Based in Vienna, Austria, the Synchron Stage (Synchronhalle) was built in the early 1940s as part of a movie production complex. Amongst other films, it was used to record orchestras and do post-production for German wartime propaganda. After the war and a cold war battle for Vienna, the city was divided into four different zones. Synchron was in the Soviet Zone, and, although there were a number of famous recordings done these during the '50s, the stage fell into disuse in the 1960s until 2013, when Herb Tucmandl made a significant investment of money, time, and energy to rebuild it. Today Synchron Stage Vienna is an incredible combination of historic design and cutting-edge audio technology and attracts the top film composers for recording their scores. Along with SSL Duality Delta consoles there is a high-capacity, redundant Dante network connecting every room, so that every audio channel is available anywhere in the facility. There are 35 SSL Network I/O MADI-Bridge units and 22 Alpha-Link MX audio converters deployed in the system. Then there is Synchron's amazing instrument collection, which includes a collection of historic pianos, a huge array of percussion instruments, and a Lenkwil cinema organ that is so unique that it helps make the Synchron Stage a protected Viennese landmark. All of this is represented in the many sample libraries that are produced by the parent company Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL). Check their latest release Synchron Brass. We were lucky enough to receive a pre-pandemic tour of the Synchron Stage tour guided by Alexander Machat of the VSL team. We share part of that experience now. |
