Composer ♦ Musician ♦ Audio Engineer

Meet Michael Gerhold: His education, his career, his credits and his current activities.

When I first had the opportunity to listen to an acoustic drum set at the age of 15, it was all up with me. A few months later I had my first drum kit standing in the basement and I recruited some friends for my first band. Another year later I bought my first guitar and began writing my own music.

The more bands I joined and formed, the bigger was my desire for high-quality recordings of these. That time a journey started for me, a journey into the depths of audio engineering that goes on until today. Within the first years, I tried to learn everything in a self-teaching manner, but then I studied at the School of Audio Engineering in Frankfurt am Main to professionalize myself.  I got my Audio Engineering Diploma in the year 2008. During the following years I worked as audio engineer and freelance private tutor.

Today I’m the owner of a free institute for after school tutoring, but still follow my vocation on the weekends and during school vacations. I specialized in recording local bands in my well equipped home studio. Corresponding with the music genre I always made myself, those bands mostly play “Hard’n’Heavy” music, but I also did several recordings of jazz bands, indie rock bands and others. Besides that, I work as a live engineer on concerts and also did various live recordings in the past.

Our short JACOB’S BLESSING starring Günter Staniewski and Sabine Wackernagel is now online on Vimeo in Full-HD and its full playback length of approx. 15 minutes. JACOB’S BLESSING has proven to be a milestone in production efficiency: no film at such an ultra-tight budget has ever looked more cinematic.

JACOB’S BLESSING NOW ONLINE

Our short JACOB’S BLESSING starring Günter Staniewski and Sabine Wackernagel is now online on Vimeo in Full-HD and its full playback length of approx. 15 minutes. JACOB’S BLESSING has proven to be a milestone in production efficiency: no film at such an ultra-tight budget has ever looked more cinematic.

• Check JAKOB’S BLESSING’s Cast & Crew

Our short JACOB’S BLESSING starring Günter Staniewski and Sabine Wackernagel has had its theatrical world premiere by the end of March 2011 in the hall of the Kassel Institute for Music. JACOB’S BLESSING has proven to be a milestone in production efficiency: no film at such an ultra-tight budget has ever looked more cinematic. The film has been welcomed with a warm applause.

THEATRICAL PREMIERE OF JACOB’S BLESSING

Our short JACOB’S BLESSING starring Günter Staniewski and Sabine Wackernagel has had its theatrical world premiere by the end of March 2011 in the hall of the Kassel Institute for Music. JACOB’S BLESSING has proven to be a milestone in production efficiency: no film at such an ultra-tight budget has ever looked more cinematic.

The film has been welcomed with a warm applause. After the actors had been introduced to the audience live on stage the Lego heart had to go: A lucky woman was quick enough to squeeze out the right answer and won this original movie prop. The buffet and sparkling wine provided an appropriate basis for vivid after show discussions about movies, love and life in general.

• Check JAKOB’S BLESSING’s Cast & Crew

Martin Schmidt’s animated short ‘Precise Peter’ has passed last year’s festival circuits with tremendous success: 9 international film festival awards and still counting! Roman Beilharz has worked out the nifty sound design together with Schmidt that makes this ‘father machinery’ run until its breakdown.

Animated Short (D 2009)

Running Time: 5′ 37”

Production: University of Arts, Kassel Format: 35mm/Full-HD

Screenplay, Director & Animation: Martin Schmidt

Sound-Design & Music: Roman Beilharz Mix: UVASONAR Media Pool

Release Date: 2010 Status: Finished

Full Credits see crew-united.com

Awards:

1. Honorary Mention, Computeranimation/Film/VFX, Prix ARS Electronica 2010
2. Gryphon Award for Best Short Film, Elements +3, 40th Giffoni Film Festival (2010)
3. Audience Award for Best Student Film, Anima Mundi Animation Festival 2010
4. Best Kids Award, Fantoche Animation Festival 2010
5. Kids Audience Award, Fantoche Animation Festival 2010
6. Winner of the day, ContraVision Film Festival 2010
7. Audience Award, Haydauer Filmtage 2010
8. Best Animation Award, Kinofest Int. Digital Film Festival 2010
9. Best Animation Award, Skena Up Student Film & Theatre Festival 2010

Synopsis:
Since the birth of his junior, precise Peter has been looking forward to this day! Finally the little tyke will be introduced to the subtleties of the family ritual. The fish is ready, the garden prepared and the sun is shining as planned. The great dinner ceremony may begin!

