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44-533: Konrad " Conny " Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was involved in releases by Neu! , Kraftwerk , Cluster , Harmonia , Ash Ra Tempel , Guru Guru , Kraan , and other German groups of the era. He later produced for new wave acts such as D.A.F. , Eurythmics and Ultravox . As

88-509: A scientist or professional engineer who holds an engineering degree and who designs, develops and builds audio or musical technology working under terms such as electronic/electrical engineering or (musical) signal processing . Research and development audio engineers invent new technologies, audio software, equipment and techniques, to enhance the process and art of audio engineering. They might design acoustical simulations of rooms, shape algorithms for audio signal processing , specify

132-592: A billed performer, Plank also formed the group Moebius & Plank , releasing 5 albums between 1979 and 1986. Plank and the bands he worked with in West Germany had a strong influence on mainstream rock artists, some of whom were able to popularize aspects of his production technique and his distinctive approach. In the 1980s, electronic pop bands were able to realize his ideas in performance as computerized electronic instruments became readily available. Plank, who began his career as soundman for Marlene Dietrich ,

176-696: A good sound within a room. For audio engineers, architectural acoustics can be about achieving good speech intelligibility in a stadium or enhancing the quality of music in a theatre. Architectural Acoustic design is usually done by acoustic consultants. Electroacoustics is concerned with the design of headphones, microphones, loudspeakers, sound reproduction systems and recording technologies. Examples of electroacoustic design include portable electronic devices (e.g. mobile phones , portable media players , and tablet computers ), sound systems in architectural acoustics, surround sound and wave field synthesis in movie theater and vehicle audio . Musical acoustics

220-535: A section that could be removed and fitted into a converted military van adapted for remote recording. It is also reputedly laminated in wood taken from a single cherry tree from Plank's own garden. The mixing desk was initially installed at Club Ralf, the private studio of producer Mark Ralph , where he used it to record and mix a range of work including all or parts of "In Our Heads" and "Why Make Sense" by Hot Chip , "Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action" by Franz Ferdinand and "Communion" by Years & Years . It

264-487: A sound engineer in the late 1960s and became involved in the underground music scene which was spreading outwards through Germany from Berlin . In 1969 he served as engineer for the first Kluster album, Klopfzeichen , which was released the following year. His long association with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Kluster and later Cluster endured until his death. He also served as engineer for Alexander von Schlippenbach 's album The Living Music , which

308-503: A university. Some positions, such as faculty (academic staff) require a Doctor of Philosophy . In Germany a Toningenieur is an audio engineer who designs, builds and repairs audio systems. The listed subdisciplines are based on PACS ( Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme ) coding used by the Acoustical Society of America with some revision. Audio engineers develop audio signal processing algorithms to allow

352-404: A wide range of applications, including post-production for video and film , live sound reinforcement, advertising , multimedia , and broadcasting. In larger productions, an audio engineer is responsible for the technical aspects of a sound recording or other audio production, and works together with a record producer or director, although the engineer's role may also be integrated with that of

396-551: A woman" and she was told women in the city were "still barefoot, pregnant and [singing] in the vocal booth." When Jonell Polansky arrived in Nashville in 1994, with a degree in electrical engineering and recording experience in the Bay Area, she was told "You're a woman, and we already had one"—a reference to Wendy Waldman . KK Proffitt, a studio "owner and chief engineer", states that men in Nashville do not want to have women in

440-423: Is concerned with researching and describing the science of music. In audio engineering, this includes the design of electronic instruments such as synthesizers ; the human voice (the physics and neurophysiology of singing ); physical modeling of musical instruments; room acoustics of concert venues; music information retrieval ; music therapy , and the perception and cognition of music . Psychoacoustics

484-591: Is currently in North London at Studio 7, the private studio of songwriter and producer Laurence Loveless. Plank was involved with the following chronological list of albums, either as a direct contributor or because his studio facilities were used. The dates refer to the year of first release. 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 Posthumous Sound engineer Sound engineering

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528-419: Is increasingly viewed as a creative profession and art form, where musical instruments and technology are used to produce sound for film, radio, television, music and video games. Audio engineers also set up, sound check and do live sound mixing using a mixing console and a sound reinforcement system for music concerts, theatre, sports games and corporate events. Alternatively, audio engineer can refer to

