Harry Thumann (28 February 1952 – 2001) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

electronic

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and sound engineer. He designed and built groundbreaking synthesizers and studio equipment from the early 1960s onwards. Born Harald Thumann in

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, he started out as a

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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 A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

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

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near

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, and Country Lane Studios were born. Thumann later recognised the potential of

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, and used

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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

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s for Rondò Veneziano, which married both acoustic instruments and synthesizers. Thumann released his first solo album ''American Express'' in 1979. It had the hit single "Underwater", which was later used in the video game '' Grand Theft Auto IV''. His second solo album was ''Andromeda'', released in 1982, contained the highly influential track ''The Sphinx'', which later inspired the theme to '' Knight Rider''. Both albums remain out of print and only released on vinyl. ''American Express'' was given a remastered digital release on iTunes, but ''Andromeda'' remains left out. 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 Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

). The

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "Ruff Mix", peaked at #31 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

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. Country Lane moved into

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production, and started producing its own telefilms.

Discography

Albums

* 1979 ''American Express'' # "American Express" – 7:26 # "Give A Little Help" – 8:30 # "Underwater" – 6:05 # "You Turn Me On" – 4:45 # "Christine" – 6:30 * 1983 ''Andromeda'' # "Andromeda" - 7:48 # "I'm Happy To Be In The Sun" - 5:30 # "Out Of Tune" - 2:31 # "Welcome Back, Jolette" - 4:58 # "Bitch" - 3:30 # "Paris 1944" - 3:57 # "Sphinx" - 5:19 # "Living On A Farm" - 2:56

Singles

* 1979 "Underwater" - UK #41; US

Hot Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

#17Allmusic.com - Billboard Singles
/ref> * 1982 "Andromeda" * 1982 "Living On A Farm"

Remixes

* 1992 "Break Down the Line" (Extended Version) on

Jam Tronik Jam Tronik was a German Eurodance group which consisted of Anja Lukaseder (also known as Nikita Warren), Ulrich Fischer and Volkmar Kalff. Charlie Glass was the founder and producer of the project. The group released Dance music, dance cover version ...

's "Stand by Me" (Dance Mix)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thumann, Harry 1952 births 2001 deaths German composers German record producers German audio engineers German keyboardists 20th-century German musicians