The 10 Best Dave Pensado Mix Tips That Will Make Your Mixes Better

Welcome to Pensado’s Lair

How do the pros do it?

It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves while trying to get better at mixing music.

Well wonder no more…

Our favourite mixing engineer Dave Pensado provides the most helpful mix tip videos on the web.

Peak behind that mysterious curtain of pro mixing. Find out how one of the best mix engineers in the world crafts the perfect mix.

Welcome to Pensado’s Place

If you don’t know who Dave Pensado is, get ready to learn—a ton.

His YouTube channel — Pensado’s Place — is a master class in all things mixing.

There are tons of Pensado videos to delve into. It’s a lot to take in.

So to get you started with his wonderful web series, here’s the 10 most useful Dave Pensado mix tips you should use in your mixes right now.

Mixing Big and Fat Snares

When I think about what a good snare should sound like, ‘big’ and ‘fat’ definitely come to mind.

Here’s how Dave mixes snares to give them those important ingredients.

How To Mix Fat Kick Drums

Now that you have those big fat snares, it’s time to put a fat kick under them.

Here’s how to get that thick kick you’ve been searching for.

How To Mix Massive Kick Drums

Why stop at fat?

Add a little ‘oomph’ to your kicks with this quick mix tip for huge kick presence.

The Top 5 Things To Do Every Mix

What does every good mix need? A checklist.

Here’s Dave’s 5 mixing essentials for every single mix you make.

EQ Tricks for Bass And Kicks

Knowing how to mix kick and bass is one of the most important mixing skills. But it can be a bit tricky to perfect.

Here’s Dave’s pro tip for doing it with a side chain and 2 copies of the original bass.

5 Plugins you should know

Nothing beats finding new VST plugins.

This video of Pensado’s top VST picks is excellent for finding some plugins to experiment with.

Hot Tip: the Saturation Knob by Softube is incredible.

Using Hi-Pass and Low-Pass Filters on Bass

If you’re learning how to mix, Hi-pass and Low-pass filters are a must-know skill.

In this episode, Dave breaks down the ins-and-outs of Hi and Low-pass filtering.

“Remove some of the things you don’t need and enhance the things that are left.” – Dave Pensado

Three Must-Have Plugins

Every carpenter needs a good hammer in their toolbox. The same thing goes for your production tool box—there are some tools every producer needs.

Here’s 3 plugins you need to have in your arsenal according to Dave.

Choosing the Right Drum Sample

Every producer needs good drums. But with all the free sounds out there, how do you pick the drum sample that’s right for your project.

Find out how Dave picks the perfect percussion in this helpful video on finding the right drum sample.

How To Get Wide Stereo Tracks

Here at LANDR we’re all about the L and R, and everything in between—The more space the better.

Find out how Dave gets that sweet stereo W I D T H.

More Pros than one

Dave Pensado doesn’t stop with just his own mix tips either.

He also invites other professional producers and mixing engineers to talk shop and share some mixing secrets.

I recommend the Noah ’40’ Shebib episode and the Mixed By Ali episode. Both are essential viewing (and listening).

Remember, mix tips only matter if you use them.

So watch, learn, mix and finish for best results!

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Rory Seydel is a musician, writer and father who takes pleasure in touring the world and making records. Creative Director at LANDR.

@Rory Seydel