572-492: Is offered by colleges and universities. Some audio engineers are autodidacts with no formal training, but who have attained professional skills in audio through extensive on-the-job experience. Audio engineers must have extensive knowledge of audio engineering principles and techniques. For instance, they must understand how audio signals travel, which equipment to use and when, how to mic different instruments and amplifiers, which microphones to use and how to position them to get

616-563: Is performed by a sound engineer who specializes only in that part of the production. An audio engineer is proficient with different types of recording media, such as analog tape, digital multi-track recorders and workstations, plug-ins and computer knowledge. With the advent of the digital age, it is increasingly important for the audio engineer to understand software and hardware integration, from synchronization to analog to digital transfers. In their daily work, audio engineers use many tools, including: Rastakraut Pasta Rastakraut Pasta

660-718: Is the first full-length album by German electronic music duo of Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank . Rastakraut Pasta was recorded in September 1979 at Conny's Studio outside of Cologne . It was released by Sky Records in 1980. Instrumentation on the album includes electronics, voice, guitar, and flute, all of which are credited to both Moebius & Plank. Can alumnus Holger Czukay plays bass on three tracks: "Feedback 66", "Missi Cacadou", and "Two Oldtimers". Steven and Alan Freeman, writing in The Crack In The Cosmic Egg describes Rastakraut Pasta and

704-945: Is the scientific study of how humans respond to what they hear. At the heart of audio engineering are listeners who are the final arbitrator as to whether an audio design is successful, such as whether a binaural recording sounds immersive. The production, computer processing and perception of speech is an important part of audio engineering. Ensuring speech is transmitted intelligibly, efficiently and with high quality; in rooms, through public address systems and through mobile telephone systems are important areas of study. A variety of terms are used to describe audio engineers who install or operate sound recording , sound reinforcement , or sound broadcasting equipment, including large and small format consoles . Terms such as audio technician , sound technician , audio engineer , audio technologist , recording engineer , sound mixer , mixing engineer and sound engineer can be ambiguous; depending on

748-475: Is typically learned from years of experience listening to and mixing music in recording or live sound contexts. For education and training, there are audio engineering schools all over the world. According to Women's Audio Mission (WAM), a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco dedicated to the advancement of women in music production and the recording arts, less than 5% of the people working in

792-466: The 1981 follow-up Material , in part, this way: "Their early albums as a duo were revelations of innovation, bringing unlikely combinations of industrial rock, cosmic and even dub music (on Rastakraut Pasta ) together in a hybrid of genres. A reborn spirit of Krautrock that played recklessly with offbeat forms..." Julian Cope includes Rastakraut Pasta in his Krautrock Top 50. Both Rastakraut Pasta and Material were reissued in their entirety on

836-547: The Academy Award-nominated soundtrack to "Dirty Wars", Van-Ahn Vo (NPR's top 50 albums of 2013), Grammy-nominated St. Lawrence Quartet , and world music artists Tanya Tagaq and Wu Man . There certainly are efforts to chronicle women's role and history in audio. Leslie Gaston-Bird wrote Women in Audio, which includes 100 profiles of women in audio through history. Sound Girls is an organization focused on

880-569: The African-influenced Zero Set , with Guru Guru drummer Mani Neumeier, was released in 1983. These two albums are early examples of the predecessors of techno and electronica . In 1983, Moebius & Plank also recorded the album Ludwig's Law using an Emulator , an early form of sampling keyboard that enabled them to duplicate other instruments without having musicians to play them. Mayo Thompson of Red Krayola contributed vocals, mainly spoken monologues. The project

924-657: The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, "only 6% of the students enrolled on its sound technology course are female." Women's Audio Mission was started in 2003 to address the lack of women in professional audio by training over 6,000 women and girls in the recording arts and is the only professional recording studio built and run by women. Notable recording projects include the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet , Angelique Kidjo (2014 Grammy winner), author Salman Rushdie ,

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968-1236: The Meteors from the Netherlands ( Hunger in 1980 and Stormy Seas in 1981), Hunters & Collectors from Australia ( The Fireman's Curse in 1983 and The Jaws of Life in 1984) the Fred Banana Combo , Ultravox ( Systems of Romance , Vienna and Rage in Eden ), Echo & the Bunnymen , Freur , Killing Joke , the Tourists ( Luminous Basement ) and Eurythmics ( In the Garden ). He also worked on pop and rock productions with artists such as Scorpions , Clannad , Play Dead , and Gianna Nannini ( Latin Lover , Sogno Di Una Notte d'Estate , Tutto Live and others, also credited for music). Plank's other production credits include Liaisons Dangereuses , Phew , Einstürzende Neubauten , Ástor Piazzolla , Psychotic Tanks, DAF (including

