Pitbull Engineer Rides the Waves LV1

New York, NY (October 3, 2025)—Pitbull, the dance music maven behind “International Love,” does a lot of international touring, and for his recent European tour, his sounds were mixed on a compact Waves eMotion LV1 Classic console, marking one of the highest profile productions to date to use the emerging desk.

Wil Madera, the artist’s front-of-house engineer for the last 17 years, manned the desk nightly, using it to make the most of Pitbull’s sonic mayhem. I absolutely love the LV1 Classic because it allows me to create any mix style I want without overcomplicating things,” said Madera. “It really puts everything I need right in front of me. The interface feels natural, and having access to all the Waves plug-ins makes the process smoother. It runs the same plug-ins we use in the studio, so I can share settings with our studio engineer and keep everything aligned. That makes the workflow familiar and reliable for me. From the moment I started using this console, it felt intuitive and I got super-comfortable using it very quickly.”

Enthused that all the artist’s typical in-the-studio Waves plug-ins are fully integrated into the desk, Madera noted that factor helped speed up workflows and set up. “The plug-in integration is very streamlined and powerful now—it just allows you to reach results more quickly.” Key among his favored plug is the SSL E-Channel, which he described as his go-to, noting, “I love the character it brings to my drums, bass, guitars and vocals. I tweak a couple of settings, sometimes boosting slightly to add body, warmth, and that analog feel I love.”

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Some of the other plug-ins that he defers to include The PuigTec EQP-1A (“a beautifully musical sound that enhances vocals, drums, bass and my master buss with ease”), the BB Tubes plug-in (“rich, warm saturation across vocals, bass, drums and the master buss”) and the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor  (“essential on my drum buss and for parallel compression, and it’s always present on my master buss to glue the mix together with a smooth finish”).

Of course, the focus of the entire show is Pitbull’s forceful vocals, and those are sent through the Waves CLA-2A Compressor/Limiter. “Its warm, smooth and natural compression makes it a standout,” said Madera. “I use it to control any peaks that escape the mix and to glue the vocal together. In my vocal chain, after compression, I always reach for the CLA-2A to keep everything smooth and sitting perfectly in the pocket.”

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Between the compact form factor and the plug-ins already onboard, Madera plans to use the LV1 Classic for upcoming tours and projects. He concludes, “I like the faders, the shape, and the screen. You can see everything very well. The tilt is perfect. I don’t want to get up; I just want to keep mixing…. It’s a system I genuinely trust and would recommend.”