Weryton Studios

Weryton Studios is a German professional recording studio company based in Munich, operating as a Kommanditgesellschaft (limited partnership). It is described as one of the leading German recording studios. The name "Weryton" is an acronym formed from the first letters of the first and last name of its founder, Werner Rygol. The company's history began in the mid-1970s, when Werner Rygol met the young Munich photographer Cornelia Modauer, who had also trained as a singer and dancer. After she placed second in a 1977 singing competition in Brannenburg, Rygol decided to build a singing career with her under the stage name Conny Morin. In 1978 he handed over the management of his company to his son and founded the Weryton Verlag, the Weryton label and the Weryton Studios to record and market Conny Morin's productions. Early recordings took place in various Munich studios and in a rehearsal room at Leuchtenbergring, where Rygol financed the installation of a TEAC TASCAM MSR-16 16-track tape machine. In 1980 Rygol found a suitable plot in Munich-Unterföhring on the site of a large sports outfitter, where a disused car workshop was demolished to build the new Weryton Studios. The three-storey building houses three studios, a separate reverb room and several lounge and utility rooms. The studios went into operation in 1982. Studio A with a large recording room and the reverb room are in the basement, Studio C (permanently rented) is on the ground floor, and Studio B is on the upper floor. In 1986 the studios were completely converted to digital, making them the first in Germany to do so. Weryton offers professional music production across digital, analog and hard-disk recording, with DSL internet access throughout. A Weryton specialty is string recordings with musicians of the Munich Philharmonic and string arrangements by Hermann Weindorf; one of the partners is a member of the Munich Philharmonic, helping ensure optimal artistic and technical recording quality. The recording room can accommodate 24 musicians. The studios emphasize a pleasant atmosphere for artists and producers, with a quiet location, private parking, a garden, a spacious lounge with satellite TV, DVD, internet and stereo system, catering service and a fully equipped kitchen. Over the decades, numerous national and international groups and solo artists have recorded at Weryton, including Alphaville, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Brunner & Brunner, Christina Stürmer, David Hasselhoff, Engelbert Humperdinck, Falco, Gianna Nannini, Heino, James Blunt, Karel Gott, Leo Sayer, Michael Cretu, Münchner Freiheit, Nena, Passport, Roland Kaiser, Reamonn, The Clash, Tokio Hotel, Udo Jürgens and Vicky Leandros. Producers who have booked the studios include Giorgio Moroder, Curt Cress, Dieter Falk, Edo Zanki, Harold Faltermeyer, Jack White, Klaus Voormann, Pete Waterman and Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen. In 2004 Werner Rygol handed the studios over to his long-time companions Hermann and Berthold Weindorf.