“Precise Peter” is a humorous reflection of a barbecue that could have happened in my family’s allotment garden. The father takes great pleasure in his ritual, as he has been perfecting it over many years. His enjoyment can only be beaten by the fun his little son is experiencing, while trying to be a part of the adult world.

Corresponding to the father’s character, the world in the film is a geometric one. Every frame, step and object has to match a 90-degree angle. The color spectrum is that of a vacation photo, lit up for posterity by Photoshop. For the composition of this world, 3D Computer-Animation offered a precise solution. To reach an exact definition though, the starting point was a very detailed, drawn animatic.

“Martin Schmidt’s Precise Peter is an inventive bit of CG filmmaking, made more impressive by the fact that it’s a student film produced at the German school University of Art Kassel. It’s fun to see a film in which the animation itself plays such an important role in the storytelling. The sound design, which has a rhythmical quality of its own, adds to the experience.”
Cartoonbrew.com

“Precise Peter”, presented by the School of Art Kassel and produced by Martin Schmidt, is an animated film that comes along with teutonic angularity – and resolves in a wonderfully sympathetic Chaos that can only be described as a happy ending. The short animated film is one of the most decorated entries in the (2010 Youtube Play) competition, as it has already won a number of prizes. Most recently, it was awarded at the Ars Electronica 2010.
“The ultimate YouTube-Playlist”/Spiegel.de

• Youtube Play Biennale, Cooperation with the Guggenheim Museum
• Check the project’s profile on IMDB.com
• Check Cast & Crew on Crew-United.com

Our brand new short JACOBS BLESSING starring Günter Staniewski and Sabine Wackernagel is now in post production and will be shown worldwide around February 2011. After the web premiere on this site – powered by Vimeo – there will be a theatrical premiere in Kassel at the end of February. This production promises to be a milestone in efficiency: no film at such an ultra-tight budget has ever looked more cinematic. Custom camera gear and a tremendous amount of computing power has made this possible.

JACOB’S BLESSING in Post Production

Our brand new short JACOB’S BLESSING starring Günter Staniewski and Sabine Wackernagel is now in post production and will be shown worldwide around February 2011. After the web premiere on this site – powered by Vimeo – there will be a theatrical premiere in Kassel in March.

This production promises to be a milestone in efficiency: no film at such an ultra-tight budget has ever looked more cinematic. Custom camera gear and a tremendous amount of computing power has made this possible. Stay tuned!

liest aus seinem Buch “Halbschatten”

Produktion und Musik: Roman Beilharz

Kamera: Adrian Siedentopf, Roman Beilharz

Erscheinungsjahr: 2010 / UVASONAR Media Pool

Heinrich Siedentopf studierte in Tübingen und promovierte dort im Fach Klassische Archäologie. Im Anschluss arbeitete er an der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in München. Teilnahme an den deutschen Grabungen in Samos, Tiryns und Ägina. Lehraufträge an der Universität und Verfasser von Arbeiten über vorgriechische und griechische Kunst. Früh faszinierte ihn die schöne Literatur. In der Schulzeit schrieb er Gedichte und Theaterstücke, später die Kurzgeschichten “Der fremde Mann”, “Die Lichtangel” und “Die Reise nach Jerusalem”. Im Jahr 2010 sind die Erzählsammlungen “Poesie auf Reisen”, “Das Mädchen aus Eresos”, “Halbschatten” sowie “Der Fridolin und Nachtfalter” erschienen. Er beschäftigt sich mit der Rekonstruktion altgriechischer Musik und komponiert Kammermusik und Lieder.

