Alumni

Carlton, better known to the March class of 2021 as PC, came in to our course with a major advantage: an incredibly well-developed ear for production techniques, tone and tasteful arrangement. Besides his strong practical work, Carlton delighted us all with his rich bassy voice as James P Sullivan from Disney/Pixar’s Monsters Inc. and some incredible vocal chops.

To know Chaylon is to know what is happening on the cutting edge of cool culture. Chaylon’s incredible ear & eagerness to collaborate makes him an indispensable part of any student recording – whether it be behind a guitar, a bass or a drumkit. A highlight has been witnessing the progress of Chaylon’s first compilation release since completing his studies at the institute. Watch this space if you love great music!

ie Donker Kind, better known as CF Maree has been coming up with some timeless songs in Afrikaans. Pictured here recording Vier Vensters (Watch this space: it’s coming soon…), we really miss those late-night sessions with CF singing his heart out for hours on end!

Tanzanian maestro Daniel, better known as the Soundpro, has shown incredible character in the face of some of life’s hard knocks this year. Daniel’s natural musicality shines through all his work and you can always count on him to deliver the goods with style. One of 2021’s great highlights was Daniel’s work on our hammond m100 during the dub rework of ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ (with a broken hand barely out of it’s cast!!)

When we first met Darius he seemed to be a young Michael Jackson incarnate (and so much more!). No big surprise that one of the major highlights of the year was Darius absolutely killing MJ’s early ‘Rock with you’ in a smash collaboration between our October and March Students.

Whenever Deon Langeveld, part of our October 2020 class touched a bass, amazing recordings happened. From ‘Rock with you’ through a very Jazzed up ‘Happy House’ to ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ (dub remix) every time Deon provided the lowend it was a highlight.

Besides being a top contender for the most stylish student yet, GEEK_FAM’s bountiful enthusiasm & talent make him an absolute pleasure to work within the studio. He has been taking his musical & technical skills to the next level and we are super excited to see his imminent ascension as hip hop royalty!

Read more about what GEEK_FAM is currently up to in our blog

Iyanda is one of those rare creatives who is effortlessly organized. While her meticulousness makes her a force to be reckoned with in production environments, it is her raw talent that really blew us away in 2021. Most notably, discovering her husky jazz chops on the March 2021’s rework of Siouxsie & the Banshees ‘Happy House’ has been an unforgettable highlight!

John-Henri is a gifted composer – specializing in video game music – and part of our Class of October 2020 graduates. John got behind our Hammond M100 during this group’s cover of Alicia Keys’ ‘If I ain’t got you’ and seriously soulful vibes were soon to follow!

Khutso is one of the most fearlessly original individuals anyone could hope to meet. His choices, from style to production aesthetics, always reflect confidence and certainty in his goals. A highlight was observing Khutso choose a drum microphone setup for his Term 2 DAW Production project & getting it ever so right!

Kirsten Hunneyball has a way to brighten up any working environment with her unbridled passion for the moment. The highlights were many; from epic trumpet sessions to soulful vocal performances, but seeing Kirsten go from never having used production software to absolutely dominating our Studio A setup was inspiring to say the least!

Lein Nkosi is the man! Besides him being the ‘best-musician-we-know’ in the case of so many of us Lein is a genuine and all around wonderful guy & such a privilege to work with. An unexpected highlight was when Lein, the accomplished jazz pianist, jumped on the MS20 during our 80s Recording Workshop and absolutely killed!

Seeing Michael come into his own as a producer has been another of 2021’s highlights. Mike started the course with very little production experience but a deep passion for music and the willingness to work hard, so seeing him now steering productions with confidence & focus is a real pleasure. We are excited the way he has matured as a song-writer, producer and performer!

Getting the personality of your drumsound right is crucial to the success of your production. Most producers have learnt the hard way that it’s almost impossible to engineer this ‘personality’ into tracks if it wasn’t there at the source. Having a drummer like MJ who consistently delivers the appropriate tuning, tone and feel made every almost every session we had in 2021 a highlight! We are truly lucky to have this prodigious talent in our March class.

Nathan Kay is a talented producer of EDM music that blew us away during the Advertising Music Assignment to produce the most uplifting and edgy ad underscore. Nathan was part of our class of Feb 2021 graduates and we really miss his dry and witty sense of humor!

Nicoleen is destined for greatness. Winner of Kyknet’s ‘Maak my famous’ competition, she came to production from the perspective of a performance artist. While her musicality shines through everything she does, it is her ability to turn on the ‘attitude’ that differentiates her from the rest. Nowhere did this energy shine more impressively than the March 2021 class’ punk rework of ‘Just the two of us’ – watch this space for a video dropping soon!

Reece has an incredible talent & passion for cinema. He made us all burst with pride when he launched SoundMax3D and became the first Abbey Road Institute Alumni to become a commercial studio owner – and an atmos dubbing stage to boot.

Besides for consistently wowing us with his ultracool indie tracks, his catchy vocals, guitar, bass and drum chops, Richard also impressed our panel of investors with his incredible presentation for ‘Muse Match’ – Richard’s Music Business & Management project.

One session with Tyler is more than enough to ensure that he carries away the title of your ‘ favourite guitarist’. Tyler has never failed to deliver the tone, feel & pocket of every single cover guitar part that our March group has recorded in 2021. From Claptonesque to Peter Tosh, Tyler is bringing the guitar solo back!

Zack Steyn came as a drummer but taught himself to play all things with strings during his time with us. Undoubtedly a highlight was Zack’s final practical submission – an Advanced Music Production that produced many a ‘stankface’ for its sheer funkiness.