Maik Styrnol is an audio engineer, film composer and director based in Lahr in the Black Forest, Germany. He studied composition for film and theatre at the ArtEZ conservatory in the Netherlands and co-founded punchline studio with his brother Pirmin Styrnol in 2015.
“Everything that comes in, I mix personally – no team in the background, no presets. And if I don’t think a recording can be turned into something good, I’ll tell you up front.”
Mixing and mastering live recordings
His focus is mixing and mastering live recordings: concert recordings and live albums for bands, as well as orchestra, choir and wind band concerts. His experience ranges from jazz, rock and classical music to work for radio, television, cinema and advertising, plus audiobooks and the radio documentary series “Momente des Sports”.
He mixes bands direct and close, live recordings included; the atmosphere comes from the audience rather than the reverb of the venue. Bleed between microphones is now mostly removed with machine-learning tools. With classical music, on the other hand, the room is part of the sound and is deliberately mixed in.
Concert films and music videos
At punchline studio, Maik directs music videos and concert films and often handles camera and editing as well. Since 2020 he has produced the concert film series WeLive, which won the Deutscher Rock & Pop Preis in 2020 and the Alternativer Medienpreis in 2021. For the Bunker Concert in a former NATO bunker in Lahr, he was responsible for directing, producing and editing.
For the documentary Heart and Soul about the band Scaramouche, the team filmed Deep Purple in Klagenfurt, including an interview with bassist Roger Glover. For the Music & Stories tour with Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash and Nazareth, they produced backstage content, a stage opener and a trailer within 48 hours.
Film music
As a composer, Maik has scored documentaries and short films, including “Winter in Lviv” (2017), “Für ein Lächeln” (2018) and “Lage der Nation” (2019). On the documentary “Heart and Soul” he is responsible for creative direction, sound and music. His own releases are on Apple Music.
At the start of the Covid pandemic, when musicians were stuck at home, he re-produced the song “Side by Side” (Scaramouche / Get Endres) with a long list of instruments recorded at home, directed and mixed remotely from the studio, together with a music video.
Artists and clients
- Bands and artists: Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Nazareth, ForF, Seraina Telli, Dominik Büchele, Boum Percussion, TUYS, QULT, Cornelia Lanz
- Broadcasters and companies: ARD, SWR, ORF, Europa-Park / Mack Media, German Red Cross
- With punchline studio: more than 100 productions since 2015
Awards
- Deutscher Rock & Pop Preis 2020 (WeLive)
- Alternativer Medienpreis 2021 (WeLive)
- Coburger Medienpreis and several “Best Documentary” awards at international film festivals for punchline studio documentaries
Press
- Badische Zeitung (German): how the song “Side by Side” came about
- Time for Metal (2019, German): interview with Pirmin and Maik Styrnol about the Scaramouche film “Heart and Soul”
Articles by Maik Styrnol
In the In Depth section, Maik writes about mixing, mastering, live recording and concert films, for example:
- Mixing and mastering a live album: how a complete live album comes together
- Is One Show Enough for a Live Album – or Do I Need Several?
- How loud should my master be for Spotify?
- Recording an annual concert: what matters with a community band
Profiles: Wikipedia (German) · IMDb · Apple Music. Everything about his work on concert recordings: live recording mixing & mastering.