Recording Diary - Tambol Version

I really intended to write this a couple of weeks ago but I...uhhh...forgot. Hehehe. But my bandmates are really good at this "documenting the recording process" thing so I guess that makes up for my laziness busy-ness.

But all's well that ends well, right? I finally managed to start working, which is the first big hurdle for any procrastinator. So here goes...

Late February, we started work on a handful of new tracks some of which, like Pauwi Na and Wealth of Nations, are already part of our song rotation at gigs. Owel mentioned to me that he wanted the drums to stand out a bit more on the new songs--news that I really liked, for obvious reasons--so I locked myself in a room with my drumkit and hammered out my parts so I could attack the recording session with confidence. During the Themesongs recording sessions (as well as the Rizal Day Sessions, er, sessions), most of my drum parts were not final yet. If you listen carefully to the playing on the album vs a gig, you'll notice a lot of changes.

Another thing I did was use a click track. We didn't use a click track for any of the songs on the first album, and sometimes you can hear portions where I got a little excited and rushed things a bit. For the new songs, I intend to use a click as often as I can. An early exception would be Jing's punk-infused Saan Na, which felt better without a click.

I'm also gunning for a more consistent sound this time around so I'm using the same set of gear for the songs. Here's a photo of the rig I used at my last recording session:

Cymbals (Zildjian)
13" A Custom Projection Hihats
18" A Custom Fast Crash
19" K Dark Crash Thin
20" K Custom Dark Ride

Drums
14" x 5.5" Ludwig Acrolyte Snare [Remo coated Ambassador on top, Evans reso on bottom]
Yamaha drumkit (13" and 16" toms, 22" bass drum) [Remo Pinstripes on everything]
 
Except for the Yamaha kit, which is the house kit at Love One Another Studios, the rest is the same equipment I lug around in my yellow gig bags (also in photo) at each and every gig. Yes, I bring a LOT of gear. It helps me play better knowing I'm playing gear I'm used to. (Btw, those two dashing icons of virile masculinity are LOA engineers, Pancho and Wacky.)

I guess that covers drums for now.

Ciao.

Zig