Library Music Themes

General Sharing & Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: C0NN1E on September 25, 2022, 09:41:29 PM

Title: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: C0NN1E on September 25, 2022, 09:41:29 PM
Good day all.

As you all might know by now, I'm pretty extensive with the amount of informational content I've been able to provide. So, here's some fantastic news.

I was able to email Gerhard Narholz, the former-CEO and founder of Sonoton (or still CEO, I kind of don't know) and we sent some back and forth replies. Just today, he emailed back and said he's open to doing a sort of interview with me. So, I ask you all.

What are some questions I should ask him? Try to heed from asking anything incredibly specific, like a music release or something. But if you do have one of those questions, I wouldn't be opposed. :-)
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: GraniteCity on September 25, 2022, 11:26:48 PM
Do you remember any of the synths and drum machines used in the 80s and 90s besides the "Dramatic Workshop" which uses real live orchestra?
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: C0NN1E on September 25, 2022, 11:50:15 PM
Do you remember any of the synths and drum machines used in the 80s and 90s besides the "Dramatic Workshop" which uses real live orchestra?

That's a good one :>
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: Mr on September 26, 2022, 12:07:02 AM
Wow, interesting!
First of all, you should be sure to send him a whole lot of love from us : D

I have a few things I'm curious about - though I don't expect an answer to all of them, heh:
1. Gerhard Narholz is known to be a composer, arranger and conductor, but does he play any instruments himself - and has he played on any recordings, for Sonoton, Intersound or otherwise?

2. Long-time Sonoton mastering engineer Wolfgang Meyscheider has worked on a considerable part of Sonoton's material until c. 2017/2018. Is he still alive, perhaps retired?

3. A lot of Sonoton's now-iconic album art was apparently photographed by Narholz himself. Was this out of pure necessity or is he into photography?
The photography/cover art is often credited to "Intersound" - did they ever serve as an "image library" à la Getty Images/Shutterstock?

4. Narholz is maybe the most prolific user of pseudonyms in German library.
Sonoton has to my knowledge, curiously, not really acknowledged he's behind names like "Sammy Burdson" and "John Epping", so I'm not sure if he'll even want to talk about it - but I've always wondered how it all came about; why does he use so many pseudonyms, and is there any backstory to how the names themselves came about?
I recently learned his middle name is likely Otto, which is how "Otto Sieben" ('eight seven') came about.

- Also, specifically, why was he and Bert Obermair "Paul Prennessel" and "Paul Prennessel"?


I'll let you know if I can think of any more.
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: Mr on September 26, 2022, 12:20:57 AM
I also really hope he'll consider writing a biography - he surely has tons of fascinating stories to tell from his many travels and projects.
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: KPM Lover on September 26, 2022, 03:22:10 AM
A great question for him is: Why, in the early years of Sonoton,   were the songs of you and other composers who worked for you lynched by Berry Music, former owner of the Conroy and Studio One labels?
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: Lord Thames on September 26, 2022, 02:52:17 PM
I'd like to know more about the Norman Candler Magic Strings - how did they come about, how much of a boost the three star rating from the BBC was, and were there really 48 violins on the sessions?
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: Moleoman on September 26, 2022, 06:10:14 PM
Here are my questions:

1. How it is possible, that Sonoton still distributes in its home market (German-speaking Europe) Berry Music (including Conroy label), even though it was acquired in 1973 by EMI (KPM's then owners), who acquired another German production music library Selected Sound (now EMI Production Music Germany) in 1989?

2. Did Sonoton have a close relationship with Gunther Greffenius' Coloursound/Edition Show Business (acquired by EMI in 1991) and if it did, how large it was? Both libraries during that time had a similar composer roster and Wolfgang Meyscheider also mastered some of Coloursound releases.
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: kpmhill on September 28, 2022, 02:31:01 AM
Very cool. Looking forward to this.
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: C0NN1E on September 28, 2022, 02:34:52 AM
Working on the questions right now.

