, Edward Power Biggs "Plays Bach in the Thomaskirche".

• 1973: Kolbe recorded the Schubert Piano Trios, in D-Minor, Op. 63, at Victoria Hall in Geneva, Switzerland, for RCA. Musicians were Arthur Rubinstein (piano), Henryk Szeryng (violin) and Pierre Fournier (cello).

• 1973: Columbia Masterworks, Phlippe Entremont "A La Francaise: Debussy, Ravel, Chabrier, Satie, Fauré, Poulenc”.

• 1973: Nonesuch, Edward Tarr and George Kent “Baroque Masterpieces for Trumpet and Organ”.

• 1974: Columbia Masterworks, Edward Power Biggs “Orgelwerke mit Edward Power Biggs”.

• 1974: Columbia Masterworks, Edward Power Biggs, Bach “The Four ‘Great Toccatas And Fugues – The Four Aniphonal Organs of the Cathedral of Freiburg Played Simultaneously”.

• 1975: A live performance with conductor Leonard Bernstein and the Orchestra National de France, to record Berlioz’s Requiem, where Kolbe experiments with pressure zone microphones.

• 1975: Dexter Gordon Quartett, Swiss Nights, Vol. I and II. Recorded at the 1975 Zürich Jazz Festival.

• 1975 on CBS Harmony, Philippe Entremont “Greatest Hits of the Piano”.

• Ca. 1975: Columbia, Edward Power Biggs “Historic Organs of France”.

• Aaron Copland conducting his own music with The London Symphony Orchestra.

• Multiple recordings by Swiss organist Hans Vollenweider, and additional work with French composer Pierre Boulez.

With Karlheinz Stockhausen

• 'Klavierstücke I-XI', for piano, composed 1952/53 (I-IV), 1954/55 (V-VIII), 1954/61 (IX-X) & 1956 (XI). Recorded at KGH (Kirchgemeindehaus), Winterthur, Switzerland, 1 & 2 July, 15–17 November 1965.

• 'Mikrophonie I', for tam-tam, two microphones and two filters, composed in 1964. Recorded at West German Radio Studios, Cologne, 17 & 18 December 1965.

• 'Mikrophonie II', for 12 singers, 4 ring modulators and Hammond organ, composed in 1965. Recorded at West German Radio Studios, Cologne, 11 June 1965.

Acoustics, studio design

• First job: Schweizerische Metallwerke AG (Metalworks), 4143 Dornach, Switzerland.[23]

• The German parliament in Bonn, Germany (acoustic renovation).[4]

• Rathaus (town hall) Zürich, Switzerland.[23]

• Several cinemas, including the highly regarded IMAX theatre in the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne, Switzerland.[3]

• Two fine halls on Lake Zug, Switzerland.[4]

• New Sound Studio, Pfäffikon, Switzerland.[82] • Studio 60.[83] • Ebony Studio, Wohlen, Switzerland.[84] • Theater Casino Zug, Switzerland.[23]

• Control room for SFB concert hall in Berlin, Germany.[17]

• A new concert hall with variable acoustics in Thun, Switzerland.[17]

• AGV audio-visual studio in Bern, Switzerland.[17]

• A reference control room for the East German broadcast organisation, embodying LEDE and RFZ principles complete with Schroeder diffusors.[17]

