Darío Peñaloza on SoundBetter

2 Latin Grammy Award Winner (Engineering 2014 & Instrumental 2018) and 6 times nominated. Over 38 yrs experience, Venezuelan mixer engineer has worked on many genres of acoustic music from pop, jazz, salsa, world, folk, prog, classical and fusion.

As a mixer I will bring out the best of your music within the highest industry standard. I have worked with the top quality artist in Venezuela and now I want to share my services to the world.

I studied in New York Institute of Audio Research and the Recording Institute of America then I continue at Ontario Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology (graduate with honors) in the early 80´s and since then I´ve been involve in the music scene.

I understand the privilege of working somebody else art and all the responsibility, ethic, respect and commitment that this involve. Also knowing that the music is the protagonist and it belongs to the artist.

Working acoustic music to sound as natural as it can be or when it needs to be process otherwise, do so with character and musicality.

Send me a note through the contact button above.

Credits

5 Reviews

Endorse Darío Peñaloza

by Raimundo Pineda
Five stars for Dario Peñaloza as a recording and mixer engineer. He knows the right mesures, the position, the details in each session. He understand every request and knows how to explain what you can do or not as a performer. At the hall he manages the sound of our group as the best listener and make every performance as unique. Of our 5 recordings he is involved in 4 of them, with invaluable knowledge and high sense of professionalism.
by Rodolfo Reyes
One of the benefits you got when working with Dario, is his reliability in all aspects. Good recording, mixing, editing, etc.., happens perfectly.
I specially like his capacity to store every detail of his work, so when needed, you can count on it. Also, Dario have the capacity of communicate speaking ¨musicians language very fluently.
by Miguel Siso
I’ve had the fortune of working in many occasions with Dario as a Recording and Mixing engineer, I’ve found in him a teammate who always understands and complements the sound that I’m looking for. He has great technical knowledge and an excellent taste in his productions. Our most recent work was my album IDENTIDAD which won the Latin Grammy as best Instrumental Album in 2018.
by Adrian van Woerkom
Darío is among the best recording and mixing engineers you’ll find in South and North America.
As a composer/producer I’v worked in lots of projects with him always arriving at that extraordinary finish line that I was aiming at.
Finding an engineer that we’ll really listen to what you have in mind I’ts not always and easy thing , we composers and performers tend to have surreal ideas during the mixing process, Darío has that ability to translate them into an amazing sounding project.
Ah, and if you are a local, the coffee is amazing!!!
by Vladimir Quintero
Great mixing engineer with artistic and musical vision. Meticulous and passionate about quality. Companion of many productions and a few concerts that speak of its technical and human quality. Incredible human being, teacher!!

Interview with Darío Peñaloza

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: In 2014, C4 Trío & Rafael "Pollo" Brito "De repente" album won the Latin Grammy for Best Engineering Album of that year and I was responsible of 85% of the mix, a real nice accomplishment. Everything was recorded in Venezuela in third world conditions, not an easy task.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: Mixer the new Los Sinverguenzas album
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Andres Mayo and dbMix Studios
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Digital because it gives you the flexibility .
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What are your reference, your inspiration?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Be clear on what you want and expect.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: Over 35 years career
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Transparent and warmly gentle
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: James taylor, Pat Metheny, Jon Meyer, Aca Seca, Pedro Aznar
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Think twice when you put a plugin, nowadays it´s hard to record bad.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Jazz and contemporary folk, latin also
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Make acoustic instruments sound natural. Create nice space for the instruments and voice so nobody interferes
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: Mac pro and macBook Pro with Nuendo 8.3 with RME interfaces with Hafler and Genelec monitors. All sort of plugins. No hardware to keep my flexibility
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Al Schmitt, Rich Breen, Frank Filipetti, Hugh Padgham
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Mixer Engineer for albums o singles