• Bücher von Heinrich Siedentopf
• Das Buch “Halbschatten” bei Amazon bestellen

CD: STINE

Eine Novelle – Theodor Fontane

Hörbuch nach Theodor Fontanes Novelle STINE

Produktion und Sprecherin: Sabine Wackernagel

Musik: Hartmut Schmidt

Aufnahme, Mischung und Mastering: Musica Urbana, Kassel

Lauflänge: ca. 80 Minuten

Erscheinungsjahr/Verlag: 2010 / UVASONAR Media Pool

Ein buntes Gesellschaftsbild aus dem Berlin der Gründerzeit. Wunderbar geschilderte Frauengestalten, die kleinbürgerliche, zarte Stine, die sinnlich proletarische Witwe Pittelkow und die komödiantische Vorstadt-Schauspielerin Wanda sind konfrontiert mit den Herren des Adels, deren Doppelmoral Fontane mit feiner Ironie beschreibt.

Dieses vielschichtige Bild der damaligen Berliner Gesellschaft war noch 1888 so brisant, dass Fontane die größten Schwierigkeiten hatte, den kleinen Roman bei einer der gängigen Zeitschriften als Vorabdruck zu bringen. Er seufzte:
“Schlimm ist es für mich, dass mir die sogenannten Familienblätter, in denen sub rosa ganz anders geschweinigelt wird, verschlossen sind.”

Sabine Wackernagel liest diese verschiedenen Personen mit komödiantischem Esprit und großem
Einfühlungsvermögen. Meine Favoriten sind die Witwe Pittelkow und der
alte Baron Papageno. Zusammnen mit der atmosphärisch gelungenen Musik
von Hartmut Schmidt ein großes Hörvergnügen und sehr empfehlenswert.

Hörer Hubenthal auf Audible.de

• Bei Audible.de als MP3-Download kaufen (€ 11,95)
• Diese CD bestellen (€ 15,99 zzgl. € 2,- Versandkosten)
• Mehr über Sabine Wackernagel

Sampled Grand Piano with Karma!

We have been sampling our vintage 1892 Bechstein grand piano out of the legacy of the armenian virtuoso Maria Kalamkarian and created a virtual instrument for NI Kontakt together with Pianowave. It incorporates 6 dynamic layers plus release-, sustain-, hammer- and alternating pedal-samples that are controlled by a highly efficient scripting logic in real time. The instrument reacts just as a real piano; stunts like repedalling are no problem.

Thanks to our unique HBT (hybrid bit technology), perfectly looped late note tails and Pianowave’s proprietary voice management, this high-end library is compact enough for quick downloads and overflowing hard disks as well as “modest” enough for a solid performance even on weaker systems.

The playing of this Kontakt instrument brings up a colorful and warm sound, that is despite its nice depth and ambience still direct enough to create a convincing “real piano playing” illusion. Our Kalamkarian Bechstein has an elegant timbre in the lower dynamics while being capable of turning into whipping thunder if you dig in hard – without getting muddy. Occasional “sloppy” notes represent this old lady and have not been banned to keep up the true charm of this instrument.

• Download Demo for Kontakt 2/3 (313 MB/free)
• Check out all Pianowave libraries
• Buy at soundsondemand.com (822 MB/Euro 79)

Listen to our dry, linear Kalamkarian Bechstein Demos with just a slight brickwall limiting in the output stage:

tchaikovsky-pletnev-sleeping-beauty-adagio

rschumann-abegg-variations-op1-excerpt

© Pianowave & UVASONAR Media Pool 2009. Produced by Stefan Kortner & Roman Beilharz. – Scripting and Main Editing: Stefan Kortner -  Recording and Mastering: Roman Beilharz – Recording session player: Donato Deliano – Piano technician: Stephan Cobré.