SoundGym Hero: Holger Dehnhardt

Music producer, software developer, and project manager. Currently from Berlin, Germany, Holger Dehnhardt is this month's SoundGym Hero!

Who are you, and where are you from?

I am Holger Dehnhardt, born 1967 in Aachen / Germany. For 35 years now I live in Berlin. I'm married, have two children (18, 21), and work as a software developer and project manager.

Sometimes I use the synonym "Hold" because both my first name and my last name are quite difficult to pronounce for non-German speakers.

How did you get into music?

I started playing classical guitar at the age of 10 and gave it up very quickly.

Two to three years later, I stumbled across a book where I only had to learn two chords on the guitar, and then I could sing and play along with my first song. Since then, music has not let me go.

I have played in various rock bands, founded a small recording studio (Mehrklang Studios), and at some point gave up again because I realized that I had to earn money somehow. ;-)

I sang in choirs and founded my own choir, which, to my great joy, still exists today—although without me.

Then, I tried my hand in a jazz band for a few years, in which we also sang barbershop pieces.

I've also been taking singing lessons for a number of years, and last year, I released my first album, 'Easy,' at the age of 55!

What do you like to do for fun outside of working on music?

Working on music software, I've been using Linux for two decades now for everything, including music. In the photos, you can see Harrison Mixbus, a software based on Ardour, running on Linux, which has been my main DAW for several years.

The wonderful thing about Linux is that if I'm missing some functionality, I just develop it myself.

I have made some tweaks on QTractor a long time ago, modified a Firewire driver so that it works with my interface, created some utility plugins, and developed an adapter to use Softube Console 1 under Mixbus and Ardour.

What's your most useless skill or talent?

I'm not even sure if I have a useful skill - so please don't ask me about the useless ones ;-)

What inspires you to keep making music?

It is the music itself. I listen to the radio almost fanatically and am always happy about new sounds, ideas, and good lyrics.
Besides, it's a wonderful balance for me. I can lose myself in the musical work and forget my often quite stressful job.

And then there are always those magical moments when suddenly something sounds 'right' - no matter if it's a short idea, my own piece, or one of the many practice pieces from the Mixdown Training Room (Thank you, Magghy, for your initiative!).

If you could sit down to a session with any artist, who would it be?

When it comes to musicians, it would be Sting: an absolute genius. He is diverse, imaginative, complex, and always in love with the sound. Watch the DVD 'All This Time...'.

When it comes to sound engineers, it would be Daniel Dettwiler: an absolute genius. He is diverse, imaginative, complex, and always in love with sound. Watch him as he performs a mix without any equalization, using only different analog compressors.

I think you get the point :-)

Any habits you have before starting a session?

No, not before. I'm way too impatient. Usually, I listen through all the tracks to get an idea of what I have and to identify obvious problems. Then I start with a rough mix and afterward concentrate on drums, bass, and voices (if there are any).

The rest is highly dependent on the material.

If you could pick one, what would be the theme song of your life?

Phew, that's hard. May I name a few hundred;-) Ok, Fehlfarben is one of my absolute all-time favorites and I would choose 'Paul ist Tot' 

What is your favorite piece of music gear you own?

This is definitely the Lexicon LXP-1 reverb unit. I still have it from when I had the recording studio and every time I use it. Everything sounds so familiar.

Basically, I think listening habits play a very big role. If we weren't so used to having those analog distortions in recordings—or for those of my generation, the crackle and hiss of vinyl—we probably would have stuck with the sound design of the first CDs.

In addition: My wonderful self-made singing box, which you can see in one of the photos, and the analog paper notebook where I write down everything that comes to my mind during listening...

What is your favorite SoundGym feature?

I really like the workouts. They have significantly improved my listening skills and the Mixdown Training Room, which I have already mentioned.

But I can't help but criticize it as well:

The 'learning programs' are often put together in an unorganized way, containing a lot of duplicates and very specific material and questions. For example, there are inquiries about particular software synthesizers that are absolutely useless for most of us. I'm sure this can be done much better!

What does the future hold for Holger Dehnhardt?

Since I am an incredibly curious person, the future will hold many interesting experiences and insights for me.

I might also be able to practice more at ToneGym; I'm still missing a few skills. And, of course, a second album?

You can follow Holger on his Site, Spotify and Bandcamp