1012-508: The audio and acoustic industry. Audio engineers in research and development usually possess a bachelor's degree , master's degree or higher qualification in acoustics, physics, computer science or another engineering discipline. They might work in acoustic consultancy, specializing in architectural acoustics . Alternatively they might work in audio companies (e.g. headphone manufacturer), or other industries that need audio expertise (e.g., automobile manufacturer), or carry out research in

1056-465: The best quality recordings. In addition to technical knowledge, an audio engineer must have the ability to problem-solve quickly. The best audio engineers also have a high degree of creativity that allows them to stand out amongst their peers. In the music realm, an audio engineer must also understand the types of sounds and tones that are expected in musical ensembles across different genres— rock and pop music , for example. This knowledge of musical style

1100-470: The classic single "Der Mussolini"), Les Rita Mitsouko , and Nina Hagen . According to René Tinner and Stephan Plank in a radio documentary about the life of Conny Plank, it was Brian Eno 's idea that Plank should produce the U2 album The Joshua Tree instead of him. After being introduced to the band by Eno and after a short meeting, Plank turned down the job ("I cannot work with this singer"). According to

1144-713: The companion website of the documentary film Conny Plank – The Potential of Noise (but not the film itself), after the meeting, Plank firstly asked for time for a second thought. In the meantime he attended a U2 concert at Freilichtbühne Loreley , where U2's Bono introduced Plank to the audience as their new producer, after which Plank is said to have left the concert and never communicated further with any member of U2. Plank became sick while touring South America with Dieter Moebius, Arno Steffen and Detlef Wiederhoeft performing music from Ludwig's Law . Some of Plank's last work, before his death in 1987 from laryngeal cancer in Cologne ,

1188-487: The context they may be synonymous, or they may refer to different roles in audio production. Such terms can refer to a person working in sound and music production; for instance, a sound engineer or recording engineer is commonly listed in the credits of commercial music recordings (as well as in other productions that include sound, such as movies). These titles can also refer to technicians who maintain professional audio equipment. Certain jurisdictions specifically prohibit

1232-477: The creative use of audio as a sound engineer, and (ii) training in science or engineering topics, which then allows students to apply these concepts while pursuing a career developing audio technologies. Audio training courses provide knowledge of technologies and their application to recording studios and sound reinforcement systems , but do not have sufficient mathematical and scientific content to allow someone to obtain employment in research and development in

1276-432: The electronic manipulation of audio signals. These can be processed at the heart of much audio production such as reverberation , Auto-Tune or perceptual coding (e.g. MP3 or Opus ). Alternatively, the algorithms might perform echo cancellation , or identify and categorize audio content through music information retrieval or acoustic fingerprint . Architectural acoustics is the science and engineering of achieving

1320-528: The field of sound and media are women. "Only three women have ever been nominated for best producer at the Brits or the Grammys " and none won either award. According to Susan Rogers , audio engineer and professor at Berklee College of Music , women interested in becoming an audio engineer face "a boys' club, or a guild mentality". The UK "Music Producers' Guild says less than 4% of its members are women" and at

1364-756: The mix. Plank used combinations of echo, reverberation and other electronic, mixing, editing and tape-based effects to create mixes. Plank favoured a 'live' production sound, especially on drums. On a recording session in Hamburg in 1970 with Hartmut Kulka from the German Blue Flames & Philip Cantlay of Casey Jones & the Governors/Gaslight Union, together known as Kulka & Cantlay, he set up and recorded conga drums with specially inserted microphones to provide an unusual percussion sound. Plank began producing albums and working as

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1408-519: The next generation of women in audio, but also has been building up resources and directories of women in audio. Women in Sound is another organization that has been working to highlight women and nonbinary people in all areas of live and recorded sound through an online zine and podcast featuring interviews of current audio engineers and producers. One of the first women to produce, engineer, arrange and promote music on her own rock and roll music label

