Names don't come much bigger than that of R&B and hip-hop specialist David Pensado, who recently enjoyed a record-breaking three US number one hits in the same month: Mary J Blige's 'Be Without You', Beyonce's 'Check On It' and Keyshia Cole's 'Love'. Pensado has also mixed hits for the likes of Christina Aguilera, Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, Destiny's Child, Pink, Brian McKnight, Ice Cube, Warren G & Christina, Lil' Kim and Mya. For Inside Track, he chose to spill the beans on the Pussycat Dolls' hits 'Beep' and 'Buttons', which reached numbers two and three respectively in the UK charts.
"It's about what you do with the gear, not about the gear itself," he says, "so I hope that people don't copy my settings, but see them as an inspiration and a starting point from which they can find their own way. In the end, one doesn't sell one's engineering skills: one sells one's creative skills."
The Bigger Picture
Pensado, who cut his teeth in recording studios and as a live sound engineer in Atlanta in the '70s and '80s before moving to Los Angeles in 1990, emphasises that it's vital to retain an overview of the entire song. "You need to know what you're aiming for, or you're lost. Before I begin a mix, I will always have heard a rough mix that has at least the basic elements of the track and the vocal, and this gives me a direction. There's only one time to hear a song the first time, and I like to catalogue my first impressions because I trust them. So I'll begin the process by pulling out pen and paper and noting down the weaknesses and strengths of a song.
Waves' Linear Phase EQ and McDSP'sFilter Bank, as used on the 'Beep' lead vocal.
"I also like to memorise the song and all the elements of the mix — something which has, over the years, become progressively more difficult! For some songs I have 100 inputs or more on the console, and I think 'Beep' amounted to about 90 tracks! The beauty of Pro Tools is that you can see which parts are being played. Back in the old tape days you had to work a little harder at memorising the different parts."
The American, who mixes between 200 and 250 songs a year, has a residency at Larrabee Studios in Los Angeles. Pride of place in his room at Larrabee goes to an SSL console, which he laughingly says he uses mainly for "psychological reasons — it makes me feel like a big-time mixer!" Apart from the very occasional Logicsession, almost all his mixes come in as Pro Tools files, including the songs for the Pussycat Dolls' first album, PCD.
"When I first heard their name I wasn't sure what to expect, but I trusted Ron Fair, who is president of their label and executive producer of the album, and who also did additional production on the album. Then I heard the rough mixes and thought 'Wow, this is really good pop music!' There's been a trend recently of white people singing over hip-hop tracks and I was getting a little bored with that, but the Pussycat Dolls tracks sounded credible. The first song off the album I mixed was the Timbaland track, 'Wait A Minute'. That gave me a vibe for the whole project, which was to take the elements from these great R&B and hip-hop producers and marry that with the girls' vocals. And you may notice that the melodies and lyrics of the songs are interesting. So when I started off with 'Beep', I already had a foundation and direction."
"It's about what you do with the gear, not about the gear itself," he says, "so I hope that people don't copy my settings, but see them as an inspiration and a starting point from which they can find their own way. In the end, one doesn't sell one's engineering skills: one sells one's creative skills."
The Bigger Picture
Pensado, who cut his teeth in recording studios and as a live sound engineer in Atlanta in the '70s and '80s before moving to Los Angeles in 1990, emphasises that it's vital to retain an overview of the entire song. "You need to know what you're aiming for, or you're lost. Before I begin a mix, I will always have heard a rough mix that has at least the basic elements of the track and the vocal, and this gives me a direction. There's only one time to hear a song the first time, and I like to catalogue my first impressions because I trust them. So I'll begin the process by pulling out pen and paper and noting down the weaknesses and strengths of a song.
Waves' Linear Phase EQ and McDSP'sFilter Bank, as used on the 'Beep' lead vocal.
"I also like to memorise the song and all the elements of the mix — something which has, over the years, become progressively more difficult! For some songs I have 100 inputs or more on the console, and I think 'Beep' amounted to about 90 tracks! The beauty of Pro Tools is that you can see which parts are being played. Back in the old tape days you had to work a little harder at memorising the different parts."
The American, who mixes between 200 and 250 songs a year, has a residency at Larrabee Studios in Los Angeles. Pride of place in his room at Larrabee goes to an SSL console, which he laughingly says he uses mainly for "psychological reasons — it makes me feel like a big-time mixer!" Apart from the very occasional Logicsession, almost all his mixes come in as Pro Tools files, including the songs for the Pussycat Dolls' first album, PCD.
"When I first heard their name I wasn't sure what to expect, but I trusted Ron Fair, who is president of their label and executive producer of the album, and who also did additional production on the album. Then I heard the rough mixes and thought 'Wow, this is really good pop music!' There's been a trend recently of white people singing over hip-hop tracks and I was getting a little bored with that, but the Pussycat Dolls tracks sounded credible. The first song off the album I mixed was the Timbaland track, 'Wait A Minute'. That gave me a vibe for the whole project, which was to take the elements from these great R&B and hip-hop producers and marry that with the girls' vocals. And you may notice that the melodies and lyrics of the songs are interesting. So when I started off with 'Beep', I already had a foundation and direction."
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