Notes

  1. ↑ de:Gerhard Mendelson
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Helvetia – CDs and Vinyl at Discogs". Discogs.com.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Kolbe (2012)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 Brown (2002)
  5. ↑ Zug
  6. ↑ "Hans Erich Apostel | Classical Composers Database". Classical-composers.org. 8 June 2010.
  7. ↑ "apostel.html". Schoenberglaw.com.
  8. ↑ Second Viennese School
  9. ↑ Wozzeck
  10. ↑ Lulu
  11. ↑ Kolbe letter to "Franzi" (1950)
  12. ↑ de:Fatty George
  13. ↑ "Fatty George – Jazzmus – Die Grünen SeniorInnen". Seniorinnen.gruene.at.
  14. ↑ "RAVAG". Aeiou.at. 31 July 2001.
  15. ↑ Kolbe letter to "Franzi" on critics (1950). In this letter, Kolbe writes: "Ich bin eben dabei, mir als Jazzkritiker hier einen Namen zu machen" ("I am just about to become known as Jazz critic here").
  16. ↑ de:/Rot-Weiß-Rot_(Sender) German only
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 17.8 17.9 17.10 17.11 17.12 17.13 17.14 Nelson (1987)
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Emmenegger (1972)
  19. ↑ "Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra". Wienerphilharmoniker.at. 15 April 2013.
  20. ↑ "Wiener Symphoniker, Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Das Konzertorchester der Stadt Wien > Home". Wiener-symphoniker.at.
  21. ↑ "See under 1947 heading" (PDF).
  22. ↑ "Phantom Vintage Recording 1955 Allied Catalog". Reel2reeltexas.com.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 Leonhard (2012)
  24. ↑ "Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien". Musikverein.at.
  25. ↑ "Wiener Konzerthaus". Konzerthaus.at.
  26. ↑ Artist Biography by Robert Cummings. "Vienna State Opera Orchestra | Biography". AllMusic.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Hellmuth Kolbe Discography".
  28. ↑ Klavierstücke (Stockhausen)
  29. ↑ Mikrophonie
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 Kolbe Main Acoustic Activities (no date)
  31. ↑ CBS
  32. ↑ "Mahler Symphonies – Bernstein [TD]: Classical Reviews- July 2001 MusicWeb(UK)". Musicweb-international.com.
  33. ↑ "/[ Académie Charles Cros ]\". Charlescros.org.
  34. ↑ http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/jaes.obit/JAES_V27_4_PG336.pdf
  35. ↑ Quadraphonic sound Refer to the second Quad vinyl record format (SQ)
  36. ↑ "Edward T. Graham Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 "Gramophone Hall of Fame – executives and producers". gramophone.co.uk. 21 December 2011.
  38. ↑ Artist Biography by Joseph Stevenson (15 February 1928). "Norma Procter | Biography". AllMusic.
  39. ↑ John Mitchinson
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Lamy documents (several dates)
  41. ↑ "Kongresshaus – Kirchgemeindehaus Liebestrasse Winterthur". Liebestrasse.ch.
  42. ↑ Deduced from a photo showing Kolbe using three small portable microphone mixers without equalizers etc., dual meters and a ReVox tape recorder. Picture courtesy Ursula Kolbe.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 http://www.lindau.ch/de/ German only
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Holenstein, Peter, Die sprechenden Maschinen. Studer-Revox. Das Lebenswerk des Audiopioniers Willi Studer, Zürich 1996) German only
  45. ↑ "The recording date 2 October 1965 stated must be a typo (should be 1966), since Kolbe purchased the Leonhard mixing desk shown in April 1966. Only for the remaining tracks 5 to 7, which were recorded in New York, the producer Andrew Kazdin is listed". Discogs.com.
  46. ↑ "Studer [Homepage]". Studer.ch. 1 May 2014.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Music Center Incorporated
  48. ↑ "Jim Duncombe :: Musician :: Teacher :: Producer :: Songwriter". Duncombe.ch.
  49. ↑ "Tonstudio Powerplaystudios Home". Powerplaystudio.ch. 28 March 2009.
  50. ↑ Schweiz. "Gemeinde Maur" (in German). Maur.ch.
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 Dr. Schluss (21 January 2008). "Dr. Schluss' Garage of Psychedelic Obscurities: Brainticket – 1971 – Cottonwoodhill". Psychedelicobscurities.blogspot.ch.
  52. ↑ Spoerri, Bruno (Hg.), Jazz in der Schweiz. Geschichte und Geschichten, Zürich 2005, S. 153 f.
  53. ↑ de:Joël Vandroogenbroeck
  54. ↑ "Victoria Hall – Département de la culture – Ville de Genève". Ville-ge.ch.
