Retrospective
2014 was an important year for me because it was the 20th anniversary at the present location Neustiftgasse 68/23b in Vienna’s film and media quarter as you could call it, considering how many local film companies are nearby.
A part time job as live technician, mixing an own album together with a co-musician and an interest in the local music scene and sound art in general finally lead to my decision – 20 years ago – to engage in the endeavor of setting up and running a sound recording studio with the necessary infrastructure and finding my place in the local market.
During those years there have been shifts and changes in the way of music making, the change of technologies from analog to digital and market ups and downs, that kept me quite busy adapting to all of those. The ongoing support by musicians, especially Christof Kurzmann, sound engineers like Jupp Prenn and Record Labels like Hoanzl/Geco with its Co-Manager Christoph Moser helped to survive the critical first years and finding the niches fitting best for the existing capabilities.
The studio was originally designed by and built under the supervision of Inge Manka, Hans Schartner and Nico Kirisits and adapted in 2011 by Doris Kainacher from Architekturbüro Stelzhammer. The acoustic design was done in cooperation with DI Bernd Quiring.
Developing from a small post production studio to a recording facility for instrumental recordings that specializes also in movie sound production and audio books, realizing a concert series at the studio – the Live Recording Sessions (2001 – 2013), and hosting musicians – Christian Fennesz is producing his music at Studio B since 2003 – it was part of the every day work to meet the constantly changing demands and it has always been most inspiring to work with people from around the world who made Amann Studios my small but interesting workplace in a city with a long standing tradition but also a thriving international community of young and young at heart musicians.
