Studies
In the courses of study "Tonmeister" and "Recording Producer | Tonmeister" we train students to become Tonmeister and Recording Producer.
The job description of a Tonmeister
Together with the musicians, the Tonmeister is responsible for the result and quality of a music production. This requires an artistic-technical double qualification. In their function as recording producer they are responsible for the execution of the recording and the communication between the recording room and the sound control room, and they are the artistic director of the recording team. In their function as Tonmeister at the mixing desk, they are the technical director of the recording team.
A musical idea - at the time when Tonmeister is called in, usually already realized in a musical interpretation - as faithful as possible to the score, and to produce it as a recording in the best possible way in terms of performance practice and artistic-aesthetic quality, to process it under artistic and technical aspects, and to prepare it for reproduction in common reproduction formats, is the task of the Tonmeister. He supports and advises interpreters and, if necessary, composers in their musical creative will by providing feedback and - if necessary - influencing the musical events before the microphones, and also by using the technical tools on the way from the musical rehearsal to the actual recording to the finished sound medium. In popular music, the Tonmeister is often also active as a producer and works closely with supporting sound engineers, technicians and the artists in the team.
Graduates of these Tonmeister courses are mainly prepared for the following areas of responsibility: On the one hand for the profession of an artistic recording producer, also known as a music director, and on the other hand for the profession of a mixing engineer for music recordings (balance engineer). In principle, both professions can be covered by a Detmold graduate, and each graduate will find his or her focus later in professional life. The fields of activity in popular music are also very diverse: producer, sound engineer, composer, sound designer, to name but a few facets.
The range of applications includes all formations, from solo to symphony orchestra, from jazz duo to big band, from singer/songwriter to metal band, from live recording to the broadcast of a cathedral concert or an opera, from stereo recording to a 120-track production for wave field synthesis, and stylistically across all epochs of music history to the present.
Tonmeister work in the fields of radio, film and television, and in private recording studios. Graduates of the Tonmeister course are increasingly opening up related professional fields in the fields of sound reinforcement (FOH), in theatres and opera houses as well as in the development of audio technology due to their high-quality and multi-faceted training.
You can download the information brochure of the Erich-Thienhaus-Institut (status 2014) as PDF file.