Wessel Oltheten

Biography

Wessel Oltheten (1983) has been recording and mixing music since his teens, which has led to a successful studio business with a very diverse clientele, ranging from big-selling pop acts like the late Michael Jackson, Don Diablo, Simply Red and David Garrett to the Dutch Traveling Opera Company and lots of independent artists, like Black Oak, DeWolff, Navarone, Pocket Knife Army, Tim Knol, Tangarine, Marble Sounds, I Am Oak and Robin Borneman. He has specialized in mixing and mastering, but still does the occasional recording on the road for concerts and music films.

Apart from being a paid engineer since 2004, Wessel is also a writer specialized in music technology. He started writing in college for ProAudioVideo magazine and is currently a contributor for Interface magazine and Sound on Sound magazine. He is the author of the book Mixing with Impact, which is available in the Netherlands through Edusonic and internationally through Focal Press.
The book bears a close relationship to the classes he started teaching in 2010 at the University of the Arts Utrecht. These classes focus on studio technology and its creative applications in recording, mixing and mastering, and they were largely developed by Wessel’s own research in the field of engineering. The driving force behind this research is the question of how to make creative use of technology in music production, so that the music is supported by the engineering instead of being overshadowed by it—as is so often the case.

Education

BA, Utrecht University of the Arts, 2004
MA, Utrecht University of the Arts, 2005

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

Music production, engineering, mixing, mastering, acoustics, audio journalism.

Personal Interests

Cycling, playing drums, electronics.

Websites

• Mixing with Impact site

• Wessel's studio work

Books