Interview With Grammy Winning Mixer Dave Pensado [Video]

Dave Pensado is potentially the most humble and generous guy in the music industry today. A Grammy award winning mixing engineer whose credits include Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Elton John, Pink, Mary J Blige, and The Black Eyed Peas, this guy is the real deal. Dave is also well known for his incredibly insightful website Pensado’s Place where he interviews top engineers in the industry and gets them to share their secrets.

I recently had the honor of interviewing him for TRR and I think you will find his thoughts and advice encouraging, helpful, and honest. Enjoy!

Good Advice From The Master

Dave was kind enough to share some practical thoughts on how to approach the mixing process, especially for many of us who are newer to the craft. Here are just some highlights:

• 7:00 – How to start a mix
• 8:45 – Dave’s mixing template and what’s on his mix buss
• 12:00 – How creativity and talent trump technical skills
• 16:20 – Dave’s take on affordable gear and this “revolution” we are living in currently
• 17:30 – Advice for new mix engineers, “Know that you suck.”
• 21:00 – Why mixing is like photography
• 23:38 – How to view and use multi-band compression
• 30:28 – Parting wisdom and a quote from ‘Duck Dynasty’