Dave Parra on SoundBetter

"Don't be fooled by the large amount of great Latin tracks that Dave has worked on, that's just the tip of the iceberg. His mixing skills transcend all genres and geographies. He listened to what I was trying to accomplish, offered up his own creative suggestions and delivered a robust mix that sounded as I hoped it would sound!" - Plaine

There are so many artists that do not have discovered the real potential of their music because something is missing to their great songs… a great mix and master. They rather solve this in a limited way, assuming is not that important. But it is. At the end, that piece of art is half-way painted.

This is how I use my craft and years of experience with Grammy awarded and nominated artists. To bring every project to its maximum potential within its context. Making it unique, with soul, and professional.

I have the fortune to share credits with renowned people in this industry like Gustavo Santaolalla (Academy Awards winner) and his partner Anibal Kerpel, Mick Guzauski (Daft Punk, Jamiroquai, Britney Spears), Joe Chiccarelli (U2, The White Stripes, Elton John), Joey Waronker (Roger Waters, Atoms for Peace, Beck), Matty Green (Dua Lipa, Weezer, Juanes), Tom Baker (David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Beastie Boys), and Tony Peluso (The Carpenters, Michael Jackson, Ricky Martin).
But my story does not end here.

Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Credits

43 Reviews - 8 Repeat Clients

Endorse Dave Parra

by Dario Black
Verified
Dave is a true professional with excellent communication skills. He’s incredibly patient, especially when working remotely, which can sometimes be challenging. He did an outstanding job on my track and elevated my sound to the next level.

Spanish:
Dave es un verdadero profesional con excelentes habilidades de comunicación. Es muy paciente, especialmente cuando se trabaja a distancia, lo cual puede ser complicado. Hizo un excelente trabajo con mi cancion y llevó mi sonido a un nivel mas alto.
by manuel r.
Verified
This was our first song with Dave and it was a great experience, he was quick to deliver the job with great professionalism.
As soon as we heard the mix we were convinced that Dave was our engineer for the rest of the songs.
We will definitely recommend Dave for anyone looking to get a Professional and the highest quality of sound for their project.

Thank you Dave and thanks to SoundBetter for making great engineers accessible.
by Joshua J Schmidt
Verified
Dave is a pro! He took the time to chat with me and get a great understanding of what I wanted to accomplish. I would definitely recommend him for mixing your next project.
by Patrick C.
Verified
Dave is a pleasure to work with. I love his work. That's why we used him on the entire album. It was well worth it. His ear and insight track are very helpful.
by Patrick C.
Verified
I used Dave as a mixer on my latest project, and he did a phenomenal job. Dave is very detailed oriented, and he took all of my notes and never once made a mistake. The communication between Dave and me has been phenomenal, and he's open to experimenting until the track sings.
by Patrick C.
Verified
Dave Parra did it again. He took his time with the music, and after working with him, the track really found the balance and energy we were looking for. It's a pleasure to work with Dave on our tracks.
by Gabe Merez
Verified
I was clear with what I needed (mastering a song) and provided Dave with the songs that helped pave the way to sounds of my music. He immediately got the idea of what was needed and got to work. After listening to his master I can guarantee that out of all the mastering engineers I've worked with before, his work made me feel like my song was genuinely mastered and got the quality seal it needed. I've got nothing but good things to say about his work.
by Brandon P.
Verified
Dave makes your song feel like magic in your ears. He gives that special touch that you didn’t even knew your song needed and just blows your mind. Would totally work with him again and again.
by Patrick C.
Verified
This is my second track working with Dave. He did it again—amazing working with this talented Mixer. Not only is Dave great at really honing in on the sound you're going for. He's very good at listening to notes and applying them to the mix.
by David G.
Verified
Dave is a very capable producer and mixer. He took on my project and quickly iterated over two very different concepts to reach the kind of sound I was looking for. He continued to work with me through thick and thin and improve the track.
by Angel M.
Verified
Dave and I worked on two songs. The 1st track, we had some issues with dates and a few hiccups along with way. The track eventually came to be, and worked out great in the end (I am very picky). On the 2nd track, he understood what I was going for and really delivered! Customer service was really great and courteous. I would work with again.
by Patrick C.
Verified
I had Dave mix one of our latest musical tracks. I loved Dave's enthusiasm. We discussed thoroughly where I wanted the track to go, and he nailed it. I'm thrilled with what we accomplished on the track.
by Daniele Ippolito
Verified
Very professional masterings, he has a super patience that will follow you in your artistic requests. He mastered my album and i will be happy to suggest you all his professionality!
by Raúl A.
Verified
Dave it's f***ing amazing!!! He is a very professional and friendly person. His way of working is exceptional, from the first message until the last master was delivered, he showed he had an incredible talent that I had not seen anywhere else! I will definitely be working on all my next projects with him! Feel free to send him a message! My best recommendations!
by John A.
Verified
Dave is technically great and worked extremely hard to make sure the mix was exactly as I wanted it. He was friendly and responsive throughout and delivered some really high quality mixes that took the demos to a new level. He was happy to deal with my incredibly specific feedback and even remixed one song for free when the first pass wasn't in line with what the track needed. A consummate professional and extremely easy to work with. I'll definitely be working with Dave in the future.
by Jeff I.
Verified
This is my second time working with Dave. I asked Dave to master my song because he had done such an extraordinary job mixing it. I could not be happier with the mastering Dave did on my song. He is extremely patient, and understands what I'm trying to accomplish with my music. Thanks Dave!
by Jeff I.
Verified
Dave is patient, kind, and has an incredible ear. It was really a pleasure to both meet and work with Dave. He understood exactly what I was going for in my mix and he brought my tracks to life in a way that really took my breath away. I can't wait to work again with Dave!
by daniel
Verified
It was great working with Dave. He delivered a great sounding mix right from the start and quickly addressed my feedback.Would highly recommend him to anyone.
by Jorge J.
Verified
I have been using the same mix engineer for over 20 years and finally decided to use a new one out of curiosity. I was well pleased with the outcome of my song. Very professional and patient and I recommend Dave Parra to anyone needing a clear, well balanced and tight sounding mix.
by Charlie M.
Verified
Dave added so much to my song with his drums! He’s a fantastic musician with a professional sound and is very easy to work with