  55. ↑ RCA Red Seal Records
  56. ↑ Authors own recollections from these recording sessions in Geneva
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 Rental contracts between Robert Lattmann and Arthur Lamy in Lamy documents
  58. ↑ Boundary microphone
  59. ↑ The author is thankful to Mr. Christian Kolbe who hinted at this important aspect for his father to look for alternatives to his career as recording engineer and producer
  60. ↑ Leonhard References
  61. ↑ The most crucial parts determining audio quality, the analog-to-digital converters, were still under development until the end of the 90s and in 1982 did reach 14 bit resolution at best, equivalent to a signal-to-noise ratio of 80 to 84 db (see online URL http://www.whathifi.com/blog/the-cd-is-30-years-old-today)
  62. ↑ "1967 Time Delay Spectrometry". Mixonline.com. 1 September 2006.
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/jaes.obit/JAES_V35_5_PG413.pdf
  64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 "Synergetic Audio Concepts". Synaudcon.com. 5 May 2014.
  65. ↑ "Crown Press Releases – Gerald Stanley Celebrates 45 Years at HARMAN's Crown Audio". Crownaudio.com.
  66. ↑ Eugene T. Patronis. "School of Physics". Physics.gatech.edu.
  67. ↑ 67.0 67.1 "Chips Davis Designs – Acoustical Consultants & Studio Design". Chips-davis.com.
  68. ↑ http://realtraps.com/rfz.htm
  69. ↑ "Software – EASE – Enhanced Acoustic Simulator for Engineers". EASE.
  70. ↑ http://www.bksv.com/doc/BO0014.pdf
  71. ↑ Auralization: An audio engineering discipline to assess the discrepancy between what the present playback methods deliver and what the human ear pinnae expect and require. Auralization is the process of generating or regenerating an imaginary or an existing acoustic sound field of an audible source in a defined space by mathematical modeling or direct recording and then making this field audible in such a way as to duplicate the binaural listening experience a listener would have had at a specific location in that original space. See article by Glasgal, Ralph, The Ear Pinna and Realism in Music Reproduction, The Stereo Times Magazine, April 1999, URL http://www.stereotimes.com/comm0499.shtml
  72. ↑ "ADA Acoustics & Media Consultants GmbH – Beratung, Planung und Bauüberwachung von raumakustischer Maßnahmen und von Audio- und Videosystemen, room acoustics, audio video systems". Ada-amc.eu.
  73. ↑ 73.0 73.1 "Who We Are". SIA Acoustics.
  74. ↑ "Dr. Peter D'Antonio of RPG Diffusor Systems | Dr. Peter D'Antonio Interview in Mix magazine's June 2012 Issue". Mixonline.com. 1 June 2012.
  75. ↑ "Don & Carolyn's Story " Synergetic Audio Concepts". Synaudcon.com. 15 April 2014.
  76. ↑ "Markus Erne – Schweiz | LinkedIn" (in German). Ch.linkedin.com.
  77. ↑ "Kurt Graffy | Arup | A global firm of consulting engineers, designers, planners and project managers". Arup.
  78. ↑ "Dirk Noy – Partner, General Manager Europe Office". WSDG.
  79. ↑ "Crown International / Knowledgebase / PZM history". Crownaudio.com.
  80. ↑ "Audio Systems Group, Inc. Home Page". Audiosystemsgroup.com.
  81. ↑ From CBS, London, News from CBS Records, Leonard Bernstein in Copenhagen, May 1965, Classical Promotion, May 1965: "By 5 pm. CBS Masterworks and Music Producer, John McClure, was able to thank all concerned for having achieved such magnificent results. Hellmuth Kolbe of CBS in Winterthur (Switzerland) working with Swiss technicians and with the most modern equipment, brought especially to Copenhagen, had a superb tape 'in the can'. That evening, a gala dinner was given in honor of Mr. Bernstein at Christiansborg Castle by the Danish Minister of Cultural Affairs, His Excellency, Mr. Hans Solvhoj. […]" This recording has been entered in the White House Record Library as Col. MS-6769 (A35). Kolodin, Irving, The White House Record Library, in: Warren, Rex Isom et al, The Phonograph and Sound Recording after One-Hundred Years. Centennial Issue, JAES, Vol. 25, No. 10/11, October/November 1977, p. 910
  82. ↑ "From the Website: "Die Räumlichkeiten des New Sound Studios wurden vom renommierten Akustikingenieur Helmuth Kolbe konzipiert"". Newsound.ch.
  83. ↑ This studio no longer exists or has been renamed
  84. ↑ This studio no longer exists or has been renamed. Many Adreas Vollenweider takes have been cut there.

References