She often stood here: Christa Gugeler in the MPS studio in August 2023 © Photo: MPS-Studio e.V.
Christa Gugeler began working at the MPS studio in the Black Forest in 1973. Rolf Donner, the sound engineer and manager at the MPS studio, was looking for a professional backup with a degree. Criss Gugeler was tipped off to apply to the School for Broadcast Technology, SRT in Nuremberg, where she was trained. Even during her pre-study internship at SDR in Stuttgart, the recordings with the Erwin Lehn radio dance orchestra were particularly exciting. So she took the opportunity at MPS to gain further professional experience in a music studio.
Born in Leipzig, Rolf Donner had gained experience at Südwestfunk after the war and was instrumental in setting up the SABA studio (MPS studio from 1968) at the beginning of the 1960s. The highly praised „Most Perfect Sound“ would not have existed without Rolf Donner. For Christa Gugeler, it was a blessing to gain further professional experience with this expert.
1972 in the MPS studio. From left to right: Peter Trunk, Tony Inzalaco, at the mixing desk: Rolf Donner, Willi Fruth (recording Bora Rocovic „Ultra Native, MPS 2121289-0) (Photo: German Hasenfratz exclusive use and owner Archive Hasenfratz is: ©MPS-Studio e.V.)
This is how the young sound specialist came to Villingen: „My father drove me and Rolf Donner made him promise to take good care of me, which he did“. She rented a room, met her husband in the Zähringen town in the same year and, in sound engineer Donner, not only had a passionate sound engineer and experienced technician of the old school at her side, but also a likeable, fatherly friend to whom she owes a great deal and who put his heart and soul into her further training at the MPS studio.
During this time, she accompanied groundbreaking recordings and was present when Friedrich Gulda, Volker Kriegel, Albert Mangelsdorff, Monty Alexander, Peter Herbolzheimer and many other stars of the international jazz scene visited the studio. Jazz was also an almost exclusively male bastion in the MPS studio. If you look at the credits of MPS releases on Discogs, all the male producers and sound engineers are mentioned. Christa Gugeler's name can only be found on one record by Swiss composer and pianist George Gruntz, despite the long time she worked for the studio. „Those were the days,“ she says with a laugh.
Rolf Donner and Christa Gugeler in the MPS studio in the 1970s. (Photo archive Christa Gugeler)
When Christa Gugeler talks about Rolf Donner today, her eyes light up. „Back then, the women studied sound engineering for two semesters, the men for three.“ I learned a lot from Rolf Donner, whether it was laying cable harnesses, perfect recordings or soldering, he willingly explained everything to me in detail.“ And it was he who recommended his protégé to apply to SWR in Mainz even before MPS ended in 1983. .... „He took a look at my application and said in his unmistakable Saxon tongue, „You've got to mention that you've worked with Friedrich Gulda or Monty Alexander, otherwise it won't work!“
Of course Gugeler got the job at SWF, now SWR Mainz. Her knowledge from almost 10 years of experience at MPS helped her to take on a variety of tasks in the office and field service of radio broadcasting. Her knowledge was particularly in demand during the challenges of digitalization and the new construction of the studios in Mainz in 1996. Since this time in Mainz, she has also become at home in the Rhine-Hessian region. She still works with clay today, albeit to create sculptures. She has remained a critical listener. When she attends concerts with her husband, she enjoys good sound and appropriate volume.
50 years after the start of her career as a sound engineer, Christa Gugeler visited the MPS studio for an interview and told us some exciting stories. We say thank you and look forward to seeing you again soon.
Far left at the 24-track Ampex tape recorder: Christa Gugeler. Standing: Barry Finnerty. At the controls: Joachim Ernst Berendt, standing: Rimona Francis and HGBS (with tie). Far right at the production mixer: Rolf Donner. October 1977, MPS-Studio for the recording „Rimona Francis“ (MPS 0068.187) (Photo: German Hasenfratz exclusive use and owner Archive Hasenfratz is: ©MPS-Studio e.V.)