The history of the Weryton Studios began in the mid-1970s, when the Painten insulation manufacturer Werner Rygol met the young Munich photographer Cornelia Modauer. Modauer had already completed singing and dancing training in addition to her photography training and was an enthusiastic and talented singer. In 1977 a singing competition took place in Brannenburg, to which Cornelia Modauer was registered by her mother and accompanied by Werner Rygol. "Conny", as she was also called, took second place. Encouraged by this success, Werner Rygol decided to build a singing career with her, choosing the stage name Conny Morin. Since the competition attendees included several record producers but no composers, Rygol first looked for a suitable songwriter, finding one in Steve Mandy, a pseudonym of Hermann Weindorf (Klaus Doldinger, Oktagon, Zara-Thustra). In 1978 Werner Rygol handed over the management of his company to his son and founded the Weryton Verlag, the Weryton label and the Weryton Studios in order to record and market Conny Morin's productions himself. The first recordings still took place in various Munich studios, such as Countrylane Studio, Union Studio and the Rainbow Studios. Hermann Weindorf already had a larger rehearsal room for his band in Munich at Leuchtenbergring, where Werner Rygol had a TEAC TASCAM MSR-16 16-track tape machine installed at his own expense. The first Conny Morin productions were recorded there, as was Hermann Weindorf's film music for Didi Hallervorden's "Ach du lieber Harry". Further productions in the room, already operating as "Weryton Studios", were those of the Munich band Tax and the Regensburg formation Onyx. By the late 1970s Werner Rygol knew that this rehearsal room could only be a temporary arrangement, and he therefore looked for a suitable plot on which to build a completely new recording studio. In 1980 he found one in Munich-Unterföhring on Münchner Straße, on the site of a large sports outfitter. There was a disused car workshop there, which he had demolished in order to build the new Weryton Tonstudios. Although the building looks rather like a small single-family house, it contains some of the most modern studios in Germany. In the three-storey building, a total of 3 studios, a separate reverb room and several lounge and utility rooms were set up. The Weryton Studios went into operation in 1982. Studio A with a large recording room and the reverb room are in the basement, Studio C, which is permanently rented, is on the ground floor, and Studio B is on the upper floor. In 1986 the studios were completely converted to digital, making them the first in Germany to do so. This conversion led to an inquiry from the management of the band Queen, who wanted to record their album A Kind of Magic there. However, because Münchener Freiheit were recording their album Traumziel at Weryton at the same time, Queen had to move to another Munich studio. The name "Weryton" is an acronym from the initial letters of the first and last name of the founder Werner Rygol. The close collaboration between Werner Rygol and the Weindorf brothers proved to be a stroke of luck for them. Not only did the band of the Weindorf brothers, Zara-Thustra, record their three albums there and carry out their own productions, primarily in the Schlager and folk music field, but in 2004 Werner Rygol even handed the studios over to his long-time companions Hermann and Berthold Weindorf. Regarding equipment, the respective centerpieces of the two control rooms A and B are the consoles of the British manufacturer Solid State Logic: an SSL 4048E 48-channel mixing console and an SSL Axiom MT digital console, an 80-channel mixing console. The two associated recording rooms with 70 m² and 45 m² of space offer sufficient room even for larger ensemble recordings. Recording is done on a Sony PCM 3348 48-track digital DASH multitrack recorder as well as a Studer A 800 24-track tape machine. As for productions, immediately after the new studios were completed in 1982, Giorgio Moroder was one of the first producers to inquire about a new album with Donna Summer. He initially took the instrumental tracks recorded there to the USA to record the vocals, then returned to Munich to finally promote Donna Summer's newest album Donna Summer at the Weryton Studios with a large press campaign. Other producers have since booked the Weryton Studios: Curt Cress, Dieter Falk, Edo Zanki, Harold Faltermeyer, Jack White, Klaus Voormann, Pete Waterman, Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen and many others. Numerous national and international groups and solo artists have recorded at the Weryton Studios: Alphaville, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Brunner & Brunner, Christina Stürmer, David Hasselhoff, Engelbert Humperdinck, Falco, Gianna Nannini, Heino, James Blunt, Karel Gott, Leo Sayer, Michael Cretu, Münchner Freiheit, Nena, Passport, Roland Kaiser, Reamonn, The Clash, Tokio Hotel, Udo Jürgens and Vicky Leandros, among others.

• 2004

  Werner Rygol hands the studios over to Hermann and Berthold Weindorf.

• 1986

  The studios are completely converted to digital, becoming the first in Germany to do so; Queen inquires about recording A Kind of Magic there.

• 1982

  The Weryton Studios go into operation in the new three-storey building with three studios and a separate reverb room.

• 1980

  Rygol acquires a plot in Munich-Unterföhring and demolishes a disused car workshop to build the new Weryton Studios.

• 1978

  Werner Rygol hands over his company management to his son and founds the Weryton Verlag, the Weryton label and the Weryton Studios.

• 1977

  Cornelia Modauer takes second place at a singing competition in Brannenburg, prompting Werner Rygol to build a singing career with her as Conny Morin.

One of Germany's leading professional recording studios, offering high-end analog and digital production with a specialty in orchestral string recordings.

• Studio A

  Basement studio with a large 70 m² recording room, reverb room and SSL 4048E 48-channel console.

• Studio B

  Upper-floor studio with a 45 m² recording room and SSL Axiom MT digital 80-channel console.

• Studio C

  Ground-floor studio that is permanently rented.

• String recordings with Munich Philharmonic musicians

  A Weryton specialty: string recordings with musicians of the Munich Philharmonic and string arrangements by Hermann Weindorf.

1. 1Weryton Studios official websiteweryton.de
2. 2Weryton Studios – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
3. 3Weryton Studios – Wikidatawikidata.org