Leo De Gar Kulka

History

Leo de Gar Kulka was born in 1921 in Brno, Czechoslovakia. After studying engineering, Kulka moved to Los Angeles in 1938. During World War II and Korean War, he served in the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps (CIC), retiring with the rank of major. Kulka's wartime experiences with wire recorders and radio transmission sparked a lifelong passion for recording and music. In the early 1950s he became a staff engineer at Radio Recorders at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd, Hollywood. Kulka was known by recording industry friends as "The Baron".

In 1957 he founded International Sound, one of the first multitrack facilities in Hollywood. The studio, located on Sunset at Western, later became Sunwest. His Neumann mastering room was the first in the city to feature a stereo cutting head. At International Sound, Kulka recorded artists including Herb Alpert, Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, Sonny Bono and Little Richard.

In 1964 Kulka moved to San Francisco and founded Golden State Recorders, one of the largest recording studios in northern California. With a Stephens 16-track recorder and a custom multitrack console, he contributed to the "San Francisco Sound", by recording artists Sly & The Family Stone, Grace Slick, Janis Joplin and Michael Bloomfield.

During that period, Kulka was working for Autumn Records recording bands. Partnering with Sylvester Stewart, the leader of Sly & The Family Stone, Kulka arranged an early recording for the group, resulting in a single on the Lodestone label, "I Ain't Got Nobody" / "I Can't Turn You Loose". He and Stewart also collaborated on recordings by The Great Society for which both were the original session producers.

For over 10 years Kulka lectured in Audio at San Francisco State University. In 1974 he founded the College of Recording Arts, dedicated to training aspiring music industry employees in all aspects of the industry. CRA is thought to be the first American school to provide unified business and technical education for the recording industry. Having attracted students from the North America, Asia and Latin America., some graduates of the school became successful engineers, producers and studio owners. In 1994 he closed the College of Recording Arts, instead devoting his time to analog and digital mastering, and the restoration of vintage sound recordings.

Kulka was the founder of the San Francisco Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) and served as chairman for three terms. He headed the NARAS Institute, the educational arm of the society for an additional two years. As a member of the Audio Engineering Society since 1959, he first served in Los Angeles, and then as chairman of the San Francisco Section for multiple terms.

Kulka was elected to the AES board of Governors from 1989/1990 and 1992/1993 to 1993/1994. He was chairman of the 93rd Convention that was held over October from the 1st to 4th San Francisco in 1992. In 1993 Kulka was elected treasurer and chairman of the Finance Committee.

Kulka was known as a flamboyant, unforgettable character. Tall and stout, with a basso profundo voice and a Czech accent, Kulka had a commanding presence. Bald-shaven and with a neatly trimmed mustache, he was an endearing jokester and raconteur. He was known to speak in cartoon voices and offer witty sayings such as "I'd rather be a has been than a never was." In his later years he would ruefully say, "It's getting to where I have more friends in the cemetery than I do in town." In his disc mastering class, he would remind the students, "Always clean the cutter head stylus with pith." Then he would wink and whisper "I'd better be careful how I pronounce that word."

The Neumann disk mastering room at Golden State was Kulka's pride and joy. In the 1970s and 1980, he continued to innovate, using the room to master multiple "direct to disk" audiophile recordings, as well as binaural stereo recordings for the Sonic Arts label.

Although Kulka enjoyed experimenting with new recording techniques, he was a traditionalist at heart. He professed a "back to basics" approach to his students, requiring them to understand the fundamentals of musical instruments, sound, and microphones before ever touching a limiter or equalizer. Kulka relished his 40 year old Ampex model, 200 the first American-produced tape recorder. He may have been the last living audio engineer to routinely edit tape without a splicing block or a razor blade. Instead, he laid a section of tape across his left hand, precisely lining it up with his thumb and finger, and using a small scissor, made a cut that would join perfectly.

Awards

For his AES chairmanship he received a Board of Governors Award. In 1995 he was awarded with an AES Fellowship Award for his contributions to education and sound recording practices.

Death

Leo De Gar Kulka died on March 17, 1998 aged 77. He was survived by his wife, Pat, and daughter Lily.

Compilations

Singles

CDs