1452-501: The producer. In smaller productions and studios the sound engineer and producer are often the same person. In typical sound reinforcement applications, audio engineers often assume the role of producer, making artistic and technical decisions, and sometimes even scheduling and budget decisions. Audio engineers come from backgrounds or postsecondary training in fields such as audio, fine arts , broadcasting, music, or electrical engineering. Training in audio engineering and sound recording

1496-459: The productions originating from the studios in the following ten years. As a musician, Plank played guitar and keyboards on three Guru Guru albums: Kang Guru , Guru Guru , and Mani und Seine Freunde , the Os Mundi album 43 Minuten , and Cluster's self-titled debut album. In 1978 and 1979 he added guitar and percussion to two Roedelius solo albums, Durch Die Wüste and Selbstportrait . He

1540-493: The recording booth. At a meeting of the Audio Engineering Society , Proffitt was told to "shut up" by a male producer when she raised the issue of updating studio recording technologies. Proffitt said she "finds sexism rampant in the industry". Other notable women include: There are four distinct steps to the commercial production of a recording: recording, editing, mixing, and mastering. Typically, each

1584-552: The requirements for public address systems, carry out research on audible sound for video game console manufacturers, and other advanced fields of audio engineering. They might also be referred to as acoustic engineers. Audio engineers working in research and development may come from backgrounds such as acoustics , computer science , broadcast engineering , physics , acoustical engineering , electrical engineering and electronics . Audio engineering courses at university or college fall into two rough categories: (i) training in

1628-407: The use of the title engineer to any individual not a registered member of a professional engineering licensing body . In the recording studio environment, a sound engineer records, edits, manipulates, mixes, or masters sound by technical means to realize the creative vision of the artist and record producer . While usually associated with music production, an audio engineer deals with sound for

1672-601: Was Cordell Jackson (1923–2004). Trina Shoemaker is a mixer, record producer and sound engineer who became the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album in 1998 for her work on The Globe Sessions . Gail Davies was the first female producer in country music , delivering a string of Top 10 hits in the 1970s and 1980s including " Someone Is Looking for Someone Like You ", " Blue Heartache " and " I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me) ". When she moved to Nashville in 1976, men "didn't want to work for

1716-429: Was a member of the short lived band Liliental, contributing guitar, keyboards, and vocals. In 1979 he went into the studio with Dieter Moebius to record the first Moebius & Plank album, Rastakraut Pasta which was released the following year. Plank continued to work as one half of the duo Moebius & Plank, recording four additional albums. Their second album, Material , was released in 1981. Their third album,

1760-434: Was an ardent believer in the possibilities of electronic music and electronic soundscapes . He was also known for blending them with conventional sounds, or natural sounds given unconventional treatments, such as using large metal containers and other industrial objects as percussion instruments. Plank used multi-track recording facilities. He favored sometimes harsh-sounding effects and contrasting audio for each element in

1804-411: Was bought by English producers David M. Allen and Mark Ralph and transported to England. The desk was originally designed and built by Plank in 1970, altered and frequently upgraded until his death in 1987. The 56 channel desk was a custom design and has a number of unique features, including a specially designed equalization (EQ) section that conformed to Plank's own preferred EQ settings, as well as

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1848-487: Was rejected by Sky Records and was not released until 1998. The final Moebius & Plank collaboration, En Route was recorded in Conny's Studio in 1986 but left incomplete as Plank's health deteriorated. It was completed and mixed in 1995, primarily by Dieter Moebius, and released that year. During the eighties, Plank remained in high demand with the new generation of electronic pop and new wave artists, including Devo ,

1892-622: Was released in 1969, the first of a long list of engineering and production credits. In 1970 he had a 56 channel mixing desk hand built by himself, Peter Lang and Michael Zähl. and went on to produce and/or engineered many recordings by significant German progressive/experimental music acts often referred to as krautrock internationally, including Kraftwerk , Organisation , Neu! , Cluster , Harmonia , Night Sun , Holger Czukay and Guru Guru . In 1977, through Brian Eno , Plank recruited Dave Hutchins from Island Studios, as house engineer. Hutchins undertook recording and mixing roles on many of

1936-547: Was the recording of concerts on Eurythmics' Revenge tour, and samples used on the NED Synclavier on their Savage album. His studio, at his home on the southern outskirts of Cologne, continued to be run by his widow Christa Fast and their son until her failing health and the general change in the music business forced them to offer its contents for sale in May 2006. Fast died on 1 June 2006. Conny's hand-built mixing desk

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