Heikedine Körting: Listen, who barks: “Three ???”-director about noises

For the popular rows “The Three ???”, “TKKG” and “Five Friends”, the hearing gambling Europe can fall back on 100,000 own noises – among other things, three long deceased dogs are immortalized for all times.

For example, “Timmy, the dog” from “five friends”, started in 1978. The shepherd was called George, director Heikedine Körting recalls. The animal was very talented. “He did everything. He ate, he jawed, you could cuddle with it.”

Bringing a dog to make very certain noises is more difficult than one thinks, according to the radio play producer, who turns 80 on June 18. “Of course I can do paw dapels with every dog, but whip this a bit and a little bark and a long bark is something else.”

Nasty letters when “Timmy, the dog” sticked differently

Many fans would then quickly have this bark in their ears and hang on it: “Our noise and Cutterin Hella once had the idea:” We cut it apart and make it a little different. “Then the letters came:” This is no longer Timmy. “So they wanted it that way.”

Of course, Oskar, the cocker spaniel from Gaby, have remembered “TKKG” fans. From 1981 he howled on the cassette and record, later on CDs and in streams. “That was the dog from a friend. He was also very talented. But we definitely took half a day and then again the next day so that it is not overwhelmed. You sometimes have to wait and just be patient. The dog was called bee.”

The dog from the junkyard lived on Lake Garda

The dog who is very present, but very present, who is “the three ???” (since 1979) always barked from afar, sometimes even directly at the scrap place of Uncle Titus. “I recorded it with another dog, but from a distance. That was a court dog in Italy. Above our house on Lake Garda. We had such a really nice farm dog. That was also a German Shepherd and I recorded it.” She often had micro and recorder with her on vacation.

The selection in the sound archive of Europe is huge. “In total there are about 100,000 noises that we have absorbed ourselves.” Among them are about 200 different doors alone. “Not every door fits into every scene, so you have to be very meticulous.” This is also a central element in production, as the director describes. “The voice recordings for a episode last about two days. We need a whole week for the noises. In the end, everything is mixed up nicely.”