“I am a one-man show. Studio owner, manager, composer, engineer, musician, technician, producer,” says Georg ‘Geo’ Schaller, who has overseen the recent upgrade of his ‘Weidenpesch Cologne Recording Studio’, which now includes an ASP4816 mixing desk.
“I was on the hunt for a desk with great mic preamps, and the ASP4816 was ideal”
The desk joins a rich collection of outboard equipment, an array of microphones including Neumann, AKG, Shure, Sennheiser and Rode, and itself, fitted all of Geo’s criteria. “I was on the hunt for a desk with great mic preamps, and the ASP4816 was ideal in that respect. It is also compact, sounds amazing and is technically outstanding,” he enthuses. This along with 40 years of musical experience – both making and recording – has enabled him to build his successful Cologne studio business.
Producing German alternative rock band, Guano Apes’ golden album and winning two German Record Critics prizes with Turkish/German band Yarınistan, Geo proves he can turn his hand to pretty much anything. He also composed the music for over 70 documentary films and 1000 soap opera episodes on German TV channel ARD, drawing on this inexhaustible musical curiosity and constantly broadening his experience.
“compact, sounds amazing and technically outstanding,”
Right now he’s producing a ‘jazz chanson’ project, Erna Rot; “I used the ASP4816 for summing these guys. It was a great success,” he adds. He’s also working with a pop, singer/songwriter, Michael Schweiger as well as a solo flute project (Geo is the flautist – just another string to his bow) with woodwind and electronics.
Yet, despite presiding over 30 sqm of bright, acoustically designed control room and two good-sized recording rooms, quality audio gear and a broad selection of instruments including a Grotrian Steinweg grand piano, lesser known Turkish flutes and a dulcimer, Geo Schaller still presents himself with humility. “I am proud that I have been able to realise my dream of making a living from music,” he says. “Creating music is, and always has been a good therapy, it really nourishes me. What more could you want?”
What more indeed? Audient wishes him all the best.