Interview with Dave Parra

Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I work with up-and-coming bands and artists anxious to make their music viral. There are so many artists that do not know the real potential of their music because something is missing to their great songs… a great mix and master. They rather solve this with dull balances, generic presets, and a limiter. At the end, that piece of art is half-way painted. So, I use my craft and years of experience with top artists to bring every project to its maximum potential within its context. Making it unique, with soul, and professional.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: That would be mixing. For sure. That is the most I do. I also do mastering, and editing in PT (quite a lot). But my daily basis for sure is mixing. I enjoy recording as well. In the musical process, I find myself doing music production, beat programming, and arrangements.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Be organized. Recall sheets, named tracks, session descriptions, dates. All you can specified. When you want to go back, this will make it lot easier.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both. I like to seize their strengths, and I'm always open to new ideas.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: Working side by side with Mick Guzauski. I had the amazing experience of working with him. He recorded one of the latest songs of Café Tacvba, and mixed the entire last album. I recorded several part of that record, made all the overdubs and post with the band in their studio, and I had to make all the session prep for Mick. I made rough mixes so Mick could have an idea of what we were looking and could have a good perception of the songs. Even sometimes he started from there. Communication with him was crucial in this process, all the time. He is so professional and humble, beside he is an artist!, not just an engineer. I learned a lot from him and his workflow process. Such a great experience and we all are very proud of the result.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: My artistic sensibility and musical passion, my intuition, my taste, my perspective, my experience. Heart, soul and mind (sounds cheesy, but I really do it that way).
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: That it could be really easy, and is not worth it... and that isn´t such an important part of the creative process as equal as the music.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Always I tried to understand what they want, what they need. I asked them to be very explicit. How they imagine and visualize their songs. Any question can help me getting into this...
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I'm thinking.... bold. That would be my style. I enjoy going far away in the mix, going to a breakpoint. Sometimes (many) works for me, but if not, I start pulling back until I feel I get the best path for the song. Always keeping in mind that the song is the most important element here, always.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: There are too many musicians, producers and engineers that inspired me to become better every day... But if I have to choose some of them, my list would start with Nigel Godrich and Thom Yorke... Tchad Blake is a genius!, Mitchell Froom, Tony Peluso, Eddie Kramer, Tom Elmhirst, Geoff Emerick, Butch Vig, Mick Guzauski, Joe Ciccarelli, Jack White, Alan Parsons, Rick Rubin, Gustavo Santaolalla, Dave Pensado, to name very few...
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: - ProTools Ultimate - Yamaha NS10 Monitors - Amphion One18 Monitors - Universal Apollo 16 Interface - 2 UAD Quad Satellite - UBK Fatso - Eli Distressor EL8-X - Obsidian 500 Stereo Compressor - Standard Audio Level-Or - Shadow Hills Mono Gamma - Maschine Mikro MKII - Several FX pedals... Eventide Space. Space Echo, Memory Man, TC Nova Reverb, Strymon El Capistan, Strymon Flint, KaossPad II, Akai Head Rush, Malekko Delay, and more. These are some of my studio toys.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been into music since I'm 12. I started playing drums. At 15 guitar, and so on with other instruments... That was the main cause I finished here. About 13 years ago I started playing with audio software, doing stuff at home, playing covers and making sequence tracks for this... After that, I decided this was for sure what I want for me. I studied sound engineering and master production, but most important, since my first months at school, I started working in a pro studio as well. From the real bottom. Working hard to achieve what I have today and more. Two years after, I also started working as a live sound engineer. From 2009 to present, I've been doing both live and studio with major Mexican artists, from the real top of the list. Now I have the chance to seize all my experience and knowledge into my studio.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Most of the time I work with live instrumentation. From the basic drums, bass, guitar, etc., in a rock setup (and its alternatives); to some things more complex or "traditional" kind of instruments, Latin American folk music. In the past couple of years I had worked with several electronic music too, more like a genres blend, and I´m starting feeling comfortable with that.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: To make my best effort and beyond to understand and get connected to their music, so I can delivery what are they expecting to. Their music are their babies, I have to take care a lot of them...
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: All of it!! It´s my life, my passion, not my job.