Here's a full list, as it is atm. Feel free to post about anymore that I could add.
hxxps://docs.google.com/document/d/1-2DH7v1bMnB5SPQXTl1aOMLJm2cr0gHWxaTnMC8He7A/edit?usp=sharing
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: C0NN1E on September 28, 2022, 08:51:42 PM
I've emailed it to Narholz. It took him about a week and a half to send the latest reply on Sunday, which was regarding how he would gladly talk to me and wanted me to suggest a date something within the next 2 weeks.

Now I just need to wait. :-)
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: C0NN1E on October 03, 2022, 02:02:50 PM
I come with good news! Check this out! Though, it seems he misspelled October! :p

(https://i.ibb.co/k5Ghg2S/image.png)

Everyone, we are in for some serious goodies. Strap in those seatbelts.
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: C0NN1E on October 03, 2022, 04:44:56 PM
Interview is set for Sunday at 10 AM EST! Stay tuned everyone!
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: kpmhill on October 04, 2022, 12:50:46 AM
Well done!
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: C0NN1E on October 08, 2022, 03:23:04 AM
A great question for him is: Why, in the early years of Sonoton,   were the songs of you and other composers who worked for you lynched by Berry Music, former owner of the Conroy and Studio One labels?

Sonoton struck a deal for Berry Music to be their international publisher. You can read that in "Unusual Sounds: the Hidden History Of Library Music" on the Sonoton page. This carried on up until EMI bought out Berry Music.
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: C0NN1E on October 08, 2022, 03:24:02 AM
Alright everyone, Sunday is nearly here! I'm both excited and nervous to talk to Narholz, but I know I can do this. Wish me luck on Sunday.
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: KPM Lover on October 08, 2022, 03:42:51 AM
Thanks so much for the reply Connie! But this story that the partnership between Sonoton and Berry Music ended with EMI's purchase of Berry is a lie. Because the partnership didn't actually end until 1977, that was 4 years after the purchase of EMI.
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: C0NN1E on October 08, 2022, 06:04:36 AM
Thanks so much for the reply Connie! But this story that the partnership between Sonoton and Berry Music ended with EMI's purchase of Berry is a lie. Because the partnership didn't actually end until 1977, that was 4 years after the purchase of EMI.

Interesting... I'll have to look more into it. Thanks for informing me :>
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: Walk the Skies 202 on October 08, 2022, 10:20:31 AM
I doubt if Narholz had any direct say in the matter, but I'm curious to what was the process with selecting material from the vinyl albums and putting them on a CD a decade or so later, regardless of if that CD was a compilation or not. (Case in point, Narholz had a lot of timpani tracks under the Sammy Burdson pseudonym on SON 252 in 1986, then selected bits were reissued on SCD 221 in 1996.)
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: C0NN1E on October 10, 2022, 02:13:48 AM
The interview was a success. Everyone, I hope you enjoy. Mr and KPM Lover, I believe this should answer your questions adequately.

Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: kpmhill on October 10, 2022, 04:21:24 AM
Awesome.
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: a8detective on October 10, 2022, 06:25:07 AM
     Fantastic! I enjoyed your interview, or "videomeeting," with Mr. Narholz. What a great guy. I particularly liked his comments about his photography and his use of aliases. Thank you for doing this, C0NN1E. Nice job!
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: Fuzi on October 11, 2022, 12:48:39 PM
Thank you Connie for arranging the talk, very interesting to hear about the context where this music was created and the start of Sonoton's business

Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: Mr on October 11, 2022, 01:28:14 PM
Great job! Really interesting to finally hear the man talk - like he reiterated a few times during the interview, he certainly enjoys staying in the 'background', like his music.
The Japanes connection was a particularly interesting tidbit that I don't think is documented anywhere else.

Thanks for including my questions, and doubly so for namedropping LMT! It was a bit bizarre, but also very exciting to hear him react to that, haha.
Title: Re: Gerhard Narholz: Interview in sight
Post by: C0NN1E on October 11, 2022, 07:21:31 PM
Wow, I'm glad you all enjoyed it. It's not everyday we get to speak to a library music legend. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity. :>