Seeheim-Jugenheim, Germany — Having recorded through a vintage Harrison analog mixing console in Sweden some years ago, German producer, engineer, educator and studio owner Kristian “Kohle” Kohlmannslehner was pleased to discover that the input channel components are now available as 500 series modules. Harrison’s high-performance 32Cpre+ microphone preamplifier, MR3eq 3-band parametric equalizer and Comp compressor are now regularly in use at Kohle’s Kohlekeller Studios near Frankfurt am Main in Germany.
“What I like about 500 gear is that I can move those units around between my three control rooms,” says Kohle, whose credits include rock, metal and hardcore projects with the likes of Powerwolf, Crematory, Aborted, Hämatom and Electric Callboy. “If a colleague needs a mic pre module they can just pull it out of my rack and put it into their rack. That's cool for the modern workflow. So every week you will find the Harrison modules in different control rooms in the studio, depending on who needs them.”
A 20-year veteran of the music business, Kohle was familiar with the Harrison brand but hadn’t worked with the equipment until about six years ago, when he produced a project on a 4832c console at The End Studios in Lund, Sweden with engineer Ulf Blomberg. “It sounded great, I remember falling in love with the EQ. It sounded so musical and was so intuitive. One thing that I love about the Harrison is the simplicity and how easy it is to achieve the sound you want.”
Kohle has worked in the genre of metal for many years and knows what works and what doesn’t. “What defines metal is drum tone and guitar tone,” he says. “The sheer power of drums in metal is so important. And drums are where you need to do the most tweaking and the most processing. A metal kick drum doesn't sound like a kick drum in a room; you really need to push the highs, push the lows, scoop the mids and just go crazy. This is where analog gear shines, because you really need to dig into the sound. The modules are musical and easy to use — perfect for an artist or producer trying to find their sound. You can't really overuse them, and that's the strength of a good analog design.”
Kohle has an academy, Kohle Audio Kult, where he teaches audio engineering and production, and recently filmed a video featuring the Harrison MR3eq module: “The EQ works so well, especially for tracking. I've mostly used the EQs for tracking drums and guitars, but also for tracking vocals.” On his YouTube channel video, he says, “I showed how I EQ a snare with the Harrison EQ. It's so effective and easy to use. You can't really destroy anything, even if you boost a lot of highs, because it sounds very musical.”
Kohle has been so impressed with the results he has been getting from Harrison’s MR3eq 500 series module that he’s considering buying more for when he is recording: “I always EQ my kick, snare and toms on the way in, because I know I'm going to do that anyway, so why not do it while tracking?”
With guitars, the tone is typically achieved at the source. As a result, he usually doesn’t need to apply any EQ. “But you need a little something here and there. And the Harrison filters are very nice for that,” he says. The 32Cpre+ offers both low-pass and high-pass filters. “I have been using the mic pre on guitars and vocals. It sounds really nice; not overly colored, but with a nice character. The filters sound really good — not only the HP/LP filters in the mic pre, but also the high-pass filter in the EQ module. They all sound great.”
As for Harrison’s Comp compressor module, he continues, “I have it on a kick drum right now in a mix. It's basically one knob — set and forget. It's so simple, but it works on so many sources and just makes my life easy.”
Kohle was a musician before he switched to full-time production. “I stumbled into this whole production world. I'm a metal musician who happened to become a producer. I was always interested in recording, fine-tuning and capturing the perfect moment or take. I woke up one day realizing I had become much more of a producer than I am a musician.” Now, after years of working as an engineer and producer, “I just know how to use the right tools in the right way to achieve what I want. My ears tell me when I'm right and when I'm wrong,” he says.
Kohlekeller Studios is very much a digital facility, he says. “I'm working on several projects at a time, so I need recall. But there are racks of analog gear. I use analog gear doing the mixing, but I use it especially for recording. On the recording side, I'm very much an analog guy, creating the sound and getting it right before the mix to ‘tape.’ That's why I also have a huge collection of guitar amps; I record guitars with tube amps, even if I have all the plug-ins.”
Currently, he’s working with three bands on a variety of projects. “I'm recording a German melodic death metal band called Kanonenfieber. I'm also mixing a live DVD for a band called Long Distance Calling — with the Harrison compressor on the kick drum. And I'm working with a metal band from Jerusalem called Melechesh. Metal is such a passionate and honest genre. There are so many people who passionately make this kind of music because they love it. There's a real spirit in that scene.”
