Lawo mc²36 Mixing Consoles Control Classical Sound in Austria’s Tonzauber Music Studio

The tonzauber (magic sound) classical music studio opened a further studio in the facilities of Casino Baumgarten in summer 2018 to complement its main location in the Vienna Concert Hall (Wiener Konzerthaus). For this historically important recording location, a compact but flexible mixing console system with full 96kHz capability that can also be used for mobile applications in larger outdoor productions was required.

After careful consideration, sound engineer and tonzauber founder Georg Burdicek opted for a Lawo mc²36 live audio production mixing console with 24 faders and a Lawo Compact I/O unit for additional inputs and outputs.

“The mc²36 is one of the few consoles that offers all music production and broadcast features, including a 5.1 mixing and bus structure, even at 96kHz, in an all-in-one system,” Burdicek explains. “Other systems are either orientated towards live sound, technologically outdated, cannot handle 96kHz or have an external DSP core. For us, the requirement was to be able to use the console both in the new studio without a machine room and in mobile applications. These criteria were only met by Lawo.”

Even though the sound engineer uses consoles from other manufacturers for his work in the recording studio, Burdicek has been working regularly with Lawo mc² audio consoles in various OB vans in cooperation with the production company TVN (Hanover) for many years. As a result, he is very familiar with the product and operating concept: “In addition to the convenient live and recording features, Lawo impresses with its reliability, uncompromising sound quality and customer support with an excellent reputation. The microphone preamps especially come quite close to my sound ideal,” he says – which is why he prefers Lawo for ambitious and extensive sound recordings.

Asked why this choice is so special for him, Burdicek responds: “tonzauber is a small company that is nevertheless very diversified. With the new console, we are not only upgrading the Casino Baumgarten – a very special, historic location – with uncompromising technology, but are also expanding our portfolio in the direction of Audio for Broadcast. In the future, we will attach great importance to this area, be it for the growing use of streaming or as an external service provider for established broadcasters. With the Lawo mc²36, we are presenting ourselves as a reliable partner with both solid and flexible technology.”

“Time and again, I am asked why, as a primarily recording-orientated recording studio in times of sophisticated DAWs and their controllers, we continue to invest in mixing consoles,” he adds. “As a service provider, we have to be as flexible as possible. It goes without saying that we work with software most of the time and also like to use the platforms preferred by our customers. The advantage of a mixing console, however, is that it is completely agnostic compared to what happens behind it. The musical workflow and ergonomics that are important for production, on the other hand, always remain the same.”

For the entrepreneur, it is precisely this ergonomics that plays the main role in the studio until the finished mix: the team still prefers to work with a “haptic” mixing console.

“I had the pleasure of personally picking up my console in Rastatt and spending a day with the team that would configure it in advance in order to optimally adapt it to my requirements,” Burdicek says. “I’m still amazed at how easily and flexibly even this small console can be configured to meet my needs. This significantly increases the ergonomic benefits of the entire system.”

Pictures Musikverein: The first mobile production with the Lawo mc²36 from tonzauber took place in the Vienna Musikverein’s legendary Golden Hall. Two works by Hector Berlioz were recorded with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Philippe Jordan. A total of 48 microphone input channels were used.

Pictures Casino Baumgarten: The very first use of the Lawo mc²36 only 24 hours after FAT in Rastatt: Studio production was at Casino Baumgarten with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and young Armenian cellist, Narek Hakhnazaryan.