Harry Thumann (28 February 1952 – 2001) was a
German electronic composer,
record producer and
sound engineer. He designed and built groundbreaking synthesizers and studio equipment from the early 1960s onwards.
Born
Harald Thumann in
Germany, he started out as a
drummer while getting a thorough grounding in audio engineering in German broadcasting. When touring lost appeal, Thumann put his musical and technical experience to work and started his first
recording studio in a bedroom at the family home. Thumann participated in the development of the SSL 4000 series of consoles, and took the first one for this studio. Premises for a permanent studio with live-in accommodation were found in
Germering near
Munich, and Countrylane Studios were born.
Thumann later recognised the potential of
MIDI, and used
Commodore 64 computers with MIDI cards, controlling a system that evolved into a synthesizer installation including
Fairlight II and Moog 3C modular system. This led to a string of
albums for
Rondò Veneziano, which married both acoustic instruments and synthesizers. Thumann's own second solo album was
Andromeda (1982).
Thumann had a run of what he called "dog records", under the 'Wonder Dog' name, which received some success in Germany and the
UK (through
E&S Music). The
single, "Ruff Mix", peaked at #31 in the
UK Singles Chart in September 1982.
With the introduction of the Yamaha DMP-7 digital mixer, Thumann built a second control room housing several DMP-7s as an integrated digital console system, interfaced with a rebuilt Neve broadcast console. Countrylane moved into
audio-visual production, and started producing its own
telefilms.
Discography
Singles
Remixes
- 1992 "Break Down The Line" (Extended Version) on Jam Tronik's "Stand By Me" (Dance Mix)
