Welcome to Riff to Radio, the podcast where I discuss all things recording, producing, releasing, and promoting music for metal bands. I'm your host, Daniel Thabet. I'm a professional mixing engineer and owner of Liquid Studios. With over a decade of experience exclusively working with metal bands, I'm here to help your band produce aggressive sounding music you are proud to release!
Your Mix Is Already in Trouble Before You Even Start
Your mix can run into problems before you've even touched an EQ or compressor!
In this episode, I sit down with 3-time Grammy-winning mastering engineer Alan Douches to discuss one of the most overlooked parts of music production: session prep.
We compare how we organize and prepare sessions for mixing and mastering, share some of the biggest mistakes we see bands make, and explain why good preparation can save hours of wasted time and help you stay focused on the creative process.
Chapters:
00:00 Why Session Prep Matters
00:54 Common File Naming Problems
02:05 Folder Templates That Help
03:10 Too Many Tracks Issue
04:30 Stems Versus Sessions
05:15 Mastering Deliverable Options
06:19 Deadlines And Expectations
06:46 Planning Before Recording
07:33 Headroom And Prep Stages
08:37 Rough Mixes And References
10:02 Workflow Templates And Colors
12:05 Backups And Long Term Stems
13:58 Ask Questions Communicate
14:39 Wrap Up And Next Steps
Whether you're recording your own metal band, mixing in a home studio, or preparing tracks to send to a professional engineer, these tips can help make the entire production process smoother.
If you have any questions or topics you'd like us to cover in a future conversation, drop them in the comments!
Want to watch these videos early? Join the channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5d5LAcG0ga-rBlWPEGIqeA/join
🔥 Hire me to mix your next track: https://liquidstudiosli.com/offer-video-2
📥 Free Resources For Metal Bands: https://liquidstudiosli.com/resources
👉 Subscribe for more metal production tips: https://youtube.com/@danielthabet?sub_confirmation=1
#Mixing #Mastering #MusicProduction #HomeStudio #MetalProduction
22 Sept 2026
Why Trying to Do Everything Yourself Is Killing Your Band (ft. Eric Ellis)
If you're recording your own metal at home and trying to play, produce, mix AND manage everything yourself... this is why you're burned out and still don't sound professional.
In this conversation, artist manager, production engineer and former Bury Your Dead guitarist (Victory Records era) Eric Ellis breaks down the team playbook for modern metal bands. We dig into why DIY home recording creates an echo chamber, why you need to blindly hand off responsibilities to specialists, and why trust matters more than liking everyone on your team.
You'll learn why "it's very expensive to be nice" with feedback, what "sonically competitive" really means for a raw demo, why over-produced home recordings sound amateur, and Eric's rule for pitching industry pros: Don't bore us, get to the chorus.
Eric also shares what it really takes behind the scenes, from techs, TM, FOH and drum techs on tour, to why trying to be player + producer + mixer kills your playing, plus how he trusted me and Alan with his own Ellis project instead of doing it all himself.
If you want your home recordings to actually compete, stop doing everything. Build the right team and do it the right way.
Want to watch these videos early? Join the channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5d5LAcG0ga-rBlWPEGIqeA/join
🔥 Hire me to mix your next track: https://liquidstudiosli.com/offer-video-2
📥 Free Resources For Metal Bands: https://liquidstudiosli.com/resources
👉 Subscribe for more metal production tips: https://youtube.com/@danielthabet?sub_confirmation=1
ABOUT ERIC ELLIS:
Eric Ellis is an artist manager, production engineer and creative strategist with deep roots in hardcore and metal as the guitarist for Bury Your Dead.
Eric's Website: https://theellisvision.com/
SUBSCRIBE for more metal production tutorials every week, and let me know in the comments: what’s the ONE job you need to hand off first?
8 Sept 2026
Your Limiter Isn’t the Problem (3 Tricks for Louder Metal Mixes)
Your limiter isn't the problem, your mix is slamming it.
If your metal mixes pump, distort, or fall apart when you push for loudness, these 3 tricks will give you louder metal mixes without killing punch, made for home metal recorders.
Loudness doesn't come from crushing your final limiter. It comes from creating headroom BEFORE it. In this metal mixing tutorial, I'll show you how to make your mix louder, clearer, and more aggressive with 3 cumulative moves
TOOLS IN THIS VIDEO: Fortin Nameless, Trackspacer, FabFilter Pro-MB, Black Salt Audio Clipper, Waves L1, Ozone 5 Maximizer, SSL Fusion, Reaper
Timestamps:
00:00 Why Limiters Fail
00:41 Three Headroom Moves
01:22 EQ for More Headroom
01:50 Filtering Guitars and Vocals
03:23 Master Bus Cleanup Mindset
03:51 Sidechain Compression Basics
04:18 Low End Ducking Tricks
05:01 Snare Vocal Guitar Pockets
07:14 Peak Control with Clippers
09:14 Mix Bus Clipping and Final Limiter
10:37 Wrap Up and Next Steps
🎵 TRACK IN THIS VIDEO:
Huge shoutout to Fight From Within for letting me use their song "The End of My Rope" for this mix demo.
Listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/track/17QyQE5MuNFzI5gXSayTmI?si=b3bec10a95d44653
Want to watch these videos early? Join the channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5d5LAcG0ga-rBlWPEGIqeA/join
🔥 Hire me to mix your next track: https://liquidstudiosli.com/offer-video-2
📥 Free Resources For Metal Bands: https://liquidstudiosli.com/resources
👉 Subscribe for more metal production tips: https://youtube.com/@danielthabet?sub_confirmation=1
Reach and audience
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Podcast Authority Score: 27 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
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YouTube
72
Engagement
32
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