Tutors

Jasper Derksen

Director & Head of Tech

Jasper Derksen is a sound engineer and an expert in (analogue) audio equipment. Growing up in the recording studios of his parents, his relationship with music goes way back. Besides playing the piano, he would always hang around and work in the studios. Since the family business has moved to refurbishing professional audio equipment, Jasper has worked on projects for some of the biggest studios in Europe, mainly deconstructing, refurbishing and installing consoles.

Following which, Jasper went on to work at Galaxy Studios for numerous years as dub-stage supervisor and became the technical go-to person in the studios. In 2016, Jasper co-founded the Amsterdam location of Abbey Road Institute. He is currently one of the Directors of the Amsterdam campus. Jasper is also the head of tech within the studios and teaches various classes in the curriculum as well.

MarcoAntonio Spaventi

Producer, engineer & musician

MarcoAntonio Spaventi is a musician, producer and audio engineer from Rome, Italy. After graduating in electronic engineering in Rome, he moved to Amsterdam. He has spent the following years teaching and growing his technical skills in the studio and on stage.

Nowadays Marco is a full time producer and audio engineer in mixing, mastering, post production and sound design for picture. He works for several clients worldwide and regularly plays live gigs as MaSpaventi. He also gives lectures on Ableton, Synthesis and Sampling at Abbey Road Institute Amsterdam.

Given his background as a musician, Marco collects the best in vintage and modern synthesisers and drum machines, such as a the Fender Rhodes and several modules in the eurorack format. His studio is located at the music centre Q-Factory in Amsterdam, working everyday with top gear, with the best in both the analogue and digital world.

Nick Ribbens

Songwriter & producer

Nick Ribbens started out as a drummer when he was 13. He studied drums at the Herman Brood Academy and graduated in 2013. After a short-lived career studying Composition & Music Production at the HKU, Nick moved on to working full-time as a co-/ghost producer & songwriter. Since then Nick has been steadily building his resume, working as a sound designer for VR-experiences and games. He also partnered up with EDM.com for his own projects INSTATIC & Giraff, and works on productions for Sony, Universal, and Cloud9. Besides being locked up in studios, Nick has embarked on multi-city tours as a DJ throughout China in 2016.

Nick is currently one of the core staff members at Abbey Road Institute Amsterdam.

Mark Derksen

Producer, Engineer & Analog Expert

either Mark Derksen is a producer, sound engineer and expert in analog audio equipment. He is the founder of Markant Studios, Mark1 Pro Audio and co-founder of Abbey Road Institute Amsterdam. With more than 30 years of experience, Mark upholds the highest standard in the maintenance, repair and (de-)commissioning of large studio consoles. In particular of SSL, Neve and Studer recorders.

Over the years, Mark has acquired quite a clientele, both as a producer/engineer and an expert in professional audio equipment. Artists with the likes of Bob Weston, Eddie Floyd, Coldplay, Simply Red, The White Stripes, Volumia!, Krezip, and Stevie Ann; and music studios including Miloco, Red Bull Studios, British Grove, Metropolis, Wisseloord Studios, Jim Abbis’s studio, Jett Rebel’s studio, our own studios here at the Amsterdam institute & many more.

Here at Abbey Road Institute Amsterdam, Mark teaches Tape Machines and Recording to Tape.

“When I started, there weren’t many studios, analog technology was in full development. I had built a control room myself. Due to a lack of funds it was either too expensive to have someone come or the knowledge was not there at all. So I eventually started repairing it myself.

Huub Reijnders

Producer & engineer

Huub Reijnders is an award-winning producer and mix engineer, who has worked with artists like Bløf, Acda & De Munnik, Jett Rebel, 3 Doors Down, Damian Marley, 50 Cent, U2, The Scorpions and The Kaiser Chiefs to name a few.

While enrolled in the music production program at Rotterdam Conservatory, Huub took an internship position at Wisseloord. There, he worked his way up the ladder to assistant/ in-house engineer. Huub’s big break came in 2005 as the engineer on Krezip’s hit-packed album “What Are You Waiting For.” From then on, his career as a free-lance engineer took off, and he worked in several studios in Belgium and Holland. He then settled into a studio of his own, at first in a postproduction facility, and later in Studio Zeezicht. In 2014, Huub had the opportunity to take on a room in the production wing at Wisseloord. Nowadays, Huub works most of the time in his own studio in Haarlem. At Abbey Road Institute Amsterdam, Huub teaches production, mixing and recording classes.

Robin Freeman

Engineer & musician

Tobias Hess

Musician, producer & recording engineer

Tobias Hess is a musician, music producer and audio engineer from Germany. After initiating his universal education as a classical guitar soloist in Berlin, he moved to Detmold to continue his guitar studies. Furthermore, Tobias studied at the Erich-Thienhaus-Institute as a “Tonmeister”, which marked the start of his career as a music producer. Throughout his studies, he achieved multiple first prizes at international student competitions (such as AES and VdT) for his works as a sound engineer and producer.

During his freelance activities and 1-year employment at the renowned Galaxy Studios in Belgium, Tobias deepened his interests. He started blending classical orchestral instruments into modern music styles such as pop and film music. And since 2012 he has worked on over 60 scores for film, television and games as a music editor and engineer.

Currently, Tobias is mostly freelancing as a music producer and is focusing on his own musical projects. He lives in West-Germany at an international renowned concert venue (www.redhorndistrict.de). He is partly running the venue and working there as a in-house sound engineer. Besides all of that, he also teaches music theory at Abbey Road Institute Amsterdam.

Darcy Proper

Mastering engineer

Darcy Proper is a successful sound engineer and a role model for many within the industry. Darcy graduated with honours from NYU’s Music Technology programme. After which, she began her career at Sony Classical Productions and Sony Music Studios in New York City. On completing twenty years in NYC, she made the jump to Europe, and accepted the position as Senior Mastering Engineer at Galaxy Studios. Furthermore, in 2010, Darcy became part of the team dedicated to the revival of Wisseloord Studios in the Netherlands. There, she based her work as a mastering engineer.

Over the years, Darcy has been honoured with 3 Grammy awards and 9 nominations and has won several other awards for her work. Alongside her mastering work, she has guest lectured at Abbey Road Institute Amsterdam from time to time.

She has had the pleasure of mastering historical reissue projects for prestigious artists. Some of which include Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Dave Brubeck, and Johnny Cash. She has also worked on stereo and 5.1 front-line releases for many talented artists including The Eagles, Ilse DeLange, Donald Fagen, Anouk, Porcupine Tree, Clouseau, Peter Maffay, Patricia Barber, Alain Clark, Jane Ira Bloom, Marcus Miller, Jef Neve, Ozark Henry.