Where Grammy engineers and bedroom producers
sit across the same pair of NS-10s.
The host's desk. The guest. The reason this week matters.
Marcus Webb
Host & Engineer
"This week I sat down with Claudia Reyes — she's mixed three albums that went to number one on the Billboard 200, and she still patches her SSL through a 1073 because, in her words, 'the math just works better when it's warm.'"
— Marcus Webb, Ep. 142
Three Billboard number-ones. An SSL 9000 she's had since 2008. And a philosophy about gain staging that's so simple it'll make you angry you didn't think of it first.
Key Moments
"Every plugin that emulates tape is modeling a machine that was already broken in a specific way. You have to know the original to know what you're actually reaching for."
Devon Park
Recording Engineer, Nashville
"I mixed two platinum records entirely in Pro Tools on a laptop. The limitation wasn't the software. It was never the software."
Priya Anand
Producer & Mix Engineer, NYC
"If you can't hear the relationship between your kick and your sub on headphones, your room is lying to you. Full stop."
Terrence Okafor
Mastering Engineer
Real questions from the community, answered on-air. Marginalia from the episode transcripts.
"When you hit a harsh vocal, do you reach for the EQ first or the compressor?"
— Jordan M., Bedroom Producer, Austin TX
EQ first — always. Find the offending frequency at 3–5k, cut 2–3dB with a narrow Q, then compress. Compressing a harsh vocal before EQ just squashes the problem down and pumps it back at you on the transients.
"Is a dedicated mastering chain worth it at the home studio level, or am I just adding noise?"
— Sam K., Session Bassist, Chicago IL
Depends on your monitoring. If your room is honest, a simple chain — a good limiter and maybe a gentle EQ — is worth learning. If your room is lying to you, the mastering chain will just commit your mistakes louder. Fix the room (or headphones) first.
"How do you handle mix recall when you're working hybrid — some hardware, some plugins?"
— Riya P., Mix Engineer, London UK
Photo every knob position before you close the session. Sounds old-fashioned, it is old-fashioned, and it works every single time. I also keep a handwritten note of any unusual settings on outboard. The act of writing it makes you remember it differently.
"Episode 138 made me pull out my old Neve preamp from storage. Three weeks later it's back in every session."
Thomas Nguyen
Producer · Portland, OR
"Finally someone explained why my mixes sounded different on every speaker. The translation episode is required listening."
Amara Osei
Session Vocalist · Atlanta, GA
What guests and listeners say when the mics are off.
"Marcus has a gift for asking the question you didn't know you needed to answer out loud. I walked out of that session with a clearer sense of why I do what I do than I'd had in years."
Claudia Reyes
Mix Engineer · 3× Billboard #1
"This is the only podcast I've been on where the host had already pulled up my session from five years ago and wanted to talk about why I made a specific choice on bar 32. That level of preparation is rare."
Devon Park
Recording Engineer · Worked with 40+ major label artists
"I've done probably twenty podcast interviews. Fader is the only one where the listeners actually email me afterward with follow-up questions that make me think. The audience here is serious."
Priya Anand
Producer & Mix Engineer · 2× Platinum productions
"The only podcast that made me actually change how I work. Episode 138 on tape saturation rewired my brain."
@signal_chain_sam
"I've been producing for six years and this show taught me more in twelve episodes than two years of YouTube tutorials."
@bedroom_to_board
"The low-end theory episode with Terrence should be mandatory listening before anyone touches a kick drum."
@MixNightOwl
Five questions. Real workflow choices — the kind you make every session. Your answers identify your production archetype and unlock a personalized starter playlist of Fader episodes matched to how you actually work.
5 questions · ~2 minutes · No account required
